Course Description
Principles of Metal Extraction and Refining, MSE304, focuses on unit operations/processes starting from ore dressing to purification of metal. The total number of metals in periodic table is around 91. The emphasis is not on specific metal but on key fundamentals which govern the extraction of these metals. In the first part of the course, we cover some process fundamentals, such as, process heat and mass balance, thermodynamics and kinetics, transport phenomena, etc. Subsequently we turn our focus on unit operations associated with mineral beneficiation, pyro-, electro- and hydro-metallurgy and refining of crude metal.
Course Content
Module 1: Introduction
L1-2: Introduction to extractive metallurgy, Flow sheets, Mass and Heat Balance,
Module 2: Thermodynamics
L3-4: Thermodynamics of metal extraction and refining
Module 3: Kinetics
L5-8: Metallurgical Kinetics, Fluid Flow, Heat & Mass Transfer and Analysis of Unit Processes
Module 4: Mineral Beneficiation
L9-11: Principles of Mineral Beneficiation: Crushing and grinding, Screening, Classification, Concentration, Separation of Solids from Liquid, Gas cleaning
Module 5: Pyrometallurgy
L12-17: Principles of Pyrometallurgy: Fuel and Ore Preparation (Coke, Drying, Calcinations, Roasting, Agglomeration), Reduction of Metal Oxides, Matte Smelting
Module 6: Electrometallurgy
L18-21: Principles of Electrometallurgy: Faraday’s law; Electrolysis; Current density and efficiency; Electrolyte resistance and its role; Factors affecting electrolytic resistance; impurity interference; cathodic deposits; Their relevance to Aluminium and magnesium extraction; Specific energy consumption in aluminum electrolytic cell
(Hall-Heroult cell)
Module 7: Hydrometallurgy
L22-24: Principles of Hydrometallurgy: Dissolution and Leaching; Solvent extraction, Treatment of leached solution, Precipitation, cementation; Their relevance to Bayer’s Process, Gold and Silver extraction; Amalgamation
Module 8: Metal Refining
L25-26: Principles of Metal Refining: Classification of dissolved impurities in metals; Common Impurities in metals and their origin; The effect of impurities on properties of metals with some specific examples Principles of Fire-refining, electrolytic refining, zone refining and electro-slag refining, removal of gases from metals
Module 9: Miscellaneous Topics
L27-28: Case Studies and Recent Advances
Course Audience
Primarily for UG students of MSE
Outcomes of this Course
This course is intended to provide a broad overview of metal extraction based on first principles. This course is foundational and provides the framework for courses such as Ironmaking and Steelmaking which deal with the production of iron and steel or Non-ferrous Metallurgy dealing with the production of aluminum, copper and other metals.