Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
  • C22B23/00—Obtaining nickel or cobalt
  • C22B23/04—Obtaining nickel or cobalt by wet processes
  • C22B23/0407—Leaching processes
  • C22B23/0415—Leaching processes with acids or salt solutions except ammonium salts solutions
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
  • B22F9/02—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes
  • B22F9/04—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from solid material, e.g. by crushing, grinding or milling
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
  • B22F9/16—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using chemical processes
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
  • C22B7/00—Working up raw materials other than ores, e.g. scrap, to produce non-ferrous metals and compounds thereof; Methods of a general interest or applied to the winning of more than two metals
  • C22B7/001—Dry processes
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
  • C22B7/00—Working up raw materials other than ores, e.g. scrap, to produce non-ferrous metals and compounds thereof; Methods of a general interest or applied to the winning of more than two metals
  • C22B7/006—Wet processes
  • C22B7/007—Wet processes by acid leaching
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F9/00—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof
  • B22F9/02—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes
  • B22F9/04—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from solid material, e.g. by crushing, grinding or milling
  • B22F2009/041—Making metallic powder or suspensions thereof using physical processes starting from solid material, e.g. by crushing, grinding or milling by mechanical alloying, e.g. blending, milling
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
  • Y02P10/00—Technologies related to metal processing
  • Y02P10/20—Recycling

Definitions

• This invention relates to the recovery of metalsfrom alloys, and more particularly to a method of producing solutions of metalsalts as ,a-step inthe recovery of these metals from alloys containing the same.
• the invention concerns, specifically, metals of the iron group, i.e. nickel, cobalt, etc. which have been used extensively in the production of alloys of a special nature.
• Exemplary of the alloys to which this. invention relates are the cobalt and/or nickel containing refractory type alloys and corrosion resistant alloys which have been developed in recent'years. These may have cobalt and/ or nickel concentrations ranging up to about 80% or more.. With scrap containing more than about nickel or cobalt, recovery of the nickel or cobalt fractions is practicable from a commercial standpoint, provided the recoveryican be done in an economical manner.
• these alloys have been prepared to have a maximum amountof resistance toflcorrosion, oxidization, and chemical .attack..
• the alloys also maybe quite tough and relatively'hard to disintegrate. It is these veryproperties which distinguish the alloys and make them useful as astructural material, which have made'diflicult the manufacture of compounds therefrom.
• these alloys have resisted dissolution inJacids, causticj solution, salt baths, and other conventional hydrometallurgical recovery techniques.”
• In generaltterms ltlrisiinvention contemplates as the first ste'p; in producing metal salts from such alloys the production ran intermediate fprocessin g alloy by.
• the intermediate l fprocessing ⁇ alloy is characterized generally by being (1') readi'ly 'dis'int genesis parade form usinglmilling grjinding, 6r btlir conventional pulverizing' techniques, ⁇ and i (2) markedly rnore reactive chemically with the murmur firming, dis's'olv-ing acids.
• the processinga'lloy may be ground to 'cornrniriuted torm and the metal c6nstituents-;thereof -r' ed uce'd to kcorripounds of dissolving acids," usingt'ar less compl'err equipment than previously necessary using knownrecoverymethods and with'considerablerapidity.v
• The;advantages;of the process outlined include con siderable savingsin timerfaster use oilprocessing e uip-I ment, and ajieduction in .the, extent and complexity of-the equipment required, greater ease in handling and proc caste a nieree zss in .a. 1 1. aprimarypbjectaofrthis nvenr 1 pm? In thou icnis u l' fr m a l ys.
• nickel and/orcobalt-containing al-' loys which may be processed according to this invention.
• alloys Waspaloy an alloy containing about 19.5% chromium, 57.0% nickel, 13.5% cobalt, 4.3%
• Udimet 500 an alloy containing about 19% chromium, 19% cobalt, 4.0% molybdenum, 3.0% titanium, 3.0% aluminurn,-0.1% carbon, and the balance nickel
• Discaloy an alloy containing about 13.5% chromium, 26.0% nickel, 54.0% ir0n,3.0% mo lybdenum, 1.6% titanium, 0.8% manganese, and traces of carbon.
• These aforementioned alloys are typical of high temperature, high stress alloys finding use today in special'applications, and as can be seen from the corn positions given, .contain substantialxamounts of metals from the irongroup.
• Corrosion-resistant alloys which invention are illustrated by, such alloys as Monel metal (a nickeltures of two or more metals wherein one of the metals copper alloy), Chromel (a nickel-chromium alloy), and
• cobalt-copper alloys are various materials, but in general may beapplied to mixis ametal fromjthe iron group, While alloys containing relatively small percentages ofnickeland cobalt-may be processed as contemplated by this invention, as a practical matter usually such processing is not justified from an economicstandpoint unless the percent; ge of nickel and cobalt in'jthe alloyis more than about 10%.”
• these acids comprise the usual metal oxidizing acids used in hydrometallurgical recovery processes.
• the acids generally are water soluble (i.e., more than about 80%), have a relatively high ionization potential, and are substantially stable and resistant to decomposition at atmospheric boiling temperatures.
• the concentration of acid used will vary, depending upon the metal sought to be dissolved, the solubility of the metal salts, etc.
• Illustrative of the acids which may be employed in the metal salt formation are the inorganic or mineral acids such as sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric, and hydrofluoric acids. From an economic standpoint, since sulphuric acid is readily available commercially, this acid lends itself to the practice of this invention.
• the amount of acid used in reaction with the powdered alloy normally will vary from stoichiometric amounts to amounts in excess of this. Since aluminum stands above the metals of the iron group (iron, cobalt, and nickel) in the electromotive series, it is necessary to have suflicient acid completely to combine with the aluminum before expecting the formation of salts of the iron-group metals.
• the temperature of the reaction mixture ordinarily is raised above room temperature, as this also has the effect of speeding up the acid reaction.
• temperatures of from between 80 C. and 100 C. may be used if the reaction is carried out at atmospheric pressure.
• -Room temperatures may be employed, however, with satisfactory results. So also may temperatures above 100 C. be used if the reaction is carried out at elevated pressures.
• a melt was prepared by heating to the melting pointa mixture of 100 parts of a high cobalt, refractory alloy containing 62% cobalt, 27% chromium, 6% molydenum, 2% nickel and 3% of a mixture of iron, manganese, silicon, and carbon (with each of the latter components not exceeding 1%) and 25 parts of aluminum. (Unless otherwise indicated, parts and percentages used herein refer to parts and percentage on a weight basis.) Scrap turnings of the alloy were used, and these were briquettedwith chips of aluminum using 25 tons pressure prior to producing the melt. The melt was made in an electric arc furnace, under vacuum. The melt was cooled to room temperature, with the approximately 20% aluminum alloy ingot which was formed cracking during cooling into coarse pieces of approximately walnut size.
• the aluminum alloy was very friable and easily crushed with a mortar and pestle into a powder which passed through a 20 mesh Tyler screen. Fifteen parts of this powder was placed in a reaction vessel, and reacted with 200 parts of a 50% aqueous sulfuric acid solution. The sulfuric acid was poured slowly over the alloy powder, and the alloy powder and acid solution mixture simmered 4 for about of an hour. At the end of this time, the alloy powder was completely dissolved.
• a melt of about 100 parts of the refractory alloy having the composition set forth above and about .17 parts of aluminum was prepared, to yield an aluminum alloy having an aluminum content of about 14.5%.
• This alloy was tougher than the aluminum alloy first prepared, and not as friable, although the alloy could be ground to powder form.
• An aluminum alloy prepared from 100 parts of the refractory alloy having the composition set forth above and about 100 parts of aluminum was very friable and easily ground to powdered form. This alloy and the 20% aluminum alloy were about equally reactive with 50% aqueous sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid solutions.
• parts of an alloy composed of about 0.3% carbon, 1.1% manganese, 0.6% silicon, 19.0% chromium, 9.0% nickel, 1.2% molybdenum, 1.2% tungsten, 0.4% columbium, 0.3% titanium, and the remainder iron was alloyed with 20 parts of aluminum.
• a friable product resulted, and a 15 part sample of the product ground to a powder reacted readily with 200 parts 50% aqueous sulfuric acid, with dissolving of the sample.
• a process is contemplated whereby alloys may be readily changed to a state which makes them susceptible to chemical breakdown, i.e., reaction with acid materials whereby salts of the metallic constituents of the alloys are formed.
• Increased chemical reactivity is produced in an alloy coniointly with a change in the physical characteristics of the alloy which results in turning the alloy into a material which is considerably more amenable to mechanical disintegration.
• the process thus has particular importance in connection with the recovery of iron-group metals, such as cobalt and nickel, from alloys which'normally resist physical and chemical degradation.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)

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Cited By (6)

Citations (3)

• 1958
  • 1958-11-24 US US77570558 patent/US2946677A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1959
  • 1959-10-16 BE BE583731A patent/BE583731A/fr unknown

Patent Citations (3)

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