Extractive separation of copper and nickel from copper bleed stream by solvent extraction route

Bleed stream from electro refining step of copper smelter was processed to recover the metals as high value products such as copper and nickel powders or salts. The process consists of partial decopperisation of the bleed stream followed by crystallization of a mixed salt of copper and nickel sulphate, leaching of the mixed salt, removal of iron, solvent extraction for the separation of copper and nickel and winning the solution to produce metal powders. After partial decopperisation of copper bleed stream, the resultant solution was subjected to crystallization which produces composite crystals with the chemical composition of 8.4–12.5% Cu, 13.7–14.38% Ni and 1–2 ppm of Fe as impurity. This mixed salt was leached with water and was treated for iron precipitation. The purified solution was subjected to solvent extraction using two solvents namely LIX 84 or Cyanex 272. A 20% LIX 84 in kerosene extracted 99.9% copper and 0.059% nickel at a pH of 2.5, similarly a 5% Cyanex 272 in kerosene extracted 98.06% copper and 0.51% nickel at a pH of 4.85. LIX 84 was used for metal separation in the mixer-settler unit and a flow sheet was developed using this solvent. The pure solutions of copper after stripping it from the loaded organic and nickel left in the raffinate were further electrolysed to produce pure copper (99.9%) and nickel (99.8%) powders, alternatively pure sulphate salts could also be crystallized. Since it is well known that Cyanex 272 is used for the separation of cobalt and nickel, a few experiments were performed on the extraction of copper by using Cyanex 272. A complete study is yet to be done to develop a flow sheet by using this solvent.     

A comparative study of analytical squeeze film damping models in rigid rectangular perforated MEMS structures with experimental results

Several analytical models exist for evaluating squeeze film damping in rigid rectangular perforated MEMS structures. These models vary in their treatment of losses through perforations and squeezed film, in their assumptions of compressibility, rarefaction and inertia, and their treatment of various second order corrections. We present a model that improves upon our previously reported work by incorporating more accurate losses through holes proposed by Veijola and treating boundary cells and interior cell differently as proposed by Mohite et al. We benchmark all these models against experimental results obtained for a typical perforated MEMS structure with geometric parameters (e.g., perforation geometry, air gap, plate thickness) that fall well within the acceptable range of parameters for these models (with the sole exception of Blech’s model that does not include perforations but is included for historical reasons). We compare the results and discuss the sources of errors. We show that the proposed model gives the best result by predicting the damping constant within 10% of the experimental value. We study the validity of the proposed model over the entire range of perforation ratios (PR) by comparing its results with numerically computed results from 3D Navier-Stokes equation. These results are also compared with other analytical models. The proposed model shows considerably better results than other models, especially for large values of PR.     

Effect of initial preform geometry and friction on the cold deformation behaviour of sintered titanium carbide composite steel

Cold upsetting experiments were carried on sintered titanium carbide composite steel preforms in order to assess their deformation characteristics. The effect of aspect ratio and frictional constraints on deformation behaviour have been investigated thoroughly. Cylindrical compacts with different aspect ratios were prepared, sintered and upset forged at room temperature. The above cold deformation work was carried out using 1.0 MN capacity Universal Testing Machine. Cold deformation experiments were carried out in several steps. Dimensions such as height, contact, and bulged diameters and densities were measured for each test. In general, each compact was subjected to an incremental compressive loading in steps of 0.005 MN until fine cracks appeared on its free surface. Effect of various upsetting parameters, namely, axial strain, axial stress, Poisson’s ratio on the densification has been studied.     

Modeling Rainwater Storage in Distributed Reservoir Systems in Humid Subtropical and Tropical Savannah Regions

Using a hydrologic model this study estimated rainwater storages in field-scale on-farm reservoir (OFR) systems at two locations: (1) Fort Worth, Texas, US; (2) Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. The water storages were estimated for variable OFR sizes: 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 25% of the farm area. Water losses through seepage and evaporation were estimated using variable saturated hydraulic conductivity conditions: 0.33, 0.64, 1.3, 5 cm/h, which corresponded to the ranges of hydraulic conductivity of loam, sandy loam, loamy sand, and sandy soils, respectively. Results indicated that the water loss through evaporation was dominant at the first location, while seepage was at the second location. Changing the OFR sizes captured 5 to 28% of the total rainfall received in the farm area of the first location and 20–40% at the second location. Finally, a comparative economic analysis was made between a distributed OFR system and a centralized large reservoir that indicated that the distributed OFR system benefits exceeded the benefits of a large reservoir.     

Couple stresses in the elastohydrodynamic film in rolling bearings

Couple stresses may appear, when additives are present in a lubricant or when the lubricant molecules are long chains. Couple stresses are particularly probable in the elastohydrodynamic lubrication of gears or of heavily loaded rollers, where the film thickness is exceptionally small. For simplicity, the Grubin-type approximation is used in the present analysis to study the effect of couple stresses on the minimum film thickness between elastic rollers. A new parameter is defined and used to study the effects of couple stresses. The appearance of couple stresses has the desirable effect of increasing the minimum film thickness, especially when the chain length of the additive molecule or of the lubricant molecule is large.     

Analysis and modelling of edm parameters

Metal removal in electro-discharge machining (edm) is basically a thermal erosion process where the heat transfer is predominantly through conduction. In this paper, a two-dimensional heat transfer model, assuming the plasma channel to be a disc heat source, has been employed to study the effects of edm input parameters, such as pulse duration, pulse energy and material properties, on metal removal and crater shape. Reasons for somewhat poor correlation between theoretical and experimental data are discussed.     

Experimental investigation on deformation and wear of WC tool during friction stir welding (FSW) of stainless steel

In this paper, the effect of friction stir welding (FSW) parameters on wear and deformation behavior of tungsten carbide (WC) tool employed in the welding of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel (SS) is reported. In addition, the wear and deformation of the tool are also characterized. Three FSW parameters, namely shoulder diameter, tool rpm, and traverse speed each at three levels were considered. Experiments were performed as per Taguchi’s L₉ orthogonal array to investigate the effect of these parameters on wear and plastic deformation of the tool. Wear at the pin root and bottom face of the pin attributed to diffusion and attrition mechanisms, respectively, were observed. Significant deformation of the tool was also observed during welding which caused bulging of the shoulder with an increased cone angle of the pin.     

Negative ion beam extraction in ROBIN

The RF based single driver ?ve ion source experiment test bed ROBIN (Replica Of BATMAN like source in INDIA) has been set up at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), India in a technical collaboration with IPP, Garching, Germany. A hydrogen plasma of density 5 × 10¹² cm^?3 is expected in driver region of ROBIN by launching 100 kW RF power into the driver by 1 MHz RF generator. The cesiated source is expected to deliver a hydrogen negative ion beam of 10 A at 35 kV with a current density of 35 mA/cm² as observed in BATMAN.In first phase operation of the ROBIN ion source, a hydrogen plasma has been successfully generated (without extraction system) by coupling 80 kW RF input power through a matching network with high power factor (cos θ > 0.8) and different plasma parameters have been measured using Langmuir probes and emission spectroscopy. The plasma density of 2.5 × 10¹¹ cm^?3 has been measured in the extraction region of ROBIN. For negative hydrogen ion beam extraction in second phase operation, extraction system has been assembled and installed with ion source on the vacuum vessel. The source shall be first operated in volume mode for negative ion beam extraction. The commissioning of the source with high voltage power supply has been initiated.