Evaluation of arbitrary waveform acoustic signal generation techniques in dispersive waveguides

In order to generate arbitrary mechanical displacements, i.e. acoustic signals of the microsecond range in dispersive waveguides, different existing signal processing techniques were analyzed and new techniques introduced. The proposed parameter Q was used for the comparison of the arbitrary waveform acoustic signal generation techniques. The arbitrary acoustic signal duration optimization parameter was introduced. The arbitrary waveform acoustic signal generation techniques were applied for the generation of the microsecond range duration acoustic signals

Effect of preliminary alkali desilication on ammonia pressure leaching of low-grade copper–silver concentrate

Ammonia leaching is a promising method for processing low-grade copper ores, especially those containing large amounts of oxidized copper. In this paper, we study the effect of Si-containing minerals on the kinetics of Cu and Ag leaching from low-grade copper concentrates. The results of experiments on the pressure leaching of the initial copper concentrate in an ammonium/ammonium-carbonate solution with oxygen as an oxidizing agent are in good agreement with the shrinking core model in the intra-diffusion mode: in this case, the activation energies were 53.50 kJ/mol for Cu and 90.35 kJ/mol for Ag. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis (EDX) analysis showed that reagent diffusion to Cu-bearing minerals can be limited by aluminosilicate minerals of the gangue. The recovery rate for copper and silver increases significantly after a preliminary alkaline desilication of the concentrate, and the new shrinking core model is the most adequate, showing that the process is limited by diffusion through the product layer and interfacial diffusion. The activation energy of the process increases to 86.76 kJ/mol for Cu and 92.15 kJ/mol for Ag. Using the time-to-a-given-fraction method, it has been shown that a high activation energy is required in the later stages of the process, when the most resistant sulfide minerals of copper and silver apparently remain. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 0836-2020-0020Funding: This work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation Project No. The SEM-EDX analyses were funded by State Assignment, grant number 0836-2020-0020

Leaching kinetics of arsenic sulfide-containing materials by copper sulfate solution

The overall decrease in the quality of mineral raw materials, combined with the use of arsenic-containing ores, results in large amounts of various intermediate products containing this highly toxic element. The use of hydrometallurgical technologies for these materials is complicated by the formation of multicomponent solutions and the difficulty of separating copper from arsenic. Previously, for the selective separation of As from copper–arsenic intermediates a leaching method in the presence of Cu(II) ions was proposed. This paper describes the investigation of the kinetics of arsenic sulfide-containing materials leaching by copper sulfate solution. The cakes after leaching of arsenic trisulfide with a solution of copper sulfate were described using methods such as X-ray diffraction spectrometry (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis (EDS). The effect of temperature (70–90 °C), the initial concentration of CuSO4 (0.23–0.28 M) and the time on the As recovery into the solution was studied. The process temperature has the greatest effect on the kinetics, while an increase in copper concentration from 0.23 to 0.28 M effects an increase in As transfer into solution from 93.2% to 97.8% for 120 min of leaching. However, the shrinking core model that best fits the kinetic data suggests that the process occurs by the intra-diffusion mode with the average activation energy of 44.9 kJ/mol. Using the time-to-a-given-fraction kinetics analysis, it was determined that the leaching mechanism does not change during the reaction. The semi-empirical expression describing the reaction rate under the studied conditions can be written as follows: 1/3ln(1 − X) + [(1 − X) − 1/3 − 1] = 4,560,000Cu3.61e−44900/RT t. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.10.7347.2017/8.9Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 18-19-00186Funding: The research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, grant number 18-19-00186. The SEM/EDS analyses were funded by State Assignment, grant number 10.7347.2017/8.9

Nitric Acid Dissolution of Tennantite, Chalcopyrite and Sphalerite in the Presence of Fe (III) Ions and FeS2

This paper describes the nitric acid dissolution process of natural minerals such as ten-nantite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite, with the addition of Fe (III) ions and FeS2. These minerals are typical for the ores of the Ural deposits. The effect of temperature, nitric acid concentration, time, additions of Fe (III) ions and FeS2 was studied. The highest dissolution degree of sulfide minerals (more than 90%) was observed at a nitric acid concentration of 6 mol/dm3, an experiment time of 60 min, a temperature of 80 °C, a concentration of Fe (III) ions of 16.5 g/dm3, and an addition of FeS2 to the total mass minerals at 1.2:1 ratio. The most significant factors in the break-down of minerals were the nitric acid concentration, the concentration of Fe (III) ions and the amount of FeS2. Simultaneous addition of Fe (III) ions and FeS2 had the greatest effect on the leaching process. It was also estab-lished that FeS2 can be an alternative catalytic surface for copper sulfide minerals during nitric acid leaching. This helps to reduce the influence of the passivation layer of elemental sulfur due to the galvanic linkage formed between the minerals, which was confirmed by SEM-EDX. © 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Russian Science Foundation, RSF: 075-03-2021-051/5, 20-79-00317, FEUZ-2021-0017Funding: This work was funded by the Russian Science Foundation Project No. 20-79-00317. The SEM-EDX, XRF, XRD analysis were funded by State Assignment, grant No. 075-03-2021-051/5 (FEUZ-2021-0017)

Deposition of arsenic from nitric acid leaching solutions of gold—arsenic sulphide concentrates

At present, the processing of refractory gold–arsenic sulphide concentrates is becoming more relevant due to the depletion of rich crude ore reserves. In the process of the nitric acid leaching of arsenic sulphide minerals, solutions are formed containing 20–30 g/L of arsenic (III). Since market demand for arsenic compounds is limited, such solutions are traditionally converted into poorly soluble compounds. This paper describes the investigation of precipitating arsenic sulphide from nitric acid leaching solutions of refractory sulphide raw materials of nonferrous metals containing iron (III) ions using sodium hydrosulphide with a molar ratio of NaHS/As = 2.4–2.6, which is typical for pure model solutions without oxidants. The work studied the effect of temperature, the pH of the solution and the consumption of NaHS and seed crystal on this process. The highest degree of precipitation of arsenic (III) sulphide (95–99%) from nitric acid leaching solutions containing iron (III) ions without seed occurs with a pH from 1.8 to 2.0 and a NaHS/As molar ratio of 2.8. The introduction of seed crystal significantly improves the precipitation of arsenic (III) sulphide. An increase in seed crystal consumption from 0 to 34 g/L in solution promotes an increase in the degree of transition of arsenic to sediment from 36.2 to 98.1% at pH = 1. According to SEM/EDS and XRF sediment data, from the results of experiments on the effect of As2S3 seed crystal consumption, acidity and molar ratio of NaHS/As on the precipitation of arsenic (III) sulphide and the Fetotal/Fe2+ ratio in the final solution, it can be concluded that the addition of a seed accelerates the crystallisation of arsenic (III) sulphide by increasing the number of crystallisation centres; as a result, the deposition rate of As2S3 becomes higher. Since the oxidation rate of sulphide ions to elemental sulphur by iron (III) ions does not change significantly, the molar ratio of NaHS/As can be reduced to 2.25 to obtain a precipitate having a lower amount of elemental sulphur and a high arsenic content similar to that precipitated from pure model solutions. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation Project No. 20-79-00321. The SEM–EDS analyses were funded by State Assignment, Grant No. 0836-2020-0020