Characterization And Alkaline Fusion Recovery Process Of Rare Earths And Thorium From Malaysian Monazite

The use of edges to determine an optimal region of interest (ROI) location is increasingly becoming popular for image deblurring. Recent studies have shown that regions with strong edges tend to produce better deblurring results. In this study, a direct method for ROI localization based on edge refinement filter and entropy-based measurement is proposed. Using this method, the randomness of grey level distribution is quantitatively measured, from which the ROI is determined. This method has low computation cost since it contains no matrix operations. The proposed method has been tested using three sets of test images - Dataset I, II and III. Empirical results suggest that the improved edge refinement filter is competitive when compared to the established edge detection schemes and achieves better performance in the Pratt's figure-of-merit (PFoM) and the twofold consensus ground truth (TCGT); averaging at 15.7 % and 28.7 %, respectively. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in the use of this improved filtering strategy for accurate estimation of point spread function (PSF), and hence, a more precise image restoration. As a result, the proposed solutions compare favourably against existing techniques with the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), kernel similarity (KS) index, and error ratio (ER) averaging at 24.8 dB, 0.6 and 1.4, respectively. Additional experiments involving real blurred images demonstrated the competitiveness of the proposed approach in performing restoration in the absent of PSF

Degradation Kinetics of Automotive Shredder Residue and Waste Automotive Glass for SiC Synthesis: An Energy-Efficient Approach

Generally, fossil carbon materials (coal, coke/char, and petroleum coke), biological carbon materials (charcoal, woodchips), and quartz from the earth’s crust are sources of carbon and silica to synthesise silicon carbide (SiC) at temperatures between 2000 and 2200 °C. The study investigated the isothermal and non-isothermal kinetics of synthesising SiC from automotive shredder residues (ASR) and windshield glass of end-of-life-vehicle (ELVs) at 1300 °C, 1400 °C, and 1500 °C for 30 min. The kinetics of ASR and waste glass degradation were studied by relating the thermogravimetric data via the Coats–Redfern model. The reaction mechanism includes the rapid formation of a gaseous SiO intermediate, and carbon reduction of the SiO to SiC is reaction-rate-controlling. The understanding of kinetics inferred that the optimisation of SiC formation is entirely associated with the conversion of SiO2 to SiO vapour and their reaction with CO and carbon particles. The kinetic parameters of the degradation of mixed ASR and waste glass were determined, and the activation energy of mixed ASR and glass for non-isothermal conditions are 22.48 kJ mol−1, 2.97 kJ mol−1, and 6.5 kJ mol−1, and for the isothermal study to produce SiC is 225.9 kJ mol−1, respectively. The results confirmed that this facile way of synthesising SiC would conserve about 50% of chemical energy compared to the traditional way of producing SiC. A beneficial route of transforming the heterogenous ASR and glass wastes into SiC with economic and environmental benefits is recognised

High-temperature carbothermal dephosphorization of Malaysian monazite

High-temperature carbothermal reduction experiments with graphite powder were conducted to assess the dephosphorization behavior of Malaysian monazite concentrate. Thermodynamic analysis of the possible dephosphorization reactions was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the carbothermal reduction of the monazite phases. The effects of temperature, particle size, and monazite to carbon ratio were then investigated under different conditions. The carbothermal reduction experiments were conducted based on the Taguchi design method, and up to 97% of phosphorous removal was achieved under optimized conditions. The optimal conditions for dephosphorization were determined as; a reduction temperature of 1350 °C, a particle size of -75 μm, and monazite to carbon molar ratio of 0.3. Microstructural and phase characterization of the dephosphorized products revealed that CeO2, Nd2O3, La2O3, and Pr2O3 oxide phases were prominent, and no residual peaks of monazite remained in the reduced products. The information gained from the study can aid in the design of a suitable post-dephosphorization hydrometallurgical treatment for exploiting Malaysian monazite as a local source of REEs

Economic evaluation of thorium oxide production from monazite using alkaline fusion method

Monazite is a phosphate mineral that contains thorium (Th) and rare earth elements. The Th concentration in monazite can be as high as 500 ppm, and it has the potential to be used as fuel in the nuclear power system. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct the techno-economic analysis (TEA) of Th extraction in the form of thorium oxide (ThO2) from monazite. Th can be extracted from monazite through an alkaline fusion method. The TEA of ThO2 production studied parameters, including raw materials, equipment costs, total plant direct and indirect costs, and direct fixed capital cost. These parameters were calculated for the production of 0.5, 1, and 10 ton ThO2 per batch. The TEA study revealed that the highest production cost was ascribed to installed equipment. Furthermore, the highest return on investment (ROI) of 21.92% was achieved for extraction of 1 ton/batch of ThO2, with a payback time of 4.56 years. With further increase in ThO2 production to 10 ton/batch, the ROI was decreased to 5.37%. This is mainly due to a significant increase in the total capital investment with increasing ThO2 production scale. The minimum unit production cost was achieved for 1 ton ThO2/batch equal to 335.79 $/Kg ThO2

Thermal Transformation of Secondary Resources of Carbon-Rich Wastes into Valuable Industrial Applications

Carbon-based materials have become an indispensable component in a myriad of domestic and industrial applications. Most of the carbon-based end-of-life products discussed in this review end up in landfills. Where recycling is available, it usually involves the production of lower-value products. The allotropic nature of carbon has been analysed to identify novel materials that could be obtained from used products, which also transform into a secondary carbon resource. Thermal transformation of carbon-rich wastes is a promising and viable pathway for adding value to waste that would otherwise go to landfills. The valorisation routes of four different carbon-rich wastes by thermal transformation are reviewed in the study—automotive shredder residue (ASR), textile wastes, leather wastes, and spent coffee grounds (SCGs). Textile wastes were thermally transformed into carbon fibres and activated carbon, while ASRs were used as a reductant to produce silicon carbide (SiC) from waste glass. The leather wastes and spent coffee grounds (SCGs) were employed as reductants in the reduction of hematite. This paper examines the possible routes of thermally transforming carbon-rich wastes into different industrial processes and applications. The transformation products were characterised using several techniques to assess their suitability for their respective applications. The strategy of valorising the wastes by thermal transformation has successfully prevented those wastes from ending up in landfills