Recycling of bismuth oxides

Introduction. The paper is devoted to the creation of an environmentally safe, technologically efficient and cost-effective high-performance integrated scheme for the recycling of lead-containing industrial products and waste, in particular, bismuth oxides and drosses formed during the melting of copper-electrolyte sludge, with the production of commodity monoelement products. To solve the problem, a combined technology is used, which is based on hydrometallurgical operations that allow separating chemical elements with similar properties with high extraction into finished products. The aim of the work is to study and develop fundamental approaches and rational integrated technologies for recycling bismuth drosses and oxides-industrial products of refining rough lead, using reducing melts of raw materials and bismuth-enriched sludge, electrolysis of bismuth lead to obtain rough bismuth containing ≥ 90 % Bi with its direct extraction of ≥ 70 %. Methods and approaches: melting at a temperature of 1,100…1,150 oC a charge of optimal composition containing bismuth oxides, sodium carbonate, silicon dioxide and carbon. Novelty: a decrease in the content of noble metals and accompanying chalcogenes in secondary copper-containing raw materials with an increase in the amount of impurity elements. Results and discussion: joint melting (1,100…1,150 °C) of bismuth oxides, sodium carbonate, silicon dioxide and carbon, taken in the mass ratio 100 : (15‒66) : (11‒25) : (5‒7), allows to transfer 89.0 – 93.6 % of bismuth and 99.5 ‒ 99.7 % of lead from the initial oxides to bismuth lead containing ~7 % Bi and ~80 % Pb. The main phase of the Pb-Bi alloy is elemental lead. The increased flux consumption leads to an increase in the amount of recycled silicate slags that are poor in target metals, into which it passes,%: 1.4 Bi; 2 Pb; 47 Zn; 23 Sb; 33 Sn. Main slag phases are following: Na2CaSiO4, Na4Mg2Si3O10, MgO, Pb, ZnS, PbS. The practical relevance is determined by the optimal mode of reducing melting of bismuth oxides (100 %) to obtain lead bismuth, %: 66 Na2CO3, 25 SiO2, 5 C; the process temperature is 1,150 ° C. The presence of impurities makes it necessary to introduce reagent treatment of lead bismuth into the technological scheme for recycling bismuth oxides. Decontamination and alkaline softening will make it possible to obtain a Pb-Bi alloy suitable for pyroelectrometallurgical recycling.

Performance Evaluation of Alternating Current Square Waveform Submerged Arc Welding as a Candidate for Fabrication of Thick Welds in 2.25Cr-1Mo Heat-Resistant Steel

The paper evaluates the performance of alternating current (AC) square waveform submerged arc welding (SAW) as a candidate technology for manufacturing thick welds for high-pressure vessels. A new mathematical formulation for calculating melting efficiency in square waveform arc welding is presented. The melting efficiency and the heat consumption are presented as a mathematical model of welding parameters, namely welding current, welding speed, current frequency, and electrode negativity (EN) ratio. The proposed approach is demonstrated through the welding of 2.25Cr-1Mo heat-resistant steel performed over a wide range of welding parameters. The investigation provides deeper insights into the interplay between process parameter, total heat consumption, and melting efficiency. The effect on flux consumption is also explained. The melting efficiency is inversely proportional to flux consumption. The welding heat does not necessarily promote the plate melting. Improper use of welding heat may lead to decreased melting efficiency and increased unwanted melting and consumption of welding flux. Compared to the conventional direct current (DC) power sources, the AC square waveform welding achieves almost the same order of melting efficiency with added advantages of better weld bead shape and flux consumption in a desirable range. The two additional parameters (frequency and EN ratio) of the AC square waveform power source provide more freedom to fine-tune the process and thereby efficiently use welding heat. The results of this investigation will be advantageous to the designers and fabricators of high-pressure vessels using AC square waveform welding.

Solderability and Reliability Evolution of No-Clean Solder Fluxes For Selective Soldering

Flux consumption for wave soldering tends to decrease, mainly due to its gradual replacement by reflow soldering methods (i.e. pin-in-paste) in many electronics applications. However, in several cases, wave soldering still remains a must, with an increasing share of “selective” soldering processes, either using wave frames with dedicated apertures or solder fountains. Such processes are more challenging for the fluxes in terms of reliability under operation, since some chemistries remaining on the printed circuit boards after soldering may promote corrosion. Thus, flux manufacturers had to adapt their formulations to minimize such issues while keeping an efficient activation level, with several types of alloys (tin-lead, tin-silver-copper and low/no-silver) and associated with the numerous types of finishes encountered. The paper will cover the types of flux used in the electronic industry according to their chemistry and activation level (rosin-based, halides, alcohol-based or water-based flux…), and their characteristics with reference to standards. The limits of current standards will be discussed in regards to the last generation solder fluxes. Then, the development of two low-residue new generation fluxes, an alcohol-based flux and a true VOC-free flux, will be described, according to requirements: the lab tests results (surface tension, spread tests, wettability tests…) will be presented and discussed. Reliability will be especially investigated through surface insulation resistance, electro-chemical migration test, ionic contamination as well as Bono tests to determine the candidates able to provide high processability combined with chemical inertness of residues. Finally, the performance of flux will be assessed through customer tests, involving several types of boards, finishes and different solder alloys and wave equipment.

Experimental Studies for Reducing Flux Consumptions in Atmospheric Controlled Brazing of Aluminum Alloys

Increasing performances of thermal engines and the emission reduction requirements force the functioning point of the engines to have higher temperatures, recirculation of a fraction of exhaust gases, and also higher pressure in the engine compartment. These requirements have an impact on the technical and corrosion resistance characteristics of the aluminum heat exchangers that equip these engines. Brazing technology of aluminum alloys is the most energetically effective method, having a low impact on the environment; it consists of a controlled atmosphere binding using NOKOLOK fluxes. The first downside of this method is the flux which even if is chemically inert at ambient temperature, necessitates cleaning operations at the surface of the material, the powders can become an environmental problem if they are not handled carefully; the second downside is the residual flux that resides at outlet and inlet surfaces of the brazed structure can react with the hot cooling agents giving birth to some kind of gel which can alter the heat exchanger’s functionality; the flux particles, in solid state, may detach from the surfaces and may be driven into the cooling loop leading to corrosion of the parts of which the cooling loop is composed of. This paper presents some experimental methods which reduce the flux consumption carried out at RAAL S.A. in their horizontal and vertical controlled atmosphere brazing ovens. These methods point out a significant consumption drop of flux. As a direct consequence we obtained a significant reduction of the residual flux and also the next direction of experimental investigations for obtaining a minimum flux quantity required for the brazing process to run.