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The Role of Research in Pyrometallurgy Technology Development—From Fundamentals to Process Improvements—Future Opportunities

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Extraction 2018

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

Pyrometallurgy is an important sector of modern industrial society actively participating in solving current environmental, economic, materials scarcity and other challenges. Recent advances in analytical methods, experimental techniques, thermodynamic, phase equilibria and process modelling tools provide new opportunities to increase the productivity of pyrometallurgical reactors, the treatment of complex feeds and metal recoveries. Fundamental theoretical models can now be used to make a significant next step towards the development and implementation of computerised models describing real industrial processes—Virtual Reactors, and computer-aided smart-decision-making systems that may be called Pyro-GPS by analogy to GPS; these developments can facilitate knowledge-based improvement and optimisation strategies. The implementation of these improvements require ongoing collaboration between researchers, industry and government.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank many industrial sponsors including Umicore, Aurubis, Kazzinc Glencore, Nyrstar, BHP Billiton Olympic Dam Operation, Outotec (Espoo and Melbourne), PASAR Glencore, Anglo American Platinum , Atlantic Copper , Rio Tinto’s Kennecott operation, Altonorte Glencore and many others, as well as Australian Research Council Linkage program for the financial and technical support for this research. The author would like to acknowledge help of colleagues in preparation of this paper including Prof. P. C Hayes, Prof. Decterov, Dr Shishin, Dr Hidayat and others. Special acknowledgement and thanks to Prof. Hayes for the initiation and tireless continuous significant input over many decades into the research and education in the metallurgy sector.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PYROSEARCH, Pyrometallurgy Innovation Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Evgueni Jak

Authors
  1. Evgueni Jak
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Correspondence to Evgueni Jak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc., Kingston, Canada

    Boyd R. Davis

  2. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, USA

    Michael S. Moats

  3. Rio Tinto Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation, South Jordan, USA

    Shijie Wang

  4. RHI Magnesita, Leoben, Austria

    Dean Gregurek

  5. BBA Inc., Montreal, Canada

    Joël Kapusta

  6. Extractive Metallurgy Consultant, Kingston, Canada

    Thomas P. Battle

  7. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, USA

    Mark E. Schlesinger

  8. Aurubis, Hamburg, Germany

    Gerardo Raul Alvear Flores

  9. University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia

    Evgueni Jak

  10. XPS-Glencore, Falconbridge, Canada

    Graeme Goodall

  11. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

    Michael L. Free

  12. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Edouard Asselin

  13. University of Lorraine, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Alexandre Chagnes

  14. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    David Dreisinger

  15. Newmont Mining, Elko, USA

    Matthew Jeffrey

  16. University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

    Jaeheon Lee

  17. Miller Metallurgical Services Pty Ltd., Brisbane, Australia

    Graeme Miller

  18. University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Australia

    Jochen Petersen

  19. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Virginia S. T. Ciminelli

  20. Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

    Qian Xu

  21. MetNetH20 Inc., Peterborough, Canada

    Ronald Molnar

  22. Hatch, Mississauga, Canada

    Jeff Adams

  23. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Wenying Liu

  24. SGS Minerals, Lakefield, Canada

    Niels Verbaan

  25. J.R. Goode and Associates Metallurgical Consulting, Toronto, Canada

    John Goode

  26. Avalon Rare Metals Inc., Toronto, Canada

    Ian M. London

  27. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Gisele Azimi

  28. SGS Minerals, Lakefield, Canada

    Alex Forstner

  29. Newmont Mining, Greenwood Village, USA

    Ronel Kappes

  30. Newmont Mining Corporation, Greenwood village, USA

    Tarun Bhambhani

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Jak, E. (2018). The Role of Research in Pyrometallurgy Technology Development—From Fundamentals to Process Improvements—Future Opportunities. In: Davis, B., et al. Extraction 2018. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95022-8_2

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