Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The most common example of roasting is the oxidation of metal sulfide ores. The metal sulfide is heated in the presence of air to a temperature that allows the oxygen in the air to react with the sulfide to form sulfur dioxide gas and solid metal oxide. The solid product from roasting is often called "calcine".
Extractive metallurgy is a branch of metallurgical engineering wherein process and methods of extraction of metals from their natural mineral deposits are studied. The field is a materials science, covering all aspects of the types of ore, washing, concentration, separation, chemical processes and extraction of pure metal and their alloying to suit various applications, sometimes for direct ...
The metal ore is either distilled in an electrolyte or acid solution, then magnetically deposited onto a cathode plate (electrowinning); or smelted then melted using an electric arc or plasma arc furnace (electrothermic reactor). [7] Another major difference in non-ferrous extraction is the greater emphasis on minimizing metal losses in slag.
The chemical reaction for the dissolution of gold, the "Elsner equation", follows: 4 Au + 8 NaCN + O 2 + 2 H 2 O → 4 Na[Au(CN) 2] + 4 NaOH. Potassium cyanide and calcium cyanide are sometimes used in place of sodium cyanide. Gold is one of the few metals that dissolves in the presence of cyanide ions and oxygen.
Smelting involves more than just melting the metal out of its ore. Most ores are the chemical compound of the metal and other elements, such as oxygen (as an oxide), sulfur (as a sulfide), or carbon and oxygen together (as a carbonate). To extract the metal, workers must make these compounds undergo a chemical reaction.
Cementation is the conversion of the metal ion to the metal by a redox reaction. A typical application involves addition of scrap iron to a solution of copper ions. Iron dissolves and copper metal is deposited. Solvent Extraction; Ion exchange; Gas reduction. Treating a solution of nickel and ammonia with hydrogen affords nickel metal as its ...
Organic fluxes are unsuitable for flame soldering and flame brazing, as they tend to char and impair solder flow. Some metals are classified as "unsolderable" in air, and have to be either coated with another metal before soldering or special fluxes or protective atmospheres have to be used.
The order of reactivity, as shown by the vigour of the reaction with water or the speed at which the metal surface tarnishes in air, appears to be Cs > K > Na > Li > alkaline earth metals, i.e., alkali metals > alkaline earth metals, the same as the reverse order of the (gas-phase) ionization energies.