Metallurgy - Refining, Alloying, Smelting

metallurgy

Table of Contents

Introduction
History of metallurgy
- Earliest development
  - Bronze
  - Iron
  - Brass
  - Precious metals
- From 500 bce to 1500 ce
- After 1500
  - Ferrous metals
  - Light metals
  - Welding
  - Metallography
Extractive metallurgy
- Pyrometallurgy
  - Roasting
    - Processes
    - Roasters
  - Smelting
    - Reduction smelting
    - Matte smelting
    - Electrolytic smelting
  - Refining
    - Fire refining
    - Electrolytic refining
    - Chemical refining
- Hydrometallurgy
  - Conversion
  - Leaching
  - Recovery
Physical metallurgy
- Structures and properties of metals
  - Metallic crystal structures
  - Mechanical properties
  - Electrical properties
  - Magnetic properties
  - Chemical properties
- Alloying
  - Processes
  - Metallurgy
    - Increasing strength
    - Increasing corrosion resistance
    - Reducing costs
    - Lowering melting points
- Casting
  - Processes
    - Sand-casting
    - Metal molds
    - Investment casting
    - Centrifugal casting
    - Continuous casting
  - Metallurgy
    - Grain size
    - Segregation
    - Porosity
- Metalworking
  - Processes
    - Rolling
    - Extrusion
    - Drawing
    - Sheet metal forming
    - Forging
  - Metallurgy
- Powder metallurgy
  - Applications
  - Processes
- Heat treating
  - Hardening treatments
  - Softening treatments
  - Processes
- Surface treating
  - Corrosion resistance
    - Barrier protection
    - Galvanic protection
    - Other coating techniques
  - Hardening
    - Carburizing
    - Nitriding
    - Other methods
- Metallography and metal testing
  - Metallography
    - Optical microscopy
    - Electron microscopy
  - Testing mechanical properties

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Catalan hearth or forge used for smelting iron ore until relatively recent times. The method of charging fuel and ore and the approximate position of the nozzle supplied with air by a bellows are shown.

Schematic diagram of a fluidized-bed roaster.

A side-blown copper-nickel matte converter.

Part of a modern potline based on the electrolytic Hall-Héroult smelting process.

Heap leaching of gold ore. Earth movers preparing the heap (background) and the drainage ditches for pregnant liquor (foreground).

The commonest metallic crystal structures.

For Students

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Refining is the final procedure for removing (and often recovering as by-products) the last small amounts of impurities left after the major extraction steps have been completed. It leaves the major metallic element in a practically pure state for commercial application. The procedure is accomplished in three ways: refining by fire, by electrolytic, or by chemical methods. Iron, copper, and lead are fire-refined by selective oxidation. In this process, oxygen or air is added to the impure liquid metal; the impurities oxidize before the metal and are removed as an oxide slag or a volatile oxide gas. The basic oxygen ...(100 of 18633 words)

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