UQ RTA Bauxite & Alumina Technology Centre · ence with alumina process fundamentals and opera-tional practice has been acquired through working at every level of industrial R&D in

annual report 2013

UQ RTA Bauxite & Alumina Technology Centre

Contents

Message from the Director 1

Board of Directors 2

Aims of the Centre 4

Centre staff 5

Centre students 6

Centre capabilities 7

Projects and outcomes 8

Research output 11

Communications 12

Financial report 13

1

The Centre consists of a team of dedicated staff and students working

closely with industry advisors on projects aligned with Rio Tinto Alcan

priorities. We are continuously developing our core capability in hydro-

metallurgy while collaborating with experts in complementary fields such

as mineral processing and pyrometallurgy.

In the current business climate, it is essential to operate alumina refineries

efficiently to make a profit. As the Bayer process is a mature technol-

ogy, easily obtained improvements have largely been made and further

gains require a deeper understanding of the underpinning fundamentals

of the process. We are building this knowledge for a range of potentially

high value areas with a vision of supporting the promising technologies

through development stages, toward industrial application.

The University of Queensland has a long history of collaboration with

Rio Tinto Alcan in Bayer research. The effort leading up to the establish-

ment of the Centre began with Dr Alistair Gillespie being seconded to

UQ from Queensland Alumina. In 2011, three PhD projects were initiated

through the Parker Centre CRC with joint support from Rio Tinto Alcan

and Queensland Alumina. In late 2012, the Centre was formally inaugu-

rated and 2013 was a year of building the Centre team with appointments

of myself, James Gudgeon and Marco Peng.

It is an exciting time for the Centre as research outputs are begin-

ning to flow from the three Parker Centre projects. 2014 will be a year

of rejuvenating the student co-hort, building on current projects and

establishing new ones. This report will summarise the key activities

and accomplishments of 2013. Please feel free to contact me regarding

the Centre.

Sincerely,

James Vaughan

Director – UQ RTA Bauxite & Alumina Technology Centre

The University of Queensland | School of Chemical Engineering

Message from the Director

UQ RTA BAUXITE & ALUMINA TECHNOLOGY CENTRE ANNUAL REPORT 2013

2

Board of DirectorsThe Board of Directors meets with the Director bi-annually to provide guidance on Centre activities

and strategy. The Board is composed of Professor Peter Hayes leader of the Metallurgical Engi-

neering Program at UQ, Professor Peter Halley Head of the School of Chemical Engineering, Dr

Denis Audet Manager RTA-QRDC and Mr. Steve Healy General Manager RTA Technology.

PROF. PETER HAYES

BSc/MSc (Metallurgy) Newcastle on Tyne (UK) 1972 PhD (Metallurgy) Strathclyde University (Scotland) 1974

Prof. Hayes is Xstrata Professor and Metallurgical En-gineering program leader at the University of Queens-land. He was founding Director of PYROSEARCH, the Pyrometallurgy Research Centre. The focus of Pyrometallurgy Centre activities is the high tempera-ture smelting and processing of metals, specialising in slag chemistry, and high temperature chemical re-action kinetics and mechanisms in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Dr Hayes is the author of over 240 research publications in international journals and conference proceedings.

PROF. PETER HALLEY

BEng (Chem) UQ (Australia) 1987 PhD (Chem) UQ (Australia) 1993

Leader in the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), the Director of the Cen-tre for High Performance Polymers (CHPP), a chief investigator in Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) Centre and the Head of the School of Chemical Engineering. Peter works at the translational research interface between universities and industry. Peter leads the CHPP – a virtual clus-ter of over 80 academics, researchers and students across UQ. He is a fellow of the institute of chemical engineers (IChemE) and a fellow of the Royal Austral-ian Chemical Institute (RACI). Peter is on the editorial board of the journals Plastics, Rubbers and Compos-ites, Starch and Journal of Renewable Materials.

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DR DENIS AUDET

BSc (Chem. Eng.) Laval (Canada) 1982 PhD (Chem. Eng.) U.de Tech. de Compiègne (France) 1985

Denis Audet joined Alcan 27 years ago after finishing his PhD in energy storage (Chemical Engineering at University of Technology of Compiegne in France). He first worked at the Arvida Research Center for 4 years before being sent to Aughinish Alumina in Ireland for 3 years. On his return to Canada at the Arvida Re-search center he worked on a variety of projects. The project for which he is most renowned for is the development of a precipitation model that includes the population balance which has been widely ap-plied. He then moved to Banbury, England to help start another research group for 3 years. Following the merger with Alusuisse he was then involved in the start-up of the R&D group in Brisbane that became the Queensland R&D Center (QRDC) that celebrated its 10th year in February. He was appointed manager of QRDC 4 years ago and continues to help the Cen-tre grow.

MR STEVE HEALY

General Manager, RioTinto Alcan Bauxite and Alumina Research and Development

Steve Healy’s industrial R&D knowledge and exper-tise has been developed over 25 years in the alumina industry (Alcoa, Worsley Alumina, Nabalco, Rio Tinto Alcan), and 5 years in the coal industry. His experi-ence with alumina process fundamentals and opera-tional practice has been acquired through working at every level of industrial R&D in several major alumina producers, and through working relationships with a number of recognised leaders in alumina industry R&D and technology. He has had a long working relation-ship with academic and institutional research through his involvement in projects and as an industry repre-sentative in organisations such as AMIRA, the Parker Centre, and the International Aluminium Institute where he is presently a co-chair of the Bauxite and Alumina Committee. As inaugural Manager, he established Rio Tinto Alcan’s Queensland Research and Development Centre (QRDC) at QCAT site in Pullenvale, and as GM RTA B&A R&D conceived and has been the RTA champion for the creation of this centre.

In his present role, he is responsible for the ongo-ing development of alumina technology in Rio Tinto Alcan’s Bauxite and Alumina Activities.


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Aims of the Centre

Back row L-R: Professor Graham Schaffer, Professor Gordon Dunlop and Steve Healy Front row L-R: Professor Peter Hayes, Dr Denis Audet, Francois Tremblay and David Holmyard

The aim is to provide strategic support for RTA’s technical and

process development, strengthening their fundamental and ap-

plied research capabilities. The Centre activities also result in

educational and professional development pathways for current

and future RTA employees.

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DR JAMES VAUGHAN

BEng (Metallurgy) McGill (Canada) 2001; MASc (Material) UBC (Canada) 2003; PhD (Materials) UBC (Canada) 2007

Centre Director

James has been working at the University of Queens-land for five years and is currently senior lecturer. He has contributed to extractive metallurgy research and development in the areas of precipitation and crystal-lisation, electro crystallisation, ion exchange, leach-ing and corrosion. Before joining UQ James gained experience as a research engineer in industry, work-ing for Placer Dome Mines and BHP Billiton.

DR MARCO PENG

BEng (Minerals) CSU (China) 2003; MSc (BioHydrometallurgy) CSU (China) 2006; PhD (Flotation) UQ (Australia) 2013

Post-doctoral Research Fellow

Marco has over 10 years of research experience in the field of metallurgy and minerals processing. He joined the Centre in 2014, after obtaining his PhD de-gree on fundamental aspects of nanobubble forma-tion using a combination of atomic force microscopy and molecular simulation. He has published over 20 journal articles including A* journals Langmuir and JPC, four conference papers and holds one patent. The aim of his current project is to improve the man-agement of silicates in the Bayer process.

Centre staff

JAMES GUDGEON

BEng (Chem/Met) UQ (Australia) 2010

Research Officer

James joined the Centre in early 2013 as a research officer after two years at the Queensland Research & Development Centre (QRDC), where he worked on Bayer organics control and residue management at laboratory and pilot plant scale. He provides research support, coordinates maintenance of research equip-ment as well as documenting procedures for the gen-eration of quality data.

VALENTINA URRUTIA GUADA

BSc (Biology) USB (Venezuela) 2007; MEnvMng UQ (Australia) 2012; GDipBus UQ (Australia) 2013; PhD Candidate (EnvMng) UQ (Australia)

Laboratory Manager

Valentina joined the hydrometallurgy research group in 2012, managing lab operations with focus on safe-ty and laboratory systems management. She also provides support for the UQ RTA Centre communica-tions.


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The Centre also hosts a number of summer research scholars and supports masters of engineering industry placements. In 2013, these students were Adam Han Onn (UQ BE/ME Industry Placement at QRDC); Llyza Mendoza (UQ BE/ME Industry Placement at QRDC); Michael Hart (UQ BE/ME Industry Placement at Yarwun); Jackson Moore (UQ BE/ME Industry Placement at QAL); Sue Ying Tang (UQ Summer Research Scholar (U.Melbourne ME Chem. Eng. Student)); Luisa Prasetyo (UQ Summer Research Scholar (UQ BE Chem. Eng. Student)); Nabilah Mohamed Aroff (UQ Summer Research Scholar (UQ BE Chem. Eng. Student).

NEETU BANSAL

BSc (Chemistry) CCSU (India) 1994; MSc (Organic Chemistry) Gahrwal (India) 1996; BEd CCSU (India) 2001

PhD Candidate

Neetu Bansal started her research in the School of Chemical En-gineering after 3 years research experience at the University of South Pacific Fiji. She has published several research papers in international journals. Her research interests include analytical chemistry, mercury determination, and electrochemistry.

WENG FU

BEng (Metallurgy) CSU (China) 2007; MSc (Metallurgy) CSU (China) 2011

PhD Candidate

Weng Fu joined the UQ hydrometallurgy group in 2011 after complet-ing a research masters degree in solvent ex-traction processes for zinc. His current research fo-cuses on the study of co-precipitation of gibbsite and sodium oxalate in the Bayer process using atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron micros-copy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM).

Centre students

REZA SALIMI

BEng (Chem) USB (Iran) 1996; MEng (Chem) IAU (Iran) 2008

PhD Candidate

Reza has 10 years’ experience as an R&D engineer in the Iranian alumina industry. He received a master’s de-gree in chemical engi-neering from the university South Tehran Branch in 2008 and arrived at UQ in 2011. His current research relates to the crystallisation of tricalcium aluminate used as filter aid in the Bayer process.

STEFAN LAKEMOND

BEng (Chem/Met) UQ (Australia) 2012

MPhil Student

Stefan joined the Cen-tre after working in the hydrometallurgy group as research assistant on a range of projects; including research on a novel method for re-cycling automotive exhaust catalyst and establish-ing gold-cyanide leach testing capabilities within the group. His current project focuses on oxalate mor-phology modification.

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The strong association between the newly estab-

lished Centre and the UQ hydrometallurgy group

provides access to a wide range of existing infra-

structure, capabilities and knowledge; including

laboratory and pilot scale experimental apparatus,

solution and particle analysis and thermodynamic

and process modelling experience.

The last year has been a period of rapid growth for

the Centre, with the development of procedures

and methodologies, including techniques for the

determination of trace mercury in Bayer process

streams using a combination of microwave diges-

tions and flow injections cold-vapour atomic ab-

sorption spectroscopy.

The collaborative relations of the Centre with other

research facilities has also allowed the advance-

ment of the research projects including improved

methods for particle sizing of Bayer solids, with

the support from Queensland Research & Devel-

opment Centre. Other techniques to directly ob-

serve crystallisation such as in-situ optical and

atomic force microscopy were established in col-

laboration with the UQ Centre for Microscopy &

Microanalysis and the Australian National Nano-

fabrication Facility.

Centre capabilities


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DETERMINATION OF MERCURY DEPORTMENT IN BAYER PROCESS & OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS REMOVAL

Neetu Bansal, PhD Project

Advisors: Amiel Boullemant (QRDC),

Irena Chandrawana (QRDC), Tony Leong

(QAL), James Vaughan (UQ)

Industry challengeMercury is a toxic element present in bauxite ore. In the Bayer process, a portion of the mercury is ex-tracted from the solid phase and exits the refinery at multiple points in different forms. The industry is seeking a safe, effective and cost efficient method to isolate the mercury from the circuit.

Technical objectivesThe primary objective is to develop methods to accu-rately determine the mercury content in Bayer proc-ess streams to improve mass balancing efforts and to identify opportunities for recovery. An additional objective is to study the electrochemical behaviour of mercury in strongly alkaline solution and combine this with thermodynamic predictions to assess the pre-dominant state throughout the circuit.

Skills developedRisk assessment and safety practice. Statistical analysis of experimental data. Technical presentation skills. Analytical method development techniques. Electro-analytical chemistry. Experience gained by in-teraction with industry advisors and site visits.

Achievements to dateDevelopment of an accurate and sensitive method to assay mercury in Bayer process solids resulting in preliminary refinery mercury mass balances

Projects and outcomes

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THE CO-PRECIPITATION OF GIBBSITE AND SODIUM OXALATE UNDER BAYER CONDITIONS

Weng Fu, PhD Project

Advisors: Alistair Gillespie (QRDC),

Andrew Denton (QAL), James Vaughan (UQ)

Industry challengeSodium oxalate is generally present in bauxite, but most of the oxalate that is found in the process is produced by degradation of organic impurities in bauxite during the Digestion stage of the Bayer proc-ess. The limited solubility of oxalate in the Bayer solu-tion results in co-precipitation of sodium oxalate and gibbsite during the Precipitation stage leading to a wide array of operational, maintenance and produc-tion problems.

Technical ObjectivesThe main objective of this research is to understand, at the molecular level, the nature of the co-precipita-tion occurring between gibbsite and sodium oxalate in the Bayer process. This project consists of three distinct focus areas: (1) the precipitation mechanism of sodium oxalate under the Bayer conditions; (2) the interaction mechanism between gibbsite and so-dium oxalate under the Bayer conditions; (3) sodium oxalate-induced gibbsite secondary nucleation under the Bayer conditions.

Skills developedTechnical communication skills, knowledge of opera-tional practice, development of technical/experimen-tal capabilities within the lab e.g. crystallization meth-ods, electron microscopy, in situ optical microscopy, atomic force microscope.

Achievements to date TMS conference paper, development of methods to obtain high quality images of crystals both in-situ / ex-situ and at the atomic scale during nucleation.



10

CRYSTALLISATION OF TRICALCIUM ALUMINATE AS FILTER AID

Reza Salimi, PhD Project

Advisors: Warren Staker (QRDC),

James Vaughan (UQ)

Industry challengeSpecific properties are required from the tricalcium aluminate to ensure adequate filter throughput, life-time and importantly effective reduction of solid/col-loidal impurities from solution. Variable quality of this filter coating leads to increased costs associated with cleaning and maintenance of filters. The quality of tri-calcium aluminate which is generated at site can vary with changes in the processing conditions and the specific conditions for generating the material also varies between sites with little fundamental basis.

Technical ObjectivesDetermine the solubility of tricalcium aluminate over a range of industrially relevant conditions. Develop a mechanistic model of the crystallisation process from batch experiments by studying the changes in both the solution and solid phases. Relate the batch crystallisation process to the continuous crystallisa-tion using chemical engineering theory. Generate well defined tricalcium aluminate from the continuous re-actor at select conditions. The new information on solubility, metastability, nucleation and crystal growth mechanisms will provide guidance on improved de-sign and control of the tricalcium aluminate crystal-lisation process which ultimately controls security filtration performance.

Skills developedMaterial characterization, design of experimental set-up, fundamentals of thermodynamics and statistics, presentation skills, attention to detail, managing risks to work safely, experimental troubleshooting skills.


Achievements to dateDevelopment of methods to generate tricalcium alu-minate, accurately assay trace levels of calcium in so-lution, measure the particle size distribution of kinetic samples using the Accusizer. A continuous crystal-liser was also constructed and commissioned. Two draft publications have been prepared.

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Research outputBansal N., Vaughan J., Boullemant A., Leong T. Determination of total mercury in bauxite and bauxite residue by flow injection cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry. Microchemical Journal, 113, 36‐41 (2014).

Bansal N., Vaughan J., Boullemant A., Leong T. The determination of mercury in environmental samples: a review. Chemeca 2013 : challenging tomorrow, 29 Sep – 2 Oct, Brisbane Australia (2013).

Bansal N., Vaughan J., Tam Wai Yin P., Boullemant A., Leong T. Chemical thermodynamics of mercury in the Bayer process. Proceedings of the Hydrometallurgy 2014 Conference, CIM, Victoria, Canada, June 22‐25 (2014).

Fu W. and Vaughan J. Morphological investigation of sodium oxalate crystals grown in aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. Light Metals 2013, Ed.:B. Sadler, 191‐194 (2013).

Fu W. and Vaughan J. A study of sodium oxalate growth on industrial gibbsite with in situ opti-cal microscopy. Proceedings of the Hydrometallurgy 2014 Conference, CIM, Victoria, Canada, June 22‐25 (2014).

Fu W., Vaughan J., Gillespie, A. Effects of Inorganic Anions on the Morphology of Sodium Oxalate Crystallized from Highly Alkaline Solutions. Crystal Growth & Design14 (4), 1972-1980 (2014).

Salimi R. and Vaughan J. Batch tricalcium aluminate crystallisation and particle morphology. Proceedings of the Hydrometallurgy 2014 Conference, CIM, Victoria, Canada, June 22‐25 (2014).


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Communications

L–R: Stefan Lakemond, Valentina Urrutia, James Gudgeon, Weng Fu, James Vaughan, Marco Peng, William Hawker and Reza Salimi.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Board Meeting Board Meeting

RTA Tech Review

TMS Conference Centre Update CHEMECA Conference Centre Update

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Expenditure 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Staff 156 341 358 272 288

Admin 15 16 17 18 19

Travel 6 12 13 14 15

Contingency (7%) 21 22 24 25 27

Total 197 391 411 329 349

Revenue 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Total Centre Funds 294 314 336 360 385

Carry Over 97 20 -55 -25

Total (Tot. Funds + Carry Over) 294 411 356 305 360

Surplus (Rev. - Exp.) 97 20 -55 -25 12

Financial Report


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UQRTABAUXITEANDALUMINATECHNOLOGYCENTRE

The University of Queensland | School of Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering Building (74), College Road St Lucia QLD Australia 4068

[email protected] | +61 7 3365 3850

http://www.chemeng.uq.edu.au/rta

Documents

UQ RTA Bauxite & Alumina Technology Centre · ence with alumina process fundamentals and opera-tional practice has been acquired through working at every level of industrial R&D in