Mineral Processing (MNPR)

Introduction to mineral process engineering. Sampling, sizing, comminution, physical and chemical processes, applications to industrial practice. Pollution control.

Unit operations for processing particulate materials: comminution, screening, classification, slurry pumping, thickening, filtration, etc.; application to mineral processing plant design.

Unit operations for processing particulate materials: comminution, screening, classification, slurry pumping, thickening, filtration, etc.; application to mineral processing plant design.

A laboratory study of the chemical and physical principles involved in practical mineral processing operations.

A study of the chemical and engineering principles pertinent to metal processing in aqueous systems: hydrometallurgical extraction, plating, materials preparation. MATSE (MN PR) 426 Aqueous Processing (3) This 3-credit course deals with the chemical and engineering principles underlying the aqueous processing of metals: metal extraction from primary and secondary sources, electroplating, and metal finishing, powder synthesis, energy storage and conversion, and treatment of recycling of metal-containing toxic wastes.1. Physico-Chemical Principles - Thermodynamic, chemical kinetic and transport factors which control hydrochemical processes (leaching; precipitation; adsorption; solvent extraction; ion exchange; electrowinning, electrorefining and electroplating; membrane processes; energy storage and conversion); graphical representation of homogeneous and solid/solution equilibria; chemical reagents.2. Engineering Principles - Reactor design and staged operations; ideal batch, continuous stirred-tank and plug-flow reactors; fluidized bed reactors; electrochemical reactors; multistage separation processes (solid-liquid, liquid-liquid, and gas-liquid systems).3. Process Synthesis - Design of metal separation (extraction, refining, waste treatment) materials synthesis, metal finishing, and energy storage/conversion processes and system-integration of unit operations, industrial practice. Emphasis on closing circuits to minimize or eliminate waste effluents.

Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.