Scope and Topics

This symposium is dedicated to the lifetime achievements of Prof. H.Y. Sohn. It will cover the scientific fields, processing routes and investigation techniques in which Prof. Sohn has worked during his career and will be based in the equally important three topical areas: Principles, Technologies, and Industrial practice.

The scope of this symposium will include, but is not limited to; nonferrous metal extraction, processing and sulfide smelting (including light metals, PGMs and Ferro alloys); iron and steel production; mineral processing; chemical and metallurgical process reactors; refractory materials; recycling, waste treatment, soil remediation and biotechnologies; chemistry of power and energy generation; composite, hybrid, polymeric, ceramic materials and nanomaterials; value addition and advanced materials; legal, management, and environmental issues.

SYMPOSIUM TOPICS

• Thermo and Physicochemical Principles in Pyrometallurgical, Aqueous (Hydrometallurgical) and Electrochemical Processes
  • Reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, minor element behavior, chemical and transport properties of slags, metals, steels, moulds fluxes, gases, aqueous solutions, etc.
  • Fluid-solid reaction engineering with applications in the reduction of oxide and sulfide minerals, mineral leaching, oxidation of carbonaceous materials and sulfide minerals (roasting)
  • Sulfur dioxide streams treatment with application in new processes for reduction to elemental sulfur
  • Heat and mass transfer
  • Chemistry of power and energy generation (various combustion, gasification processes, oil shale and tar sand combustion, etc.)
  • Solvent extraction
  • Mineral processing
  • Experimental techniques: existing and new developments
  • Process modeling and simulation (computational fluid dynamic modeling, etc.)
  • Refractory materials, degradation, control and optimization
  • Products quality and cleanness (metal, steels, etc.)
  • Material processing: composite, hybrid, polymeric, ceramic and nanomaterials
  • Chemical synthesis of metallic and ceramic nanopowders
• New, Improved and Existing Technologies in Pyrometallurgical, Aqueous (Hydrometallurgical) and Electrochemical Processes
  • Metals and materials extraction and processing
  • Chemical and metallurgical process reactors: control operations and new designso
  • Recycling, waste treatment, soil remediation and biotechnologies
  • Waste processing and water treatment plants
  • Solvent extraction process equipments
  • Mineral processing technologies
  • Advances in refractory technologies and their industrial application
  • Environmental issues and technologies in metals and materials processing
  • Technologically and environmentally undesirable minor components in product and waste streams
  • Power and energy generation
  • Products quality and cleanness (metals, steels, mattes, etc.)
  • Value addition and advance materials
  • Existing and new ways to produce new composite, polymeric or hybrid materials with upper qualities
• Industrial Practice in Pyrometallurgical, Aqueous(Hydrometallurgical) and Electrochemical Processes
  • Plant operations and industrial practice (nonferrous, iron and steel making, etc.)
  • Feed morphology and composition in various processes such as iron ore sintering and nickel/copper, lead/zinc and aluminum/magnesium smelting and processing
  • Process control and optimization
  • Process modeling, simulation and automation
  • Process parameters in smelting furnaces, converters, electrical furnaces, refining vessels, iron sintering, blast furnace, BOF, combustion of gasification chambers, etc.
  • Products quality and cleanness (metal, steels, mattes, etc.)
  • New designs
  • Industrial application of new and improved refractory technologies
  • Mineral processing
• International Symposium on Sulfide Smelting 2006
  • Pyrometallurgical production of primary metals such as Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, PGM, etc. from sulfide concentrates
  • Fundamentals of sulfide flash and bath smelting (reaction kinetics, thermo-dynamics, minor element behavior; chemical and transport properties of slags, mattes, metals, fluxes, gases, etc.; fluid-solid reactions, etc.)
  • Feed preparation processes, equipments
  • Roasting, smelting, converting and refining processes and equipments
  • Smelter gas handling and acid plants processes and equipments
  • Smelter dusts and fugitive emissions
  • Environmental issues and policies related to sulfide smelting
  • Furnace designs and refractory
  • Furnace operating practices
  • Control and optimization
  • New smelter and expansion/capital projects
  • New and improved technologies on direct production of metals
  • The impacts of the current boom on basic metals prices and the predicted future of sulfide smelting operations
  • Alternative ways of producing metals from sulfide concentrates
• Legal, Management, and Environmental Issues in Minerals, Metals and Materials Extraction and Processing
  • Patents
  • Copyrights
  • Intellectual properties, contracts, confidentiality and litigation
  • Technology transfer - legal and management issues
  • Merging and/or buyout of industrial complexes and companies in various countries with different legal and political systems
  • Price fluctuation in raw materials, coke, scrap and metals
  • Effect of globalization on the production volumes and rate of minerals, metals and materials, etc

TECHNICAL INQUIRIES