21-Mat-A3 Structure and Characterization of Materials, May 2015: worked solutions

Paper format. National Exams, May 2015 — 10-Met-A3, Metal Extraction Processes. Three hours, closed book, one approved calculator (Casio or Sharp). Seven problems of 20 marks each; the rubric asks for any five, and only the first five in the answer book are marked. All seven are solved here, because this set is a study resource rather than an exam script.

Note on the exam title. The printed exam header reads 10-Met-A3, Metal Extraction Processes. The content is extractive metallurgy — mineral processing, pyrometallurgy, iron and steelmaking, and magnesium and zinc production — and is answered as such.

Reference texts. The answers below are keyed to the works normally recommended for this syllabus code:

F. Habashi, Textbook of Pyrometallurgy — roasting, smelting, mass and heat balances.
F. Habashi, Textbook of Hydrometallurgy, 2nd ed. — leaching, purification, electrowinning.
T. Rosenqvist, Principles of Extractive Metallurgy, 2nd ed. — refining, molten-salt electrolysis.
B. A. Wills and J. Finch, Wills' Mineral Processing Technology, 8th ed. — comminution, classification, flotation, thickening, pulp density.
D. R. Gaskell, Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials — heat capacities and reaction/transformation enthalpies.
ASM Handbook, Vol. 2 (Nonferrous Alloys) — magnesium and zinc production practice.

21-Mat-A3 Structure and Characterization of Materials: May 2015