Project TR – 34023
 
Developing technological process for nonstandard copper concentrates processing with the aim to decrease pollutants emission (2011-2014), funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia

Duration:                                  2011 – 2014
Organization:                           Technical Faculty at Bor, University of Belgrade
Participant organization:        Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials – ITNMS, Belgrade
Project leader:                         Nada Štrbac, Ph.D., professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
Project coordinator in ITNMS:  Miroslav Sokić, Ph.D.
 
Objectives:

The copper content decrease in domestic ore deposits resulted in the necessity for treatment the ores located on the periphery of already exploited ore bodies, which have increased concentration of detrimental ingredients and trace elements, such as: Zn, Pb, As, Cd, Hg, Ni etc. This fact indicates the urgent need for process environmental parameters enhancement in the frame of existing production technology at TIR in Bor, what makes the fundamentals of this project.

First stage consists of the analysis and characterization of presently used copper concentrates for copper production in Bor`s smelter plant, from the aspect of ecological process parameters (presence of the toxic elements in the concentrate: As, Cd, Hg, Ni, Sb, Sn,….), as well as from the economical aspect of the process. Also, utilization of the nonstandard concentrates, mixed with those presently used, will be the subject of investigations in this stage. This stage will also include investigations of the possibilities to form optimal mix of the concentrates, from both ecological and economical point of view. Subsequently, according to obtained results of the concentrates characterization, process of charge optimization for pyrometallurgical copper production will be performed, using up-to-date statistical analysis, linear programming (LP), as well as multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Optimal charge would be determined according to the environmental and economical aspect. In the frame of this stage, alternative methods for processing the copper concentrates, which are not applicable in pyrometallurgical process, would be considered. These alternative methods would mostly include hydrometallurgical treatment of such concentrates.

Second stage of the project will strictly include ecological analysis of the copper production process in the Bor`s smelter plant. This stage would include detailed analysis of the soul and the watercourses degradation in the wide surrounding of this industrial facility. Also, this stage will include investigations of air pollution as the result of SO2 and particle matter (PM) emission in wide surrounding of investigated copper smelting facility. For that purpose, data which is collected by measurements on daily bases will be used. Measurements are facilitated by continual measuring stations located at several points in the city of Bor. Besides this data concerning air pollution, these measuring stations are registering the meteorological parameters of the surroundings , such are: air temperature, wind speed and direction, air humidity and barometric pressure. Next step will include creation of mathematical models that will connect the influence of the starting charge composition (which is entering the smelting process) and the meteorological parameters in the city with the resulting concentration of pollutants detected in the air of specific city locations. This stage will also include the SO2 problem carried with the exhaust industrial gasses, from the aspect of possible methodology for its safe removal.
 
 
Investigators:
  1. Miroslav Sokić, Ph.D., research fellow, ITNMS
  2. Vladislav Matković, M.Sc., research associate, ITNMS
  3. Branislav Marković, M.Sc., research associate, ITNMS
  4. Zvonko Gulišija, Ph.D., Principal research fellow, ITNMS
  5. Zoran Janjušević, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, ITNMS
  6. Marija Mihailović, M.Sc., research associate, ITNMS
  7. Aleksandra Patarić, M.Sc., research associate , ITNMS
  8. Slobodan Radosavljević, Ph.D., Principal research fellow, ITNMS
  9. Aleksandar Ćosović, M.Sc., research associate, ITNMS
  10. Nada Štrbac, Ph.D., professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
  11. Ivan Mihailović, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
  12. Milovan Vuković, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
  13. Aleksandra Mitovski, assistant, Technical Faculty at Bor
  14. Milica Arsić, assistant, Technical Faculty at Bor
  15. Đorđe Nikolić, assistant, Technical Faculty at Bor
  16. Ivan Jovanović, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
  17. Dejan Bogdanović, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
  18. Isidora Đurić, assistant, Technical Faculty at Bor
  19. Predrag Đorđević, assistant trainee, Technical Faculty at Bor
  20. Aleksandra Ivanović, research student, Institute of mining and metallurgy at Bor