MODULE 2

MEE 306
METALLURGY METALS AND ALLOYS
PRODUCTION AND USES

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Metal Production Cont….

Metal Production
• In most cases, however, metals occur in nature as
• The term metal production refers to all of the processes compounds, such as the oxide or the sulfide, and must first
involved in the conversion of a raw material, such as a
metallic ore, to a final form in which the metal can be used be converted to their elemental state. They may then be
for some commercial or industrial purpose. treated in a wide variety of ways in order to make them
usable for specific practical applications.
• In some instances, metal production involves relatively few
steps since the metal already occurs in an elemental form
in nature. Such is the case with gold, silver, platinum, and
other so-called noble metals. Major steps of metal production

• These metals normally occur in nature un-combined with • Mining

other elements and can therefore be put to some
commercial use with comparatively little additional • Purification
treatment. • Reduction
• Alloys

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 Metal Production Cont….
(1) Mining
• The first step in metal production always involves some form
of mining. Mining refers to the process of removing the metal in
its free or combined state from the Earth's surface.
• The two most common forms of mining are surface and
subsurface mining.
• In the case of surface mining, the metal or its ore can be
removed from the upper few meters of the Earth's surface.
Much of the world's copper, for example, is obtained from huge
open-pit mines may range in depth to as much as nearly a 1 km
and in width to as much as more than 3.5 km.
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Metal Production Cont….
• Finally, magnesium metal is obtained from the
magnesium chloride by passing an electric current
through a water solution of the compound.
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Metal Production Cont….
• Subsurface mining is used to collect metallic ores that
are at greater depths below the Earth's surface.
• A few metals can be obtained from seawater rather than
or in addition to being taken from the Earth's crust.
 Magnesium is one example. Every cubic mile of seawater
contains about six million tons of magnesium, primarily in
the form of magnesium chloride.
• The magnesium is first precipitated out of seawater as
magnesium hydroxide using lime (calcium hydroxide). The
magnesium hydroxide is then converted back to
magnesium chloride, now a pure compound rather than the
complex mixture that comes from the sea.
Metal Production Cont….
(2) Purification
• In most cases, metals and their ores occur in the
ground as part of complex mixtures that also
contain rocks, sand, clay, silt and other impurities.
• The first step in producing the metal for
commercial use is to separate the ore from waste
materials with which it occurs. The term ore is used
to describe a compound of a metal that contains
enough of that metal to make it economically
practical to extract the metal from the compound.
• One example of the way in which an ore can be
purified is the froth flotation method used with
ores of copper, zinc, and some other metals.
 Metal Production Cont…. Metal Production Cont….

• In froth flotation method, impure ore taken from (3) Reduction

the ground is first ground into a powder and then
mixed with water and a frothing agent such as pine
oil. Then a stream of air is blown through the
mixture, causing it to bubble and froth. In the
frothing process, impurities such as sand and rock
are wetted by the water and sink to the bottom of
the container.
• The metal ore does not adsorb water but does
adsorb the pine oil. The oil-coated ore floats to the
top of the mixture, where it can be skimmed off.
• Metals always occur in their oxidized state in ores, often as the
oxide or sulfide of the metal. In order to convert an ore to its
elemental state, therefore, it must be reduced.
• Reduction is a chemical reaction that is the opposite of oxidation.
Metals can be reduced in a variety of different ways.
• With ores of iron, for example, reduction can be accomplished by
reacting oxides of iron with carbon and carbon monoxide. One of
the common devices used for this purpose is the blast furnace. The
blast furnace is a tall cylindrical vessel into which is fed iron ore
(consisting of oxides of iron), coke (nearly pure carbon) & limestone.

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Metal Production Cont….

Metal Production Cont….

• The temperature in the blast furnace is then raised to

more than 1,832°F (1,000°C). At this temperature, carbon
reacts with oxygen to form carbon monoxide, which in turn,
reacts with oxides of iron to form pure iron metal.

• The limestone in the original mixture added to the blast

furnace reacts with and removes silicon dioxide (sand), an
impurity commonly found with iron ore.

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 Metal Production Cont….
• Some metallic oxides do not readily yield to chemical reduction
reactions like those in the blast furnace process described
above. The reduction of aluminum oxide to aluminum metal is an
example.
• In the first step in this process, aluminum oxide is separated
from other oxides (such as oxides of iron) with which it also
occurs by the Bayer process.
• In the Bayer process, the naturally occurring oxide mixture is
added to sodium hydroxide, which dissolves out aluminum oxide,
leaving other oxides behind. The aluminum oxide is then
dissolved in a mineral known as cryolite (sodium aluminum
fluoride) and placed in an electrolytic cell.
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Metal Production Cont….
(4) Alloys
• Pure metals themselves are often not satisfactory for many
practical applications. For example, pure gold is too soft for
most uses and is combined with other metals to form harder,
more resistant mixtures. Mixtures that contain two or more
metals are known as alloys. Perhaps the best known and most
widely used of all alloys is steel.
• The term steel refers to a number of different substances
that contain iron as their major component along with one or
more other elements. Stainless steel, as an example, contains
about 18% chromium, 10% nickel, and small amounts of
manganese, carbon, phosphorus, sulphur, and silicon, along with
iron.
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Metal Production Cont….
• When electric current passes through the cell, molten aluminum
metal is formed, sinks to the bottom of the cell, and can be
drawn off from the cell.
• In some instances, an ore is treated to change its chemical state
before being reduced. The most common ores of zinc, for
example, are the sulfides. These compounds are first roasted in
an excess of air, converting zinc sulfide to zinc oxide. The zinc
oxide is then reduced either by reacting it with coke (as in the
case of iron) or by electrolyzing it (as in the case of aluminum).
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Metal Production Cont….
• When niobium is added to a steel alloy, the final product
has unusually great strength. The addition of cobalt
produces a form of steel that withstands the high
temperatures of jet engines and gas turbines, and silicon
steels are used in making electrical equipment.
• In the final stages of metal production, the finished
product is formed into some shape that can be used in
other industries to make final products. Thus, steel can
be purchased in the form of flat sheets, rings, wire rope
and thread, slabs, cylinders, and other shapes.
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 Comparism between Metals and Alloys
In comparison to metals, alloys have more strength and last longer.
For example-
(1) Aluminium metal is light but not strong, an alloy of aluminium with
copper, magnesium and manganese is light as well as strong.
(2) Aluminium metal is light but not hard, but an alloy of aluminium
with magnesium is light as well as hard.
(3) Iron is the most widely used metal. But it is never used in the
pure form because pure iron is very soft and stretches very
easily when hot. When a small amount of carbon is mixed with
iron, an alloy called steel is obtained. Also when the iron is mixed
with chromium and nickel, we get an alloy called stainless steel,
which is strong, tough and does not rust at all.
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Uses of Alloys
Alloys are used in a number of ways in our daily lives. Some of the
most common uses of alloys are given below.
• Brass is used for making cooking utensils, screws, locks, doorknobs,
electrical appliances, zippers, musical instruments, decoration and
gift items.
• Bronze is used to make statues, coins, medals, cooking utensils, and
musical instruments, among other things.
• Alnico is a ferromagnetic substance and is used in permanent magnets.
• Solder is used to repair or join two pieces of metals, i.e., it is used to
permanently join electrical components.
• Surgical devices, musical instruments, cutlery, and jewellery are all
made of sterling silver.
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Properties of Alloys
Each alloy has certain useful properties. An alloy’s properties are
distinct from those of the individual metals from which it is produced.
Some properties of alloys are given below.
(1) Alloys are harder than their constituent metals.
(2) Alloys are more resistant to corrosion than pure metals.
(3) Alloys are more durable than the metals they are made from.
(4)The electrical conductivity of alloys is lower than that of pure
metals.
(5) Alloys have a lower melting point than the metals from which they
are made.
(6) Alloys have greater ductility than their constituent metals.
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Uses of Alloys Cont….
• Stainless steel is used for the construction of railways, bridges,
roads, airports etc. It is also used for making cooking utensils and
other products.
• Alloys of aluminium are lightweight, so they are used for making
bodies of aircraft and their parts.
• Because of their high-temperature strength and superplastic
behaviour, titanium alloys are widely used in the aerospace industry.
• Amalgam is a mercury alloy that is utilized in medicinal procedures.
Dentists also use it to fix cavities in teeth.
• Certain alloys of gold such as rose gold, are used for jewellery making
purposes.
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