Zirconium metallurgy

Above 40 wt % hydrogen content at room temperature, zirconium hydride is brittle, ie, has no tensile ductiHty, and it becomes more friable with increasing hydrogen content. This behavior and the reversibiHty of the hydride reaction are utilized ki preparing zirconium alloy powders for powder metallurgy purposes by the hydride—dehydride process. The mechanical and physical properties of zirconium hydride, and thek variation with hydrogen content of the hydride, are reviewed in Reference 127. 

D. L. Douglass, The Metallurgy of Zirconium, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vieima, 1971, p. 4. 

The use of solvating extractants in the recovery of gold and platinum-group metals (PGM) was described in the previous section. These extractants have also found some specialized applications in the extractive metallurgy of base metals. For example, they have been used in the recovery of uranium, the separation of zirconium and hafnium, the separation of niobium and tantalum, the removal of iron from solutions of cobalt and nickel chlorides, and in the separation of the rare-earth metals from one another. 

Z. M. Shapiro, cited in B. Lustman and F. Kerse, The Metallurgy of Zirconium, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1955. 

Calcium is utilized in the manufacture of special metals such as zirconium, thorium, uranium and the rare earths, as a refining agent in metallurgy (steel, copper, magnesium, tantalum, lead) and in the manufacture of calcium hydride (hydrogen source). 

Sodium is by far the most widely used alkali metal because it is so abundant. Its salts are essential for life. The metal itself is used as a reducing agent in the manufacture of drugs and dyes and in the metallurgy of such metals as titanium and zirconium. 

Shapiro Z M (1955) Iodide-deposition process for production of zirconium. In Lustman B, Kerze F (eds) The metallurgy of zirconium. McGraw-Hill, New York,... 

The method involving the Mo-V-P acid has been used in determinations of phosphorus in biological tissues [127], plant material [128], fruits [129], fish products [130], foodstuffs [131], phosphate minerals [132], cast iron and steel [133,134], niobium, zirconium and its alloys, titanium and tungsten, aluminium, copper, and white metal [135], nickel alloys [134,135], metallurgy products [136], molybdenum concentrates [137], silicon tetrachloride [7], cement [138], and lubricants[139]. The flow injection technique has been applied for determining phosphate in minerals [140] and in plant materials [141]. 

SAL/SHE] Sale, F. R., Shelton, R. A. J., Studies in the chemical metallurgy of the titanium group metals I. The vapour pressure over solid zirconium tetraiodide, J. Less-Common Met., 9, (1965), 54-59. Cited on page 175. 

The reactions of metals to form stable halides are important for various reasons. The metal halides generally have low boiling points and high volatiUty. For this reason, they are used in several important processes for the production and refining of metals, such as the reactive metals titanium and zirconium. These metals are produced using the Kroll process, in which the metal oxide is converted to metal chloride or fluoride, which is then reduced to metal. This route avoids several formidable difficulties involved in the reduction of the oxides of these metals. Details of these processes can be found in extractive-metallurgy textbooks. 

Hydrogen cyanide Iron oxide black Mercury chloride (ic) Nickel cyanide Nitric acid Sodium chloride Sulfurous acid Zirconium potassium hexafluoride metallurgy, aluminum Sodium silicofluoride metallurgy, beryllium Sodium silicofluoride metallurgy, ore separation Phosgene metals... 

Fig. 7.3. Zirconium Electrolysis cell (Shelton, S. M., Zirconium Production Methods, Metallurgy of Zirconium, McGraw-Hill. U.S.A.E.C. Copyright).

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