The Cobalt News, April 2012 - Cobalt Development Institute

The Cobalt News, April 2012 - Cobalt Development Institute

COBALT NEWS
PUBLISHED BY THE COBALT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
12/2
2 Comment
3 2011 Production Statistics
5 Solar Selective Coatings for
Concentrating Solar Power Central
Receivers
10 Industry News
April 2012
COBALT NEWS
CHAIRMAN
S. Dunmead
(OM Group, USA)
VICE CHAIRMEN
D. Morgan (Queensland Nickel, Australia)
T. Shepherd (Shepherd Chemicals, USA)
DIRECTORS
I. Akalay
(CTT, Morocco)
P. Benjamin
(BHP Billiton, Australia)
K. Drinkwater
(ICCI, Bahamas)
G. Dyason
(Xstrata Nickel, Canada)
D. Elliott (Tenke Fungurume Mining, DRC)
C. Hallberg
(Sandvik, Sweden)
T. Higo
(Sumitomo MM, Japan)
R. Martin
(Shu Powders, China)
A. Mehan
(Rubamin, India)
V. Mittenzwei
(Kennametal, Inc., USA)
R. Morris
(Vale Inco, Canada)
M. Mounier-Vehier (Eramet Group, France)
T. Southgate (Chambishi Metals, Zambia)
C. Tybaert
(Umicore, Belgium)
THE COBALT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
167 High Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3AJ, UK
Tel: (0)1483 578877
Fax: (0)1483 573873
email: info@thecdi.com
Website: www.thecdi.com
Editor: D. Weight – Production: I. Porri
The Cobalt Development Institute carries out activities from a head office in Guildford, UK, to promote
the use of cobalt. It is legally incorporated as an
association of a wholly non-profit making character
in accordance with its memorandum and articles,
which are available on request. Membership of the
CDI is open to those engaged or interested in the
industry, by application and acceptance by the
Board.
Cobalt News exists to disseminate promotion material on uses for, and development in, cobalt technology supported by items of interest to cobalt producers, users and all their customers. Unless otherwise
stated as copyright reserved, Cobalt News permits
the reprint of articles if fully credited to Cobalt News
and its contributors where appropriate.
Comment is the responsibility of the Editor. Views
expressed by the contributors are their own. Neither
necessarily reflect those of the Institute, its directors
or its members. Material is presented for the gen-
COMMENT
As shown in this edition of Cobalt News, 2011
was another record breaking year for refined
cobalt production and apparent consumption,
according to CDI and WBMS data.
Refined cobalt production was 82,247 tonnes
and apparent consumption of the order of
75,000 tonnes. Apart from a brief wobble in
2008/09, consumption of cobalt has had a
>5% CAGR over the past 10 years, and refined production has increased year-on year
since at least 1994.
Cobalt prices tended to drift off last year and
LME stocks have continued to grow in 2012.
Much will depend upon the economic fortunes
of China/Asia and how well the developed
economies emerge from recession.
Regulatory matters continue to take up a significant amount of our time and we are currently interacting with the EU to provide information on cobalt in Europe as a result of an
ECHA recommendation to prioritise cobalt
salts for Authorisation under REACH.
It is hoped to clearly demonstrate that this is a
disproportionate application of the Regulation
and that there could be significant unintended
consequences for industry and the EU economy as a result. If you are an EU producer,
importer or downstream user and would like to
know how you can get involved please contact: Brigitte.amoruso@thecdi.com – time to
react is getting shorter!
The great and the good of the cobalt market
will be attending THE Cobalt Conference in
Vancouver on the 30/31 May and you are
advised to book as soon as possible for this
centrepiece of the cobalt calendar. Please refer to the website for information.
eral information of the reader, and whilst believed to
be correct, the CDI, its members, staff and contributors do not represent or warrant its suitability for any
general or specific use and assume no liability of
any kind in connection with the provision of the said
information.
The Cobalt Development Institute is an English Company Limited by Guarantee and is registered at 167 High St., Guildford, GU1 3AJ
Cobalt News 12/2
2
2011 Production
Statistics
Table 1 – CDI Members Refined Cobalt Production (Tonnes) - 2011
Production
Member Companies
The CDI estimates
that total refined cobalt supply in 2011
from the main sources
reporting their production, was 82,247 tonnes, which is ~4%
greater than in the
previous year. Table 1
illustrates refined cobalt production from
CDI members for calendar years 20052011.
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
BHPB/QNPL, Australia
1400
1600
1800
1600
1700
2141
2631
CTT, Morocco
1613
1405
1591
1711
1600
1545
1788
Eramet France
280
256
305
311
368
302
354
600
550
606
300
415
745
650
ICCI, Canada
3391
3312
3573
3428
3721
3706
3853
OMG, Finland
8170
8580
9100
8950
8850
9299
10441
0
0
0
0
0
517
579
471
920
1084
1071
1332
1935
2007
(1)
(2)
Gecamines, DRC
Rubamin (Joined CDI 2011)
Sumitomo, Japan
(3)
3298
2840
2825
3020
2150
2600
3187
Vale, Canada
1563
1711
2033
2200
1193
940
2070
Xstrata (Norway)
(4)
Zambia
5021
3648
4927
3227
3939
2635
3719
2591
3510
235
3208
3934
3067
4856
29455
29328
29491
28901
25074
30872
35483
Umicore, Belgium
Total
(1) BHPB 700mtand Queensland Nickel Pty (QNPL) 1000mt in 2009. QNPL from 2010
When comparing the (2) Estimate for 2008 (3) Includes UMICORE Chinese production (4) Chambishi Metals plc
current total of our
Refined cobalt availability from other sources is outMembers production figures directly with those prelined in Table 2. Total refined production from these
pared for some previous years it should be noted that
non-CDI members in 2011 was 46,764 tonnes which
Rubamin joined the CDI in 2011 and now reports reis a reduction of 1,626 tonnes (or -3.4%) compared
fined production as a CDI Member, and prior to 2010
with 2010. Chinese production at 34,969 tonnes
Norilsk had been a CDI Member but now reports as a
shows a small decline of 960 tonnes (or -2.7 %) over
non-CDI Member. For 2011, it will be observed that
than that produced in calendar year 2010. According
the production of CDI Members at 35,483 tonnes is
to our records, this is the first decline in Chinese prosome 4,611 tonnes (or 15%) higher than for the same
duction since our records began for this country in
producers in 2010. Almost all CDI Members posted
1994. However, Chinese production figures for 2009
increased production in 2011. BHP Billiton sold its
and 2010 have been revised upward because no acQueensland Nickel (Yabulu) assets to the Palmer
count was previously made for cobalt by-product proGroup who formed QNPL in 2009, and from 2010 the
duction from imported nickel ore. The 2009 figure
refined production will be reported accordingly. BHP
was increased from 23,138 tonnes to 25,544 tonnes,
Billiton’s Kwinana operations produce a cobalt interand the 2010 figure increased from 32,930 tonnes up
mediate and this production will therefore not appear
to 35,929 tonnes. The 2011 refined production figure
in the CDI Members figures from 2009 as it is unreincludes by-product cobalt produced from nickel ore.
fined, but the cobalt will be captured elsewhere in the
Chinese refined production arises mainly from imrefined production figures.
ported concentrate, but cobalt is also derived from
imported intermediates,
white alloy and some
local concentrate (about
6%). We have noted in
the past that the figures
for China would have
included stockpiled material but we now understand that the connotative stockpile was ~5000
tonnes for 2009; about
7000 tonnes for 2010
and ~3000 tonnes in
2011. Therefore the refined cobalt availability
for these years would
have been affected ac-
Cobalt News 12/2
3
cordingly. It is emTable 3 – Total Refined Cobalt Availability (Tonnes) - 2011
phasised that the
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
figure for China
29455
29328
29491
28901
25074
30872
35483
CDI
Member
companies
excludes
Umi25379
24304
24166
27920
34777
48390
46764
core’s
Chinese Others
(10)
Total
54834
53632
53657
56821
59851
79262
82247
production which
is already included 9. Estimates for RSA Oct-Dec production 2010
in Table 1. Mod- 10. Total Supply does not include any estimates for producers not reporting their production
est increases in
ures. Global apparent consumption appears to be
production were recorded by Votorantim, Brazil;
around 75,000 tonnes for 2011, which is an increase
Minara, Australia and India. Small reductions in proover the previous year of around 15%. The Americas
duction were seen elsewhere, though Mopani figures
and Europe appear to have seen modest increases in
are a best estimate. There were no DLA deliveries
consumption and Asia (including China) shows an
during 2011, so the total availability of cobalt reportincrease in apparent consumption of about 18% over
ing from other sources was 46,764 tonnes, as men2010. The publication can be purchased from either
tioned above. Given the indication that China held a
the CDI or the WBMS and figures for 2011 will be
connotative stockpile of some 3,000 tonnes in 2011
available in May. See this website for details.
then overall refined cobalt availability was about
43,764 tonnes. At 31 December 2011, the uncommitPrice
ted cobalt inventory in the US DLA stockpile remained at 301 tonnes
The graph below illustrates the change seen in the
A summary of total refined cobalt availability from
2005 to 2011 is shown in Table 3. It can be seen that
overall availability in 2011 totalled a record 82,247
tonnes, some 2,985 tonnes (or 3.4%) higher than in
2010, largely as a result of improved refined production by CDI Members. Because of the possibility of
Chinese stockpile material at 3,000 tonnes for 2011,
the overall availability would have been 79,247 tonnes. As in the past, we emphasise that the figures do
not include production of refined cobalt from companies treating various cobalt-containing intermediate
products and scrap who do not report their numbers
to the CDI. We would like to thank those non-member
companies and organisations for their kind cooperation in helping in the preparation of these important
industry figures
Demand
The CDI publishes supply and demand information
and this data will soon be available in the WBMS/CDI
book “World Cobalt Statistics” for 2008-2011. These
data were derived from worldwide import/export fig-
Cobalt News 12/2
average quarterly Metal Bulletin free market price
quotation for cobalt since 1995 for 99.8% (HG) and
99.3% (LG) min. cobalt. This information is based on
quarterly averages so the graph does not show shortterm price fluctuations. The HG price opened 2011 at
US$19.5/lb and ended the year at US$14.70/lb while
the LG price opened at just over US$18/lb and finished the year at about US14/lb. The 2011 annual
average HG price was US$17.60/lb and for LG it was
US$16.44/lb (the CDI takes the average bid/offer
spread for both the HG and LG Metal Bulletin price
quotation when calculating its average price).
Cobalt has traded on the LME since February 2010
with the 3M contract which was followed by cash
trading in May of that year. The average LME cash
price for 2010 (part year) was US$17.55/lb and for
2011 it was US$15.99/lb (the CDI takes the average
daily bid/offer cash spread for cobalt and averages
this over the year). The C-3 spread varied between a
US$375/tonne contango and a US$1500/tonne
backwardation with an average spread for the year in
backwardation of just over US$200/tonne.
4
Solar Selective Coatings for
Concentrating Solar Power Central
Receivers
Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a renewable
energy technology that converts solar thermal energy to mechanical work via a heat engine, which is
then converted to electricity through a generator.
These systems are typically large—capable of generating tens to hundreds of megawatts of electricity.
Nearly 500 MW of concentrating solar power are
currently installed in the U.S.
CSP systems use numerous mirrors to reflect and
concentrate the sunlight onto receivers that heat a
working fluid. Several mirror configurations are possible, including dishes, parabolic troughs, linear
Fresnel, and heliostats. One of the most promising
CSP technologies is the central receiver (or power
tower) system, which consists of a field of large,
nearly-flat mirror assemblies (heliostats) that track
the sun and focus the sunlight onto a receiver on top
of a tower (Fig. 1). In a typical configuration, a heattransfer fluid such as water/steam or molten salt is
heated in the receiver and used to power a conventional steam-turbine Rankine cycle to generate electricity. Excess thermal energy collected in molten
salts can be stored in large insulated tanks allowing
operation of the steam turbine during the night or on
cloudy days.
The efficiency of a power tower can be increased if
the energy absorbed by the receiver is maximized
while the heat loss from the receiver to the environment is minimized. When a material heats up, energy is radiated in the infrared wavelengths. This
phenomenon is known as thermal emittance and
represents a heat loss for the CSP system. Thus,
heat loss occurs because of thermal emittance from
the hot receiver surface to the environment, as well
as convection due to wind and buoyancy effects.
Higher central receiver operating temperatures
(>600°C) are needed to improve power cycle efficiency and lower the cost of solar generated electricity. However, higher operating temperatures result in increased energy loss due to thermal emittance. Therefore, improved selective absorber coatings are an important part of CSP receiver development. An ideal selective absorber coating for CSP
receivers would have high absorptivity in the solar
spectrum to maximize energy capture at the receiver and a low emissivity in the infrared spectrum
to minimize thermal radiative losses. For CSP systems to meet an electricity cost target of
$0.06/kWh[1], new materials capable of extended
operation at temperatures above 600°C are needed.
Ideally, these materials will have high absorptance
(> 0.95) in the solar spectrum (~250-2500 nm) and
low thermal emittance (< 0.05) in the infrared spectrum (~1.5-20 µm at an emittance temperature of
~600°C). Note that there is some overlap in these
solar and thermal spectra, which makes the development of selective properties challenging. In addition, the materials need to be stable in air, low-cost,
easily applied at large scales in the field, and capable of surviving thousands of heating and cooling
cycles.
Currently, Pyromark Series 2500 high-temperature
paint is the standard for CSP central receivers. It
has a measured solar absorptance of 0.96, is low
cost, and is easily applied. However, with a thermal
emittance of 0.86, it suffers from large thermal
losses during high temperature operation. It also
degrades over time when operated in air causing a
decline in performance and added operating costs
for CSP facilities.
Research at Sandia National Laboratories that ad-
Fig. 1 – A field of heliostats (mirrors) surrounds the Concentrating Solar Power Tower Central Receiver at the National
Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N. Mex. Courtesy of Randy Montoya (SNL)
Cobalt News, 12/2
5
dresses the issue of more efficient, durable solar
selective materials for CSP receiver applications
with coatings prepared using thermal spray and solution-based synthesis techniques is discussed in
this article.
Coating preparation
Thermal spray technology offers the ability to rapidly
prepare thick (>1 mm) ceramic and metal coatings
in the field. Sandia applied thermal spray coatings
on 304L stainless steel using an air plasma spray
(APS) torch using a number of commercially available thermal spray feed stock materials. Detailed
spray process conditions can be found in Ref. 2.
Solution-based approaches (spin coating and dip
coating) were used to prepare spinel coatings.
These techniques allow for considerably more flexibility in coating composition than thermal spray
techniques. Dopants can be incorporated in spinel
films by adding species to the aqueous precursor
solutions. Both spin and dip coating techniques involve preparation of aqueous precursor solutions
containing metal nitrates and a wetting agent (Triton
X). Solution precursors for spin coating also use
citric acid as a complexing agent. A thin layer of solution is applied to a 304L substrate using spin or
dip coating, and the coated substrate is dried and
sintered at high temperature (500 or 600°C) for up
to six hours to burn off nitrates and organics, forming the spinel phase. The process can be repeated
multiple times to build coatings of the desired thickness. Specific details of the solution based coating
preparation can be found in Ref. 3.
Coating characterization
Solar absorptance (α) was measured using a solar
spectrum reflectometer weighted to provide a
measurement spectrum that closely approximates
the air mass solar spectrum. A white diffuse standard (α = 0.198) was used for calibration. Thermal
emittance (ε80°C) measurements were performed
using an infrared reflectometer with an 80°C black
body source. A gold standard (ε = 0.02) and a black
standard (ε = 0.908) were used to calibrate the instrument. Due to instrument limitations, values given
below for emissivity are assumed to have a ±10%
error. Diffuse reflectance (absorbance) was taken at
room temperature using a spectrophotometer from
wavelengths of 200-2400 nm. A BaSO4 reference
standard was used for calibration.
Test coupon performance was ranked using a figure
of merit (FOM) defined as:
FOM (W/cm2) =
60αsolar – 5[(ε80°C + ε2400nm)/2]
where αsolar, ε80°C, and ε2400nm are the solar absorptance, emittance at 80°C, and emittance at 2400
nm, respectively. The constants 60 and 5 have the
units (W/cm2) and represent the energy flux incident
on a central receiver and the energy flux emitted by
Cobalt News, 12/2
a blackbody at 700°C, respectively. The emittance
term provides an estimate of the average emittance
over the wavelength spectrum of interest. The emittance at 2400 nm was calculated from the diffuse
reflectance data by assuming zero transmission
through the sample and by applying Kirchoff’s law.
The FOM reflects the idea that maximizing absorptance at the central receiver does more to improve
receiver efficiency than minimizing thermal emittance. The magnitude of energy absorbed by the
receiver depends directly on the energy flux magnitude incident upon the surface; whereas, the magnitude of energy emitted by the receiver is only affected by the incident radiation if this flux leads to an
increase in the receiver body temperature. Additionally, receiver materials are opaque to solar energy;
therefore, maximizing the receiver absorptance
minimizes the reflectance from the receiver surface.
Measured thermal radiative properties for Pyromark
Series 2500 are αsolar = 0.964, ε80°C = 0.862, and
ε2400nm = 0.960, which equates to a FOM of 53.3.
Each data set was obtained by making measurements on multiple samples taken from the same
coating. For samples containing data with an uncertainty interval, the number of samples within the
data set ranged from two to five. Data without an
uncertainty interval indicate that only one sample
was tested for that condition. Uncertainty intervals
(∆), where shown, were calculated according to:
∆ = t0.75,n-1(σ/n1/2)
where σ is the standard deviation of the data set, n
is the number of values in the data set, and t0.75,n-1 is
the critical value for capturing 75% of a two-sided tdistribution used to describe the data set.
6
reflectance of light waves reaching
the surface from both outside and
within the samples. Figure 2 compares FOM values for coatings with
as-sprayed surface roughness and
with a polished 1 mm surface finish. These data show that the average FOM difference between the
as-sprayed and polished coupons,
calculated according to ∆FOM =
[(FOMas – FOMpol)/FOMas]×100
was ~40% (as = as sprayed; pol =
polished).
Properties of thermal spray coatings
Measured optical property data for each thermal
spray coating are presented in Tables 1-4. The effects of surface roughness and heat treatment were
also evaluated.
Effect of surface roughness: Data in Tables 1-3 indicate that reducing the surface roughness lowered
both the solar absorptance and emittance values.
Such decreases are consistent with an increase in
Cobalt News, 12/2
Effect of heat treatment: Figure 3
shows the change in FOM for different coating compositions following heat treatment for six hours at
600°C in air. Heat treatment increased the FOM for all compositions. During heating, two aspects
of the coating surface expected to
change for all compositions are an
increase in thickness of the surface
oxide covering the coating and
minimization of surface energy propromotes diffusion, which reduces
surface roughness. Spreading and
solidification of liquid droplets
should not generate a significant
amount of high aspect ratio surface
asperities that would significantly
change shape with a postspraying
heat treatment. Furthermore, evidence presented above suggests
decreasing the surface roughness
produces a decrease in the FOM.
Therefore, changes in the oxide
layer on the coating surface are
likely the dominant factor causing
the FOM to change with heat treatment.
The WC-Co coatings delaminated and fractured
during heat treatment due to residual stress and/or
coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between
the coating and substrate. The damage to the WCCo coatings made it impossible to collect absorption
and emittance data after heat treatment.
These data are supported by published reports on
the use of nickel-aluminium and tungsten carbidecobalt alloys as solar selective coatings. Santala
7
Fig. 3 – Figure of merit (FOM) values for as-deposited
(filled bars) coating test coupons and coating test coupons
heat treated for 6 hours at 600°C (open bars)
and Sabol produced nickel + 50wt% aluminium
coatings by roll bonding that exhibited absorptance
values >0.9 and emittance values <0.4 [4]. Butler, et
al., obtained similar absorptance and emittance values from a tungsten carbide + 12wt% cobalt
plasma-sprayed coating heated to temperatures
between 200 and 600°C [5].
Properties of spinel coatings
Spinels are oxide materials with the general formula
AB2O4. A variety of stoichiometric spinel films,
AB2O4 (A, B = Ni, Co, Fe, Cu), were formulated via
dip and spin coating. Spinels were investigated as
solar selective materials because of their inherent
high temperature and oxidation stability [3-6]. They
are also amenable to cation doping and substitution
on both the A and B sites, which can affect their optical properties.
Optical properties for Co3O4 are shown in Table 5.
Increasing the film thickness (# Coatings, Table 5)
leads to an increase in absorptance, but it also
leads to an increase in emittance. Each Co3O4 film
was aged at 500°C in air atmosphere for four days.
Absorptance and emittance values were essentially
the same before and after aging, suggesting that the
films exhibit good thermal stability.
The optical properties of 5 and 20wt% metal-doped
Co3O4 are shown in Table 6. Neither doping concentration nor film thickness had an effect on coating
absorptance. Nevertheless, emittance increased
significantly with thickness and modestly with
dopant concentration.
Table 7 shows the optical properties of various spin
coated spinel coatings deposited with the same
number of layers. These data indicate that the
NiCo2O4 (high α) and FeCo2O4 (low ε) materials
show promise, with absorptance at or above 0.9 and
thermal emittance below 0.7.
Cobalt News, 12/2
8
References
1. D.M. Mattox and R. R. Sowell, A Survey of Selective
Solar Absorbers and Their Limitations, SAND79-2371C,
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, 1979.
2. K.J. Van Every and A.C. Hall, Plasma-sprayed Solar
Selective Coatings for Solar Power Tower Receivers,
SAND2010-7076, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, 2010.
3. J. Vince, et al., Solar absorber coatings based on CoCuMnOx spinels prepared via the sol-gel process: Structural and optical properties. Solar Energy Materials and
Solar Cells, 79(3), p 313, 2003.
4. R. Bayon, et al., Preparation of selective absorbers
based on CuMn spinels by dip-coating method. Renewable Energy, 33(2), p 348, 2008.
5. Q.-F. Geng, et al., Sol–Gel Combustion-Derived CoCuMnOx Spinels as Pigment for Spectrally Selective
Paints. Jour. Amer. Ceramic Soc. 2010, in press.
6. L. Kaluza, et al., Sol-gel derived CuCoMnOx spinel
coatings for solar absorbers: Structural and optical properties. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 70 (2), p 187,
2001.
7. A. Ambrosini, et al., Improved High Temperature Solar
Absorbers for use in Concentrating Solar Power Central
Receiver Applications, Proc. ASME 2011 5th International
Conference on Energy Sustainability & 9th Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference, ESFuelCell2011, August, 2011, Washington, D.C.
8. T. Santala and R. Sabol, COO/2600-76/3, Texas Instruments, Dallas, Tex., 1976.
9. C.P. Butler, R.J. Jenkins, and W.J. Parker, Absorptance, Emittance, and Thermal Efficiencies of Surfaces for
Solar Power, Solar Energy, v. 8, n. 1, p 2/8, 1964.
Each of the as-prepared spinel films were heated in
air, first at 600°C for 6 hours, followed by 800°C for
6 hours. The coatings survived heat treatment with
no cracking or delamination. Optical properties after
heating at 600°C did not change appreciably, but
both absorptance and emittance degrade in all materials after heating at 800°C (Fig. 4). One exception
is the absorptance of CoFe2O4, which increases
after sintering at 800°C.
Conclusions
The efficiency of concentrating solar power systems
can be improved by operating at higher temperatures. Higher temperature operation of CSP systems
demands improved materials for solar receivers.
Durable, low cost, high absorptivity, low emissivity
coatings are needed for this application. The current
industry standard for solar receiver coatings is Pyromark Series 2500 high temperature paint. Based
on the data in Tables 2 and 7, the Ni-25 graphite,
Ni-5Al, and WC-20Co thermal spray coatings and
the NiCo2O4, CuCo2O4, and (NiFe)Co2O5 spinel
coatings are optically competitive with Pyromark
paint. Ongoing investigations are being performed to
determine the durability and reliability of these coatings relative to Pyromark.
Cobalt News, 12/2
Acknowledgement: This work was partially supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and
Development program at Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory managed
and operated by Sandia Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
Pyromark is a registered trademark of Tempil Inc.,
Plainfield, N.J.
For more information: Dr. Aaron Hall, Sandia National Laboratories, Dept. 01831, PO Box 5800,
MS1130, Albuquerque, NM 87185-1130; tel:
505/284-6964;
fax:
505/844-6611;
email:
achall@sandia.gov; www.sandia.gov. Co-authors of
the paper are Andrea Ambrosini, Clifford Ho, Kent
Van Every, Marlene Knight, James Mccloskey*,
David Urrea, Timothy Lambert, Marlene Bencomo,
Nathan Siegel, and Alan Mahoney.
This article was first published by ASME as “Improved High Temperature Solar Absorbers for Use
in Concentration Solar Power Central Receiver Applications,” by Andrea Ambrosini, Timothy N. Lambert, Marlene Bencomo, Aaron Hall, Kent vanEvery,
Nathan P. Siegel, Clifford K. Ho, Proceedings of
ASME 2011 5th International Conference on Energy
Sustainability & 9th Fuel Cell Science, Engineering
and Technology Conference.
Republished with kind permission.
9
Industry News
Sherritt Provides Ambatovy Progress
Update
Sherritt International Corporation ("Sherritt" or the
"Corporation") (TSX:S) today announced that all of
the systems in the pressure acid leach (PAL) area at
the Ambatovy Joint Venture in Madagascar are
either in operation or start-up.
Of the key PAL process components, the slurry
thickener, three ore leach autoclaves, neutralization
circuit and countercurrent decantation (CCD) wash
circuit are operable. The final step in the PAL
process - slurry precipitation - which results in the
production of mixed sulphides, is in startup and is
expected to be operational in April.
The delivery of mixed sulphides is a significant
milestone towards achieving the production of
finished metal, which is expected in the second
quarter. The majority of the systems in the refinery
are awaiting the production of mixed sulphides to
progress into startup and operation. Ambatovy
remains focused on reaching commercial operation
safely and reliably by the end of 2012 or early 2013.
Ambatovy has an expected project life of
approximately 30 years and is designed to produce
65,600 tonnes (100% basis) of finished nickel and
cobalt annually when fully operational, more than
doubling Sherritt's gross (100% basis) metals
production capacity.
LME Cobalt trading surges to new
records
The London Metal Exchange (LME) saw record
volumes transacted in LME Cobalt in March 2012
with 1,310 lots traded, the equivalent of $40 million.
“Our cobalt contract has seen a very healthy start to
the year,” said Chris Evans, head of business
development at the LME. “The strong volumes show
growing recognition from the cobalt industry of the
LME contract.”
Volumes were up 86% in Q1 2012 compared with
the corresponding period in 2011. Over the quarter,
111 tonnes were delivered in and 63 tonnes
delivered out.
LME Cobalt now has 19 brands listed from nine
countries and 15 warehouses listed for good
delivery in four locations in four countries.
Cobalt News, 12/2
Sasol unveils new cobalt catalyst plant
South Africa’s Sasol said it would spend R40-billion
on local projects over the next two years, as the
petrochemicals giant unveiled its new R1-billion
cobalt catalyst manufacturing plant in Sasolburg this
month.
The new cobalt catalyst manufacturing plant, owned
by Sasol Synfuels International’s (SSI’s) subsidiary,
Sasol Cobalt Catalyst Manufacturing, would produce
cobalt catalysts for use in SSI’s gas-to-liquids (GTL)
and coal-to-liquids (CTL) projects in Qatar, Nigeria
and Uzbekistan.
In future, the plant would also supply other projects
with the cobalt catalyst, which is destined
exclusively for the export market, as the company’s
local GTL and CTL plants make use of an ironbased catalyst.
The plant, located at the Sasol One facility, would
operate under licence from chemicals supplier and
development partner BASF, with whom Sasol also
produces cobalt catalyst in De Meern, in the
Netherlands.
“This is a milestone for us, as we can now exercise
more control over the high-quality product that our
international plants need,” senior group executive
Lean Straus said.
Sasol’s proprietary cobalt catalyst is at the heart of
the technology that makes its GTL process possible.
“Given that Sasol’s proprietary slurry-phase distillate
process was developed in South Africa, it is also
important to have the GTL and CTL processes on
South African soil for the first time,” he said.
However, Sasol would only supply the catalyst to
projects in which it owned equity, as it is a
proprietary product.
Using aluminium, cobalt and other noble metals,
such as platinum, the 1 nm cobalt catalyst particles
are deposited in wax. The support materials are
robust and can have high surface areas of around
200 m2/g, making the catalyst highly reactive to
synthesis gas molecules.
The new plant used about 700 local contractors
during the construction phase, and has created 50
permanent jobs.
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