INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENHANCED USE OF THERMODYNAMIC DATA IN PYROMETALLURGY TEACHING AND RESEARCH

BACKGROUND

Fundamental knowledge of thermodynamic principles and data is important in understanding and improving processes used in the production of metals as well as in the design and development of new processes. This is particularly so given the fact that the production of metals from ores and/or secondary resources using pyrometallurgical processes involve complex thermochemical phenomena as a result of high temperatures and application of energy to materials. In most cases, however, pyrometallurgists do not fully appreciate the immense potential of thermodynamics to the design and operation industrial processes. This trend is worrying so as the engineering society is moving towards competencies focusing on a wide area of knowledge. The shift towards “Wikipedia knowledge” is a natural consequence of availability of huge amounts of information, but invariably, tends to occur at the expense of fundamental knowledge which forms the backbone of high quality thermodynamics teaching and research. In some instances, students and researchers tend to regurgitate derivations of thermodynamic equations with no indication of how such thermodynamic principles and data are to be put to practical use. To keep the interest and the dedication to the teaching, learning and application of thermodynamics principles and data, new teaching methods must continuously be developed with emphasis on how the fundamental knowledge is used in the research, design and operation of pyrometallurgical processes.

CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES

The broad objective of the International Conference on enhanced use of Thermodynamic Data in Pyrometallurgy Teaching and Research is to enhance the use of thermodynamic data in pyrometallurgy teaching and research. The ultimate goal is to increase competitiveness of the South African pyrometallurgical industry by demystifying thermodynamics and equipping the industry to use thermodynamic principles and data in metal production. Hosted by the Metallurgy Technical Programme Committee of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, this conference will focus on two main pillars: (a) the enhanced use of thermodynamic tools and data and the understanding the fundamental reaction mechanisms in metal production, and (b) developing methods for teaching thermodynamics and enhancing the teaching and learning and availability of thermodynamic methods and data. The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway through the Programme for International Partnerships (INTPART) under the project “Thermodynamic from Nanoscale to Operational Scale” (THANOS).

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The conference is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, academics and educators, process engineers, design engineers, and other researchers in the pyrometallurgical or related disciplines.

TOPICS AND FORMAT

Technical presentations introducing fundamentals of thermodynamics will be presented by experts in teaching, research and applications of thermodynamics.

Technical presentations by postgraduate students, industry experts/users and academics will focus on the fundamentals and applications of thermodynamics to metal production as well as in the teaching and learning of thermodynamic principles. Selected topics include but are not limited to:

• Overview of thermodynamics
• Thermochemistry concepts
• Phase diagrams
• Computational methods for thermochemistry
• Process modelling and simulation
• Selected topics and case studies in metal production, including case studies on applicable thermodynamic databases.
• Selected topics and case studies in tools and methodologies for teaching thermodynamics

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST AND CALL FOR PAPERS

Prospective authors are invited to submit titles and abstracts for this conference. Abstracts of no longer than 150 words should be submitted by 4 April 2022. Please include the names and affiliations of all authors and an email address for the corresponding author.
All accepted abstracts will require a full paper (maximum of 8 single-spaced pages) to be submitted by no later than 18 April 2022. This will be published in the conference proceedings, subject to double-blind peer review and acceptance by the technical committee.
Please email abstracts and requests to be added to the conference mailing list to camielah@saimm.co.za

KEY DATES

• 4 April 2022 Submission of abstracts
• 18 April 2022 Acceptance of abstracts
• 16 May 2022 Submission of papers for peer review
• 28-29 September 2022 Conference

Registration Fees

CONTACT(Venue)

• Early SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 5 800,00
• Early Non SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 6 200,00
• SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 6 200,00
• Non SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 7 000,00
• Author Registration - R 3 000,00
• Students - R 750,00
• Retired Member - R 750,00

ONLINE         

• Early SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 2 900,00
• Early Non SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 3 100,00
• SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 3 100,00
• Non SAIMM/SAGA/GSSA Member - R 3 500,00
• Author Registration  -  
• Students - R 375,00
• Retired Member - R 375,00

Keynote speakers

Prof Merete Tangstad

NTNU: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Professor

Merete Tangstad was educated at NTH in 1989 and was also awarded her PhD at this institution. She worked in Elkem and Eramet in the period of 1990-2004 with production of ferromanganese alloys. Since 2004 she has been a professor at NTNU and her main fields are ferralloy production, silicon production and solar grade silicon processes.

Prof In-Ho Jung        

Seoul National University, Professor

Professor Jung is a world-renowned expert in chemical metallurgy and thermodynamic database development. He earned his bachelor and master’s degree from POSTECH, South Korea, and PhD degree from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada in 2003. He is a co-developer of FactSage thermodynamic software, which is accessed by more than 1000 sites around the world, and academic member of FIRE (Federation of International Refractory Research and Education). He worked for McGill University, Canada as an assistant and associate professor for 10 years, and is currently a professor at Seoul National University, South Korea. Since 2009, Prof. Jung has led the “FactSage Steelmaking Consortium Project” to develop thermodynamic databases and process simulation models for steelmaking industry, sponsored by 13 companies around the world. He has authored and co-authored 6 book chapters, 20 patents and more than 240 journal papers, and 120 conference proceeding papers. Prof. Jung received various awards including 2012 NSERC Leo Derikx Synergy Award, Canada, and 2013 Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Magnesium Research Award, Germany. He is also a recipient of 2022 AIST John F Elliott Lectureship award.

Dr Johan Zietsman

Ex Mente Technologies, Founder and CEO

Dr Johan Zietsman has more than 25 years of extractive metallurgy experience, both in industry and academia, as well as software engineering related to extractive metallurgy. He is the founder and CEO of Ex Mente Technologies, a pyrometallurgy consulting and systems development company. In line with his research and development interests, he has an honorary appointment at the University of Pretoria, as Glencore Chair in Pyrometallurgical Modelling, where he guides Master's and Ph.D. students. His interests in extractive metallurgy include pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes, thermochemistry, computational modelling, slag freeze linings, and new process technology development. In software engineering, he is involved in design and development of information systems, and software for process modelling, financial modelling, operational enhancement, and advanced process control. He has a Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from the University of Pretoria, and has published several papers at peer-reviewed conferences and refereed journals.

Anton Sean Lopis

CHPC, NICIS, CSIR, Senior Research Scientist

Anton Lopis received his MSc and PhD in Computational Chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand under Leslie Glasser and the late Fabrizio Marsicano. He then did a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Kevin Naidoo in the Chemistry Department at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Thereafter he worked as a Senior Research Officer with Jack Fletcher and Walter Boringer in the Catalysis Reseach Unit, C*Change, Chemical Engineering, UCT. Subsequently he worked as a Senior Scientist (Computational) under Kabwika Bisaka and Quinn Reynolds in the Pyrometallurgy Division of Mintek. Currently he is a Senior Research Scientist in the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), National Integrated Cyber Infrastructure Systems, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (SA). His research and publications have generally focussed on various aspects of metals such as Metal-Ligand Coordination Complexes, Solvated PGM Chlorides, and Molten Metals, Alloys, Mattes and Slags. He has continued to collaborate with Mintek on molten slag atomistic simulations after moving to the CHPC.

Halvor Dalaker

SINTEF, Senior Research Scientist

Halvor Dalaker earned his MSc in physics and PhD in Materials Science from NTNU and has worked at SINTEF since 2009. His research interests include circular economy and decarbonisation of metallurgy as well as several others, with thermodynamic calculations often being the common denominator. Halvor is the project manager of the research project HyPla, which explores the possibility of using hydrogen plasma to produce metal from oxides too stable to be reduced by gaseous hydrogen.