Authority Letter - SDM MATHURA SELF

BEFORE THE SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE, MATHURA
SUIT UNDER SECTION 116 OF UP LAND REVENUE ACT NO. OF 2020
IN THE MATTER OF:
SATYA PAL SINGH ... Plaintiff
VERSUS
JAY PAL SINGH & OTHERS
…. Defendants
Respected Sir,
LETTER OF AUTHORISATION
I, Jay Pal Singh S/o Late Shri Girraj Singh R/O Village and P.O. Sersa, Tehsil and district
Mathura Presently Residing SF-90 Shastri Nagar Ghaziabad U.P. ,do hereby authorize my
younger brother who is one of the co sharer Mr. Nag Pal Singh S/O Late Shri Girraj Singh
R/O Village & P.O. Sersa, Dist-Mathura Presently residing at D- 115, Piyush Heights, Sector 89,
-121002 ,( who is one of the co sharer & Defendant in the matter) ,to attend and
represent/sign/amend my case on my behalf in the above mentioned matter and as may be
necessary or expedient to give statement or any submission on my behalf in relation to the above
matter.
With regards,
Witness
(Tarun Kumar Bharadwaj)

Mob No.9911119762
Dated:-02.02.2021
(JAY PAL SINGH)

DEFENDANT
Date:-20.02.2021
UMENDAR CONVENT SCHOOL (GHUKNA)

*Syllabus for forth *Assessment*
CLASS- K.G. SECTION-B (MANAN)
*Hindi*
: दो ,तीन , चार अक्षर वाले शब्द और अभ्यास कार्य *included from only spiral
work*
*Maths*
: 1to 100 counting what comes after, before and in between.
Backward counting 50-1
Numbers name 11 to 25
Add, Subtract with numbers.
Dodging
Math book and spiral work also include.
*English*
: a, e, i, o, u sound words and it's related exercise also.
long and short vowel word.
Rhyming words
Opposite words
One many
This/that, These/Those
Use of A/An
Complete story ( *Pg.no.42*)
Arrange the words and make correct sentence.
Days name
See the pictures and solve puzzles
*spiral work and book work also include*
*EVS*
: Worksheet no.22 to 28
*Art*
: Draw and colour the face mask
Part XIII - Manufacturing Industries Français
Chapter 82 - Metal Processing and Metal

Working Industry
GENERAL PROFILE
The metal smelting and refining industry processes metal ores and scrap metal to obtain pure
metals. The metal working industries process metals in order to manufacture machine
components, machinery, instruments and tools which are needed by other industries as well as by
the other different sectors of the economy. Various types of metals and alloys are used as starting
materials, including rolled stock (bars, strips, light sections, sheets or tubes) and drawn stock
(bars, light sections, tubes or wire). Basic metal processing techniques include:
· smelting and refining of metal ores and scrap
· casting molten metals into a given shape (foundry)
· hammering or pressing metals into the shape of a die (hot or cold forging)
· welding and cutting sheet metal

· sintering (compressing and heating materials in powder form, including one or more metals)
· shaping metals on a lathe.
A wide variety of techniques are used to finish metals, including grinding and polishing, abrasive
blasting and many surface finishing and coating techniques (electroplating, galvanizing, heat
treatment, anodizing, powder coating and so forth).
SMELTING AND REFINING

Pekka Roto*
*Adapted from the 3rd edition, Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety.
In the production and refining of metals, valuable components are separated from
worthless material in a series of different physical and chemical reactions. The end-
product is metal containing controlled amounts of impurities. Primary smelting and
refining produces metals directly from ore concentrates, while secondary smelting and
refining produces metals from scrap and process waste. Scrap includes bits and pieces
of metal parts, bars, turnings, sheets and wire that are off-specification or worn-out but
are capable of being recycled (see the article “Metal reclamation” in this chapter).
Overview of Processes
Two metal recovery technologies are generally used to produce refined metals,
pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical. Pyrometallurgical processes use heat to
separate desired metals from other materials. These processes use differences between
oxidation potentials, melting points, vapour pressures, densities and/or miscibility of
the ore components when melted. Hydrometallurgical technologies differ from
pyrometallurgical processes in that the desired metals are separated from other
materials using techniques that capitalize on differences between constituent
solubilities and/or electrochemical properties while in aqueous solutions.
Pyrometallurgy
During pyrometallic processing, an ore, after being beneficiated (concentrated by

crushing, grinding, floating and drying), is sintered or roasted (calcined) with other
materials such as baghouse dust and flux. The concentrate is then smelted, or melted,
in a blast furnace in order to fuse the desired metals into an impure molten bullion.
This bullion then undergoes a third pyrometallic process to refine the metal to the
desired level of purity. Each time the ore or bullion is heated, waste materials are
created. Dust from ventilation and process gases may be captured in a baghouse and
are either disposed of or returned to the process, depending upon the residual metal
content. Sulphur in the gas is also captured, and when concentrations are above 4% it
can be turned into sulphuric acid. Depending upon the origin of the ore and its residual
metals content, various metals such as gold and silver may also be produced as by-
products.
Roasting is an important pyrometallurgical process. Sulphating roasting is used in the

production of cobalt and zinc. Its purpose is to separate the metals so that they can be
transformed into a water-soluble form for further hydrometallurgical processing.
The smelting of sulphidic ores produces a partially oxidized metal concentrate (matte).
In smelting, the worthless material, usually iron, forms a slag with fluxing material and
is converted into the oxide. The valuable metals acquire the metallic form at the
converting stage, which takes place in converting furnaces. This method is used in
copper and nickel production. Iron, ferrochromium, lead, magnesium and ferrous
compounds are produced by reduction of the ore with charcoal and a flux (limestone),
the smelting process usually taking place in an electric furnace. (See also the Iron and
steel industry chapter.) Fused salt electrolysis, used in aluminium production, is
another example of a pyrometallurgical process.
The high temperature required for the pyrometallurgical treatment of metals is

obtained by burning fossil fuels or by using the exothermic reaction of the ore itself
(e.g., in the flash smelting process). The flash smelting process is an example of an
energy-saving pyrometallurgical process in which iron and sulphur of the ore
concentrate are oxidized. The exothermic reaction coupled with a heat recovery system
saves a lot of energy for smelting. The high sulphur recovery of the process is also
beneficial for environmental protection. Most of the recently built copper and nickel
smelters use this process.
Hydrometallurgy
Examples of hydrometallurgical processes are leaching, precipitation, electrolytic

reduction, ion exchange, membrane separation and solvent extraction. The first stage
of hydrometallurgical processes is the leaching of valuable metals from less valuable
material, for example, with sulphuric acid. Leaching is often preceded by pre-
treatment (e.g., sulphating roasting). The leaching process often requires high pressure,
the addition of oxygen or high temperatures. Leaching may also be carried out with
electricity. From the leaching solution the desired metal or its compound is recovered
by precipitation or reduction using different methods. Reduction is carried out, for
example, in cobalt and nickel production with gas.
Electrolysis of metals in aqueous solutions is also considered to be a

hydrometallurgical process. In the process of electrolysis the metallic ion is reduced to
the metal. The metal is in a weak acid solution from which it precipitates on cathodes
under the influence of an electrical current. Most non-ferrous metals can also be
refined by electrolysis.
Often metallurgical processes are a combination of pyro- and hydrometallurgical

processes, depending on the ore concentrate to be treated and the type of metal to be
refined. An example is nickel production.
Hazards and Their Prevention
Prevention of health risks and accidents in the metallurgical industry is primarily an

educational and technical question. Medical examinations are secondary and have only
a complementary role in the prevention of health risks. A harmonious exchange of
information and collaboration between the planning, line, safety and occupational
health departments within the company give the most efficient result in the prevention
of health risks.
The best and least costly preventive measures are those taken at the planning stage of a
new plant or process. In planning of new production facilities, the following aspects
should be taken into account as a minimum:
· The potential sources of air contaminants should be enclosed and isolated.
· The design and placement of the process equipment should allow easy access for
maintenance purposes.
· Areas in which a sudden and unexpected hazard may occur should be monitored
continuously. Adequate warning notices should be included. For example, areas in
which arsine or hydrogen cyanide exposure might be possible should be under
continuous monitoring.
· Addition and handling of poisonous process chemicals should be planned so that

manual handling can be avoided.
· Personal occupational hygiene sampling devices should be used in order to

evaluate the real exposure of the individual worker, whenever possible. Regular fixed
monitoring of gases, dusts and noise gives an overview of exposure but has only a
complementary role in the evaluation of exposure dose.
· In space planning, the requirements of future changes or extensions of the process
should be taken into account so that the occupational hygiene standards of the plant
will not worsen.
· There should be a continuous system of training and education for safety and
health personnel, as well as for foremen and workers. New workers in particular
should be thoroughly informed about potential health risks and how to prevent them in
their own working environments. In addition, training should be done whenever a new
process is introduced.
· Work practices are important. For example, poor personal hygiene by eating and
smoking in the worksite may considerably increase personal exposure.
· The management should have a health and safety monitoring system which
produces adequate data for technical and economic decision making.
The following are some of the specific hazards and precautions that are found in
smelting and refining.
Injuries
The smelting and refining industry has a higher rate of injuries than most other
industries. Sources of these injuries include: splattering and spills of molten metal and
slag resulting in burns; gas explosions and explosions from contact of molten metal
with water; collisions with moving locomotives, wagons, travelling cranes and other
mobile equipment; falls of heavy objects; falls from a height (e.g., while accessing a
crane cab); and slipping and tripping injuries from obstruction of floors and
passageways.
Precautions include: adequate training, appropriate personal protective equipment

(PPE) (e.g., hard hats, safety shoes, work gloves and protective clothing); good
storage, housekeeping and equipment maintenance; traffic rules for moving equipment
(including defined routes and an effective signal and warning system); and a fall
protection programme.
Heat
Heat stress illnesses such as heat stroke are a common hazard, primarily due to
infrared radiation from furnaces and molten metal. This is especially a problem when
strenuous work must be done in hot environments.
Prevention of heat illnesses can involve water screens or air curtains in front of
furnaces, spot cooling, enclosed air-conditioned booths, heat-protective clothing and
air-cooled suits, allowing sufficient time for acclimatization, work breaks in cool areas
and an adequate supply of beverages for frequent drinking.
Chemical hazards
Exposure to a wide variety of hazardous dusts, fumes, gases and other chemicals can
occur during smelting and refining operations. Crushing and grinding ore in particular
can result in high exposures to silica and toxic metal dusts (e.g., containing lead,
arsenic and cadmium). There can also be dust exposures during furnace maintenance
operations. During smelting operations, metal fumes can be a major problem.
Dust and fume emissions can be controlled by enclosure, automation of processes,

local and dilution exhaust ventilation, wetting down of materials, reduced handling of
materials and other process changes. Where these are not adequate, respiratory
protection would be needed.
Many smelting operations involve the production of large amounts of sulphur dioxide
from sulphide ores and carbon monoxide from combustion processes. Dilution and
local exhaust ventilation (LEV) are essential.
Sulphuric acid is produced as a by-product of smelting operations and is used in

electrolytic refining and leaching of metals. Exposure can occur both to the liquid and
to sulphuric acid mists. Skin and eye protection and LEV is needed.
The smelting and refining of some metals can have special hazards. Examples include
nickel carbonyl in nickel refining, fluorides in aluminium smelting, arsenic in copper
and lead smelting and refining, and mercury and cyanide exposures during gold
refining. These processes require their own special precautions.
Other hazards
Glare and infrared radiation from furnaces and molten metal can cause eye damage
including cataracts. Proper goggles and face shields should be worn. High levels of
infrared radiation may also cause skin burns unless protective clothing is worn.
High noise levels from crushing and grinding ore, gas discharge blowers and high-
power electric furnaces can cause hearing loss. If the source of the noise cannot be
enclosed or isolated, then hearing protectors should be worn. A hearing conservation
program including audiometric testing and training should be instituted.
Electrical hazards can occur during electrolytic processes. Precautions include proper
electrical maintenance with lockout/tagout procedures; insulated gloves, clothing and
tools; and ground fault circuit interrupters where needed.
Manual lifting and handling of materials can cause back and upper extremity injuries.
Mechanical lifting aids and proper training in lifting methods can reduce this problem.
Pollution and Environmental Protection
Emissions of irritant and corrosive gases like sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and
hydrogen chloride may contribute to air pollution and cause corrosion of metals and
concrete within the plant and in the surrounding environment. The tolerance of
vegetation to sulphur dioxide varies depending on the type of forest and soil. In
general, evergreen trees tolerate lower concentrations of sulphur dioxide than
deciduous ones. Particulate emissions may contain non-specific particulates, fluorides,
lead, arsenic, cadmium and many other toxic metals. Wastewater effluent may contain
a variety of toxic metals, sulphuric acid and other impurities. Solid wastes can be
contaminated with arsenic, lead, iron sulphides, silica and other pollutants.
Smelter management should include evaluation and control of emissions from the
plant. This is specialized work which should be carried out only by personnel
thoroughly familiar with the chemical properties and toxicities of the materials
discharged from the plant processes. The physical state of the material, the temperature
at which it leaves the process, other materials in the gas stream and other factors must
all be considered when planning measures to control air pollution. It is also desirable
to maintain a weather station, to keep meteorological records and to be prepared to
reduce output when weather conditions are unfavourable for dispersal of stack
effluents. Field trips are necessary to observe the effect of air pollution on residential
and farming areas.
Sulphur dioxide, one of the major contaminants, is recovered as sulphuric acid when
present in sufficient quantity. Otherwise, to meet emission standards, sulphur dioxide
and other hazardous gaseous wastes are controlled by scrubbing. Particulate emissions
are commonly controlled by fabric filters and electrostatic precipitators.
Large amounts of water are used in flotation processes such as copper concentration.
Most of this water is recycled back into the process. Tailings from the flotation process
are pumped as slurry into sedimentation ponds. Water is recycled in the process.
Metal-containing process water and rainwater are cleaned in water-treatment plants
before discharging or recycling.
Solid-phase wastes include slags from smelting, blowdown slurries from sulphur
dioxide conversion to sulphuric acid and sludges from surface impoundments (e.g.,
sedimentation ponds). Some slags can be reconcentrated and returned to smelters for
reprocessing or recovery of other metals present. Many of these solid-phase wastes are
hazardous wastes that must be stored according to environmental regulations.
COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC SMELTING AND REFINING*

*Adapted from EPA 1995.
Copper
Copper is mined in both open pits and underground mines, depending upon the ore
grade and the nature of the ore deposit. Copper ore typically contains less that 1%
copper in the form of sulphide minerals. Once the ore is delivered above the ground, it
is crushed and ground to a powdery fineness and then concentrated for further
processing. In the concentration process, ground ore is slurried with water, chemical
reagents are added and air is blown through the slurry. The air bubbles attach
themselves to the copper minerals and are then skimmed off the top of the flotation
cells. The concentrate contains between 20 and 30% copper. The tailings, or gangue
minerals, from the ore fall to the bottom of the cells and are removed, dewatered by
thickeners and transported as a slurry to a tailings pond for disposal. All water used in
this operation, from dewatering thickeners and the tailings pond, is recovered and
recycled back into the process.
Copper can be produced either pyrometallurgically or hydrometallurgically depending

upon the ore-type used as a charge. The ore concentrates, which contain copper
sulphide and iron sulphide minerals, are treated by pyrometallurgical processes to
yield high purity copper products. Oxide ores, which contain copper oxide minerals
that may occur in other parts of the mine, together with other oxidized waste materials,
are treated by hydrometallurgical processes to yield high purity copper products.
Copper conversion from the ore to metal is accomplished by smelting. During

smelting the concentrates are dried and fed into one of several different types of
furnaces. There the sulphide minerals are partially oxidized and melted to yield a layer
of matte, a mixed copper-iron sulphide and slag, an upper layer of waste.
The matte is further processed by converting. The slag is tapped from the furnace and
stored or discarded in slag piles onsite. A small amount of slag is sold for railroad
ballast and for sand blasting grit. A third product of the smelting process is sulphur
dioxide, a gas which is collected, purified and made into sulphuric acid for sale or for
use in hydrometallurgical leaching operations.
Following smelting, the copper matte is fed into a converter. During this process the
copper matte is poured into a horizontal cylindrical vessel (approximately 10×4 m)
fitted with a row of pipes. The pipes, known as tuyères, project into the cylinder and
are used to introduce air into the converter. Lime and silica are added to the copper
matte to react with the iron oxide produced in the process to form slag. Scrap copper
may also be added to the converter. The furnace is rotated so that the tuyères are
submerged, and air is blown into the molten matte causing the remainder of the iron
sulphide to react with oxygen to form iron oxide and sulphur dioxide. Then the
converter is rotated to pour off the iron silicate slag.
Once all of the iron is removed, the converter is rotated back and given a second blow
of air during which the remainder of the sulphur is oxidized and removed from the
copper sulphide. The converter is then rotated to pour off the molten copper, which at
this point is called blister copper (so named because if allowed to solidify at this point,
it will have a bumpy surface due to the presence of gaseous oxygen and sulphur).
Sulphur dioxide from the converters is collected and fed into the gas purification
system together with that from the smelting furnace and made into sulphuric acid. Due
to its residual copper content, slag is recycled back to the smelting furnace.
Blister copper, containing a minimum of 98.5% copper, is refined to high purity

copper in two steps. The first step is fire refining, in which the molten blister copper is
poured into a cylindrical furnace, similar in appearance to a converter, where first air
and then natural gas or propane are blown through the melt to remove the last of the
sulphur and any residual oxygen from the copper. The molten copper is then poured
into a casting wheel to form anodes pure enough for electrorefining.
In electrorefining, the copper anodes are loaded into electrolytic cells and interspaced
with copper starting sheets, or cathodes, in a bath of copper sulphate solution. When a
direct current is passed through the cell the copper is dissolved from the anode,
transported through the electrolyte and re-deposited on the cathode starting sheets.
When the cathodes have built-up to sufficient thickness they are removed from the
electrolytic cell and a new set of starting sheets is put in their place. Solid impurities in
the anodes fall to the bottom of the cell as a sludge where they are ultimately collected
and processed for the recovery of precious metals such as gold and silver. This
material is known as anode slime.
The cathodes removed from the electrolytic cell are the primary product of the copper
producer and contain 99.99+% copper. These may be sold to wire-rod mills as
cathodes or processed further to a product called rod. In manufacturing rod, cathodes
are melted in a shaft furnace and the molten copper is poured onto a casting wheel to
form a bar suitable for rolling into a 3/8 inch diameter continuous rod. This rod
product is shipped to wire mills where it is extruded into various sizes of copper wire.
In the hydrometallurgical process, the oxidized ores and waste materials are leached
with sulphuric acid from the smelting process. Leaching is performed in situ, or in
specially prepared piles by distributing acid across the top and allowing it to percolate
down through the material where it is collected. The ground under the leach pads is
lined with an acid-proof, impermeable plastic material to prevent leach liquor from
contaminating groundwater. Once the copper-rich solutions are collected they can be
processed by either of two processes—the cementation process or the solvent
extraction/electrowinning process (SXEW). In the cementation process (which is
rarely used today), the copper in the acidic solution is deposited on the surface of scrap
iron in exchange for the iron. When sufficient copper has been cemented out, the
copper-rich iron is put into the smelter together with the ore concentrates for copper
recovery via the pyrometallurgical route.
In the SXEW process, the pregnant leach solution (PLS) is concentrated by solvent
extraction, which extracts copper but not impurity metals (iron and other impurities).
The copper-laden organic solution is then separated from the leachate in a settling
tank. Sulphuric acid is added to the pregnant organic mixture, which strips the copper
into an electrolytic solution. The leachate, containing the iron and other impurities, is
returned to the leaching operation where its acid is used for further leaching. The
copper-rich strip solution is passed into an electrolytic cell known as an electrowinning
cell. An electrowinning cell differs from an electrorefining cell in that it uses a
permanent, insoluble anode. The copper in solution is then plated onto a starting sheet
cathode in much the same manner as it is on the cathode in an electrorefining cell. The
copper-depleted electrolyte is returned to the solvent extraction process where it is
used to strip more copper from the organic solution. The cathodes produced from the
electrowinning process are then sold or made into rods in the same manner as those
produced from the electrorefining process.
Electrowinning cells are used also for the preparation of starting sheets for both the
electrorefining and electrowinning processes by plating the copper onto either stainless
steel or titanium cathodes and then stripping off the plated copper.
Hazards and their prevention
The major hazards are exposure to ore dusts during ore processing and smelting, metal
fumes (including copper, lead and arsenic) during smelting, sulphur dioxide and
carbon monoxide during most smelting operations, noise from crushing and grinding
operations and from furnaces, heat stress from the furnaces and sulphuric acid and
electrical hazards during electrolytic processes.
Precautions include: LEV for dusts during transfer operations; local exhaust and
dilution ventilation for sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide; a noise control and
hearing protection programme; protective clothing and shields, rest breaks and fluids
for heat stress; and LEV, PPE and electrical precautions for electrolytic processes.
Respiratory protection is commonly worn to protect against dusts, fumes and sulphur
dioxide.
Table 82.1 lists environmental pollutants for various steps in copper smelting and
refining.
Table 82.1 Process materials inputs and pollution outputs for copper smelting and
refining
Process Material input Air emissions Process wastes

Copper concentration Copper ore, water, chemical Flotation wastewaters
reagents, thickeners

Copper leaching Copper concentrate, Uncontrolled leachate
sulphuric acid

Copper smelting Copper concentrate, Sulphur dioxide, particulate
siliceous flux matter containing arsenic,
antimony, cadmium, lead,
mercury and zinc

Copper conversion Copper matte, scrap copper, Sulphur dioxide, particulate
siliceous flux matter containing arsenic,
antimony, cadmium, lead,
mercury and zinc

Electrolytic copper refining Blister copper, sulphuric
acid
Lead
The primary lead production process consists of four steps: sintering, smelting,
drossing and pyrometallurgical refining. To begin, a feedstock comprising mainly of
lead concentrate in the form of lead sulphide is fed into a sintering machine. Other raw
materials may be added including iron, silica, limestone flux, coke, soda, ash, pyrite,
zinc, caustic and particulates gathered from pollution control devices. In the sintering
machine the lead feedstock is subjected to blasts of hot air which burn off the sulphur,
creating sulphur dioxide. The lead oxide material existing after this process contains
about 9% of its weight in carbon. The sinter is then fed along with coke, various
recycled and cleanup materials, limestone and other fluxing agents into a blast furnace
for reducing, where the carbon acts as a fuel and smelts or melts the lead material. The
molten lead flows to the bottom of the furnace where four layers form: “speiss” (the
lightest material, basically arsenic and antimony); “matte” (copper sulphide and other
metal sulphides); blast furnace slag (primarily silicates); and lead bullion (98% lead,
by weight). All layers are then drained off. The speiss and matte are sold to copper
smelters for recovery of copper and precious metals. The blast furnace slag which
contains zinc, iron, silica and lime is stored in piles and partially recycled. Sulphur
oxide emissions are generated in blast furnaces from small quantities of residual lead
sulphide and lead sulphates in the sinter feed.
Rough lead bullion from the blast furnace usually requires preliminary treatment in
kettles before undergoing refining operations. During drossing, the bullion is agitated
in a drossing kettle and cooled to just above its freezing point (370 to 425°C). A dross,
which is composed of lead oxide, along with copper, antimony and other elements,
floats to the top and solidifies above the molten lead.
The dross is removed and fed into a dross furnace for recovery of the non-lead useful
metals. To enhance copper recovery, drossed lead bullion is treated by adding sulphur-
bearing materials, zinc, and/or aluminium, lowering the copper content to
approximately 0.01%.
During the fourth step, the lead bullion is refined using pyrometallurgical methods to
remove any remaining non-lead saleable materials (e.g., gold, silver, bismuth, zinc,
and metal oxides such as antimony, arsenic, tin and copper oxide). The lead is refined
in a cast iron kettle by five stages. Antimony, tin and arsenic are removed first. Then
zinc is added and gold and silver are removed in the zinc slag. Next, the lead is refined
by vacuum removal (distillation) of zinc. Refining continues with the addition of
calcium and magnesium. These two materials combine with bismuth to form an
insoluble compound that is skimmed from the kettle. In the final step caustic soda
and/or nitrates may be added to the lead to remove any remaining traces of metal
impurities. The refined lead will have a purity of 99.90 to 99.99% and may be mixed
with other metals to form alloys or it may be directly cast into shapes.
fumes (including lead, arsenic and antimony) during smelting, sulphur dioxide and
carbon monoxide during most smelting operations, noise from grinding and crushing
operations and from furnaces, and heat stress from the furnaces.
hearing protection programme; and protective clothing and shields, rest breaks and
fluids for heat stress. Respiratory protection is commonly worn to protect against
dusts, fumes and sulphur dioxide. Biological monitoring for lead is essential.
Table 82.2 lists environmental pollutants for various steps in lead smelting and
refining.
Table 82.2 Process materials inputs and pollution outputs for lead smelting and
refining

Lead sintering Lead ore, iron, silica, Sulphur dioxide, particulate
limestone flux, coke, soda, matter contain-ing
ash, pyrite, zinc, caustic, cadmium and lead
baghouse dust
Lead smelting Lead sinter, coke Sulphur dioxide, particulate Plant washdown
matter contain-ing wastewater, slag
cadmium and lead granulation water

Lead drossing Lead bullion, soda ash,
sulphur, baghouse dust,
coke

Lead refining Lead drossing bullion
Zinc
Zinc concentrate is produced by separating the ore, which may contain as little as 2%
zinc, from waste rock by crushing and flotation, a process normally performed at the
mining site. The zinc concentrate is then reduced to zinc metal in one of two ways:
either pyrometallurgically by distillation (retorting in a furnace) or
hydrometallurgically by electrowinning. The latter accounts for approximately 80% of
total zinc refining.
Four processing stages are generally used in hydrometallurgic zinc refining: calcining,
leaching, purification and electrowinning. Calcining, or roasting, is a high-temperature
process (700 to 1000 °C) that converts zinc sulphide concentrate to an impure zinc
oxide called calcine. Roaster types include multiple-hearth, suspension or fluidized-
bed. In general, calcining begins with the mixing of zinc-containing materials with
coal. This mixture is then heated, or roasted, to vaporize the zinc oxide which is then
moved out of the reaction chamber with the resulting gas stream. The gas stream is
directed to the baghouse (filter) area where the zinc oxide is captured in baghouse dust.
All of the calcining processes generate sulphur dioxide, which is controlled and
converted to sulphuric acid as a marketable process by-product.
Electrolytic processing of desulphurized calcine consists of three basic steps: leaching,

purification and electrolysis. Leaching refers to the dissolving of the captured calcine
in a solution of sulphuric acid to form a zinc sulphate solution. The calcine may be
leached once or twice. In the double-leach method, the calcine is dissolved in a slightly
acidic solution to remove the sulphates. The calcine is then leached a second time in a
stronger solution which dissolves the zinc. This second leaching step is actually the
beginning of the third step of purification because many of the iron impurities drop out
of the solution as well as the zinc.
After leaching, the solution is purified in two or more stages by adding zinc dust. The
solution is purified as the dust forces deleterious elements to precipitate so that they
can be filtered out. Purification is usually conducted in large agitation tanks. The
process takes place at temperatures ranging from 40 to 85°C and pressures ranging
from atmospheric to 2.4 atmospheres. The elements recovered during purification
include copper as a cake and cadmium as a metal. After purification the solution is
ready for the final step, electrowinning.
Zinc electrowinning takes place in an electrolytic cell and involves running an electric
current from a lead-silver alloy anode through the aqueous zinc solution. This process
charges the suspended zinc and forces it to deposit onto an aluminium cathode which
is immersed in the solution. Every 24 to 48 hours, each cell is shut down, the zinc-
coated cathodes removed and rinsed, and the zinc mechanically stripped from the
aluminium plates. The zinc concentrate is then melted and cast into ingots and is often
as high as 99.995% pure.
Electrolytic zinc smelters contain as many as several hundred cells. A portion of the
electrical energy is converted into heat, which increases the temperature of the
electrolyte. Electrolytic cells operate at temperature ranges from 30 to 35°C at
atmospheric pressure. During electrowinning a portion of the electrolyte passes
through cooling towers to decrease its temperature and to evaporate the water it
collects during the process.
fumes (including zinc and lead) during refining and roasting, sulphur dioxide and
carbon monoxide during most smelting operations, noise from crushing and grinding
operations and from furnaces, heat stress from the furnaces and sulphuric acid and
electrical hazards during electrolytic processes.
hearing protection programme; protective clothing and shields, rest breaks and fluids
for heat stress; and LEV, PPE, and electrical precautions for electrolytic processes.
Respiratory protection is commonly worn to protect against dusts, fumes and sulphur
dioxide.
Table 82.3 lists environmental pollutants for various steps in zinc smelting and
refining.
Table 82.3 Process materials inputs and pollution outputs for zinc smelting and
refining

Zinc calcining Zinc ore, coke Sulphur dioxide, particulate
matter containing zinc and
lead

Zinc leaching Zinc calcine, sulphuric acid, Wastewaters containing
limestone, spent electrolyte sulphuric acid

Zinc purification Zinc-acid solution, zinc Wastewaters containing
dust sulphuric acid, iron

Zinc electrowinning Zinc in a sulphuric Dilute sulphuric acid
acid/aqueous solution, lead-
silver alloy anodes,
aluminium cathodes,
barium carbonate or
strontium, colloidal
additives
ALUMINIUM SMELTING AND REFINING

Bertram D. Dinman
Process Overview
Bauxite is extracted by open-pit mining. The richer ores are used as mined. The lower
grade ores may be beneficiated by crushing and washing to remove clay and silica
waste. The production of the metal comprises two basic steps:
1. Refining. Production of alumina from bauxite by the Bayer process in which

bauxite is digested at high temperature and pressure in a strong solution of caustic
soda. The resulting hydrate is crystallized and calcined to the oxide in a kiln or fluid
bed calciner.
2. Reduction. Reduction of alumina to virgin aluminium metal employing the Hall-

Heroult electrolytic process using carbon electrodes and cryolite flux.
Experimental development suggests that in the future aluminium may be reduced to

the metal by direct reduction from the ore.
There are presently two major types of Hall-Heroult electrolytic cells in use. The so-
called “pre-bake” process utilizes electrodes manufactured as noted below. In such
smelters exposure to polycyclic hydrocarbons normally occurs in the electrode
manufacturing facilities, especially during mixing mills and forming presses. Smelters
utilizing the Soderberg-type cell do not require facilities for the manufacture of baked
carbon anodes. Rather, the mixture of coke and pitch binder is put into hoppers whose
lower ends are immersed in the molten cryolite-alumina bath mixture. As the mixture
of pitch and coke is heated by the molten metal-cryolite bath within the cell, this
mixture bakes into a hard graphitic mass in situ. Metal rods are inserted into the anodic
mass as conductors for a direct current electric flow. These rods must be replaced
periodically; in extracting these, considerable amounts of coal tar pitch volatiles are
evolved into the cell room environment. To this exposure is added those pitch volatiles
generated as the baking of the pitch-coke mass proceeds.
Within the last decade the industry has tended to either not replace or to modify
existent Soderberg type reduction facilities as a consequence of the demonstrated
carcinogenic hazard they present. In addition, with the increasing automation of
reduction cell operations—particularly the changing of anodes, tasks are more
commonly performed from enclosed mechanical cranes. Consequently worker
exposures and the risk of developing those disorders associated with aluminium
smelting are gradually decreasing in modern facilities. By contrast, in those economies
wherein adequate capital investment is not readily available, the persistence of older,
manually operated reduction processes will continue to present the risks of those
occupational disorders (see below) previously associated with aluminium reduction
plants. Indeed, this tendency will tend to become more aggravated in such older,
unimproved operations, especially as they age.
Carbon electrode manufacture
The electrodes required by pre-bake electrolytic reduction to pure metal are normally
made by a facility associated with this type of aluminium smelting plant. The anodes
and cathodes are most frequently made from a mixture of ground petroleum-derived
coke and pitch. Coke first is ground in ball mills, then conveyed and mixed
mechanically with the pitch and finally cast into blocks in a moulding presses. These
anode or cathode blocks are next heated in a gas-fired furnace for several days until
they form hard graphitic masses with essentially all volatiles having been driven off.
Finally they are attached to anode rods or saw-grooved to receive the cathode bars.
It should be noted that the pitch used to form such electrodes represents a distillate
which is derived from coal or petroleum tar. In the conversion of this tar to pitch by
heating, the final pitch product has boiled off essentially all of its low-boiling point
inorganics, e.g., SO2, as well as aliphatic compounds and one- and two ring aromatic
compounds. Thus, such pitch should not present the same hazards in its use as coal or
petroleum tars since these classes of compounds ought not to be present. There are
some indications that the carcinogenic potential of such pitch products may not be as
great as the more complex mixture of tars and other volatiles associated with the
incomplete combustion of coal.
The hazards and preventive measures for aluminium smelting and refining processes
are basically the same as those found in smelting and refining in general; however, the
individual processes present certain specific hazards.
Mining
Although sporadic references to “bauxite lung” occur in the literature, there is little
convincing evidence that such an entity exists. However, the possibility of the
presence of crystalline silica in bauxite ores should be considered.
Bayer process
The extensive use of caustic soda in the Bayer process presents frequent risks of
chemical burns of the skin and eyes. Descaling of tanks by pneumatic hammers is
responsible for severe noise exposure. The potential hazards associated with the
inhalation of excessive doses of aluminium oxide produced in this process are
discussed below.
All workers involved in the Bayer process should be well informed of the hazards
associated with handling caustic soda. In all sites at risk, eyewash fountains and basins
with running water and deluge showers should be provided, with notices explaining
their use. PPE (e.g., goggles, gloves, aprons and boots) should be supplied. Showers
and double locker accommodations (one locker for work clothing, the other for
personal clothing) should be provided and all employees encouraged to wash
thoroughly at the end of the shift. All workers handling molten metal should be
supplied with visors, respirators, gauntlets, aprons, armlets and spats to protect them
against burns, dust and fumes. Workers employed on the Gadeau low-temperature
process should be supplied with special gloves and suits to protect them from
hydrochloric acid fumes given off when the cells start up; wool has proved to have a
good resistance to these fumes. Respirators with charcoal cartridges or alumina-
impregnated masks give adequate protection against pitch and fluorine fumes; efficient
dust masks are necessary for protection against carbon dust. Workers with more severe
dust and fume exposure, particularly in Soderberg operations, should be provided with
air-supplied respiratory protective equipment. As mechanized potroom work is
remotely performed from enclosed cabins, these protective measures will become less
necessary.
Electrolytic reduction
Electrolytic reduction exposes workers to the potential for skin burns and accidents
due to molten metal splashes, heat stress disorders, noise, electrical hazards, cryolite
and hydrofluoric acid fumes. Electrolytic reduction cells may emit large quantities of
dusts of fluoride and alumina.
In carbon-electrode manufacturing shops, exhaust ventilation equipment with bag

filters should be installed; enclosure of pitch and carbon grinding equipment further
effectively minimizes exposures to heated pitches and carbon dusts. Regular checks on
atmospheric dust concentrations should be made with a suitable sampling device.
Periodic x-ray examinations should be carried out on workers exposed to dust, and
these should be followed up by clinical examinations when necessary.
In order to reduce the risk of handling pitch, transport of this material should be
mechanized as far as possible (e.g., heated road tankers can be used to transport liquid
pitch to the works where it is pumped automatically into heated pitch tanks). Regular
skin examinations to detect erythema, epitheliomata or dermatitis are also prudent, and
extra protection can be provided by alginate-base barrier creams.
Workers doing hot work should be instructed prior to the onset of hot weather to
increase fluid intake and heavily salt their food. They and their supervisors should also
be trained to recognise incipient heat-induced disorders in themselves and their co-
workers. All those working here should be trained to take the proper measure
necessary to prevent the occurrence or progression of the heat disorders.
Workers exposed to high noise levels should be supplied with hearing protection
equipment such as earplugs which allow the passage of low-frequency noise (to allow
perception of orders) but reduce the transmission of intense, high-frequency noise.
Moreover, workers should undergo regular audiometric examination to detect hearing
loss. Finally, personnel should also be trained to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation to
victims of electric shock accidents.
The potential for molten metal splashes and severe burns are widespread at many sites
in reduction plants and associated operations. In addition to protective clothing (e.g.,
gauntlets, aprons, spats and face visors) the wearing of synthetic apparel should be
prohibited, since the heat of molten metal causes such heated fibers to melt and adhere
to the skin, further intensifying skin burns.
Individuals using cardiac pacemakers should be excluded from reduction operations

because of the risk of magnetic field induced dysrhythmias.
Other Health Effects
The hazards to workers, the general population and the environment resulting from the
emission of fluoride-containing gases, smokes and dusts due to the use of cryolite flux
have been widely reported (see table 82.4). In children living in the vicinity of poorly
controlled aluminium smelters, variable degrees of mottling of permanent teeth have
been reported if exposure occurred during the developmental phase of permanent teeth
growth. Among smelter workers prior to 1950, or where inadequate control of fluoride
effluents continued, variable degrees of bony fluorosis have been seen. The first stage
of this condition consists of a simple increase in bone density, particularly marked in
the vertebral bodies and pelvis. As fluoride is further absorbed into bone, calcification
of the ligaments of the pelvis is next seen. Finally, in the event of extreme and
protracted exposure to fluoride, calcification of the paraspinal and other ligamentous
structures as well as joints are noted. While this last stage has been seen in its severe
form in cryolite processing plants, such advanced stages have rarely if ever been seen
in aluminium smelter workers. Apparently the less severe x-ray changes in bony and
ligamentous structures are not associated with alterations of the architectural or
metabolic function of bone. By proper work practices and adequate ventilatory control,
workers in such reduction operations can be readily prevented from developing any of
the foregoing x-ray changes, despite 25 to 40 years of such work. Finally,
mechanization of potroom operations should minimize if not totally eliminate any
fluoride associated hazards.
Table 82.4 Process materials inputs and pollution outputs for aluminium smelting
and refining

Bauxite refining Bauxite, sodium hydroxide Particulates, caustic/water
vapour

Alumina clarification and Alumina slurry, starch, Wastewater containing
precipitation water starch, sand and caustic

Alumina calcination Aluminium hydrate Particulates and water
vapour

Primary electrolytic Alumina, carbon anodes, Fluoride—both gaseous and
aluminium smelting electrolytic cells, cryolite particulates, carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide,
carbon monoxide,
C2F6 ,CF4 and
perfluorinated carbons
(PFC)
Since the early 1980s an asthma-like condition has been definitively demonstrated
among workers in aluminium reduction potrooms. This aberration, referred to as
occupational asthma associated with aluminium smelting (OAAAS), is characterized
by variable airflow resistance, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, or both, and is not
precipitated by stimuli outside the workplace. Its clinical symptoms consist of
wheezing, chest tightness and breathlessness and non-productive cough which are
usually delayed some several hours following work exposures. The latent period
between commencement of work exposure and the onset of OAAAS is highly
variable, ranging from 1 week to 10 years, depending upon the intensity and character
of the exposure. The condition usually is ameliorated with removal from the workplace
following vacations and so on, but will become more frequent and severe with
continued work exposures.
While the occurrence of this condition has been correlated with potroom
concentrations of fluoride, it is not clear that the aetiology of the disorder arises
specifically from exposure to this chemical agent. Given the complex mixture of dusts
and fumes (e.g., particulate and gaseous fluorides, sulphur dioxide, plus low
concentrations of the oxides of vanadium, nickel and chromium) it is more likely that
such fluorides measurements represent a surrogate for this complex mixture of fumes,
gases and particulates found in potrooms.
It presently appears that this condition is one of an increasingly important group of

occupational diseases: occupational asthma. The causal process which results in this
disorder is determined with difficulty in an individual case. Signs and symptoms of
OAAAS may result from: pre-existing allergy-based asthma, non-specific bronchial
hyperresponsiveness, the reactive airway dysfunction syndrome (RADS), or true
occupational asthma. Diagnosis of this condition is presently problematic, requiring a
compatible history, the presence of variable airflow limitation, or in its absence,
production of pharmacologically induced bronchial hyperresponsivity. But if the latter
is not demonstrable, this diagnosis is unlikely. (However, this phenomenon can
eventually disappear after the disorder subsides with removal from work exposures.)
Since this disorder tends to become progressively more severe with continued
exposure, affected individuals most usually need be removed from continued work
exposures. While individuals with pre-existent atopic asthma should initially be
restricted from aluminium reduction cell rooms, the absence of atopy cannot predict
whether this condition will occur subsequent to work exposures.
There are presently reports suggesting that aluminium may be associated with
neurotoxicity among workers engaged in smelting and welding this metal. It has been
clearly shown that aluminium is absorbed via the lungs and excreted in the urine at
levels greater than normal, particularly in reduction cell room workers. However,
much of the literature regarding neurological effects in such workers derives from the
presumption that aluminium absorption results in human neurotoxicity. Accordingly,
until such associations are more reproducibly demonstrable, the connection between
aluminium and occupational neurotoxicity must be considered speculative at this time.
Because of the occasional need to expend in excess of 300 kcal/h in the course of
changing anodes or performing other strenuous work in the presence of molten cryolite
and aluminium, heat disorders may be seen during periods of hot weather. Such
episodes are most likely to occur when the weather initially changes from the moderate
to hot, humid conditions of summer. In addition, work practices which result in
accelerated anode changing or employment over two successive work shifts during hot
weather will also predispose workers to such heat disorders. Workers inadequately
heat acclimatized or physically conditioned, whose salt intake is inadequate or who
have intercurrent or recent illness are particularly prone to development of heat
exhaustion and/or heat cramps while performing such arduous tasks. Heat stroke has
occurred but rarely among aluminium smelter workers except among those with
known predisposing health alterations (e.g., alcoholism, ageing).
Exposure to the polycyclic aromatics associated with breathing of pitch fume and
particulates have been demonstrated to place Soderberg-type reduction cell personnel
in particular at an excessive risk of developing urinary bladder cancer; the excess
cancer risk is less well-established. Workers in carbon electrode plants where mixtures
of heated coke and tar are heated are assumed to also be at such risk. However, after
electrodes have been baked for several days at about 1,200 °C, polycyclic aromatic
compounds are practically totally combusted or volatilized and are no longer
associated with such anodes or cathodes. Hence the reduction cells utilizing prebaked
electrodes have not been as clearly shown to present an undue risk of development of
these malignant disorders. Other neoplasia (e.g., non-granulocytic leukaemia and brain
cancers) have been suggested to occur in aluminium reduction operations; at present
such evidence is fragmentary and inconsistent.
In the vicinity of the electrolytic cells, the use of pneumatic crust breakers in the
potrooms produce noise levels of the order of 100 dBA. The electrolytic reduction
cells are run in series from a low-voltage high-amperage current supply and,
consequently, cases of electric shock are not usually severe. However, in the power
house at the point where the high-voltage supply joins the series-connection network
of the potroom, severe electrical shock accidents may occur particularly as the
electrical supply is an alternating, high voltage current.
Because health concerns have been raised regarding exposures associated with
electromagnetic power fields, the exposure of workers in this industry has been
brought into question. It must be recognized that the power supplied to electrolytic
reduction cells is direct current; accordingly, the electromagnetic fields generated in
the potrooms are mainly of the static or standing field type. Such fields, in contrast to
low frequency electromagnetic fields, are even less readily shown to exert consistent
or reproducible biological effects, either experimentally or clinically. In addition, the
flux levels of the magnetic fields measured in present day cell rooms are commonly
found to be within presently proposed, tentative threshold limit values for static
magnetic fields, sub-radio frequency and static electric fields. Exposure to ultra-low
frequency electromagnetic fields also occur in reduction plants, especially at the far-
ends of these rooms adjacent to rectifier rooms. However, the flux levels found in the
nearby potrooms are minimal, well below present standards. Finally, coherent or
reproducible epidemiological evidence of adverse health effects due to electromagnetic
fields in aluminium reduction plants have not been convincingly demonstrated.
Electrode manufacture
Workers in contact with pitch fumes may develop erythema; exposure to sunlight
induces photosensitization with increased irritation. Cases of localized skin tumours
have occurred among carbon electrode workers where inadequate personal hygiene
was practised; after excision and change of job no further spread or recurrence is
usually noted. During electrode manufacture, considerable quantities of carbon and
pitch dust can be generated. Where such dust exposures have been severe and
inadequately controlled, there have been occasional reports that carbon electrode
makers may develop simple pneumoconiosis with focal emphysema, complicated by
the development of massive fibrotic lesions. Both the simple and complicated
pneumoconioses are indistinguishable from the corresponding condition of
coalworkers’ pneumoconiosis. The grinding of coke in ball mills produces noise levels
of up to 100 dBA.
Editor’s note: The aluminium production industry has been classified as a Group 1
known cause of human cancers by the International Agency for Research on Cancer
(IARC). A variety of exposures have been associated with other diseases (e.g.,
“potroom asthma”) which are described elsewhere in this Encyclopaedia.
GOLD SMELTING AND REFINING

I.D. Gadaskina and L.A. Ryzik*
Gold mining is carried out on a small scale by individual prospectors (e.g., in China
and Brazil) and on a large scale in underground mines (e.g., in South Africa) and in
open pit mining (e.g., in the United States).
The simplest method of gold mining is panning, which involves filling a circular dish
with gold-bearing sand or gravel, holding it under a stream of water and swirling it.
The lighter sand and gravel are gradually washed off, leaving the gold particles near
the centre of the pan. More advanced hydraulic gold mining consists of directing a
powerful stream of water against the gold-bearing gravel or sand. This crumbles the
material and washes it away through special sluices in which the gold settles, while the
lighter gravel is floated off. For river mining, elevator dredges are used, consisting of
flat-bottomed boats which use a chain of small buckets to scoop up material from the
river bottom and empty it into a screening container (trommel). The material is rotated
in the trommel as water is directed on it. The gold-bearing sand sinks through
perforations in the trommel and drops onto shaking tables for further concentration.
There are two main methods for the extraction of gold from ore. These are the
processes of amalgamation and cyanidation. The process of amalgamation is based on
the ability of gold to alloy with metallic mercury to form amalgams of varying
consistencies, from solid to liquid. The gold can be fairly easily removed from the
amalgam by distilling off the mercury. In internal amalgamation, the gold is separated
inside the crushing apparatus at the same time as the ore is crushed. The amalgam
removed from the apparatus is washed free of any admixtures by water in special
bowls. Then the remaining mercury is pressed out of the amalgam. In external
amalgamation, the gold is separated outside the crushing apparatus, in amalgamators
or sluices (an inclined table covered with copper sheets). Before the amalgam is
removed, fresh mercury is added. The purified and washed amalgam is then pressed.
In both processes the mercury is removed from the amalgam by distillation. The
amalgamation process is rare today, except in small scale mining, because of
environmental concerns.
Extraction of gold by means of cyanidation is based on the ability of gold to form a

stable water-soluble double salt KAu(CN)2 when combined with potassium cyanide in
association with oxygen. The pulp resulting from the crushing of gold ore consists of
larger crystalline particles, known as sands, and smaller amorphous particles, known
as silt. The sand, being heavier, is deposited at the bottom of the apparatus and allows
solutions (including silt) to pass through. The gold extraction process consists of
feeding finely ground ore into a leaching tub and filtering a solution of potassium or
sodium cyanide through it. The silt is separated from the gold cyanide solutions by
adding thickeners and by vacuum filtration. Heap leaching, in which the cyanide
solution is poured over a levelled heap of coarsely crushed ore, is becoming more
popular, especially with low grade ores and mine tailings. In both instances, the gold is
recovered from the gold cyanide solution by adding aluminium or zinc dust. In a
separate operation, concentrated acid is added in a digest reactor to dissolve the zinc or
aluminium, leaving behind the solid gold.
Under the influence of carbonic acid, water and air, as well as the acids present in the
ore, the cyanide solutions decompose and give off hydrogen cyanide gas. In order to
prevent this, alkali is added (lime or caustic soda). Hydrogen cyanide is also produced
when the acid is added to dissolve the aluminium or zinc.
Another cyanidation technique involves the use of activated charcoal to remove the
gold. Thickeners are added to the gold cyanide solution before slurrying with activated
charcoal in order to keep the charcoal in suspension. The gold-containing charcoal is
removed by screening, and the gold extracted using concentrated alkaline cyanide in
alcoholic solution. The gold is then recovered by electrolysis. The charcoal can be
reactivated by roasting, and the cyanide can be recovered and reused.
Both amalgamation and cyanidation produce metal that contains a considerable
quantity of impurities, the pure gold content rarely exceeding 900 per mil fineness,
unless it is further electrolytically refined in order to produce a degree of fineness of
up to 999.8 per mil and more.
Gold is also recovered as a by-product from the smelting of copper, lead and other
metals (see the article “Copper, lead and zinc smelting and refining” in this chapter).
Gold ore occurring in great depths is extracted by underground mining. This

necessitates measures to prevent the formation and spread of dust in mine workings.
The separation of gold from arsenical ores gives rise to arsenic exposure of mine
workers and to pollution of air and soil with arsenic-containing dust.
In the mercury extraction of gold, workers may be exposed to high airborne mercury
concentrations when mercury is placed in or removed from the sluices, when the
amalgam is purified or pressed and when the mercury is distilled off; mercury
poisoning has been reported amongst amalgamation and distilling workers. The risk of
mercury exposure in amalgamation has become a serious problem in several countries
in the Far East and South America.
In amalgamation processes the mercury must be placed on the sluices and the amalgam
removed in such a manner as to ensure that the mercury does not come in contact with
the skin of the hands (by using shovels with long handles, protective clothing
impervious to mercury and so on). The processing of the amalgam and the removal or
pressing of mercury must also be as fully mechanized as possible, with no possibility
of the hands being touched by mercury; the processing of amalgam and the distilling
off of mercury must be carried out in separate isolated premises in which the walls,
ceilings, floors, apparatus and work surfaces are covered with material which will not
absorb mercury or its vapours; all surfaces must be regularly cleaned so as to remove
all mercury deposits. All premises intended for operations involving the use of
mercury must be equipped with general and local exhaust ventilation. These
ventilation systems must be particularly efficient in premises where mercury is
distilled off. Stocks of mercury must be kept in hermetically sealed metal containers
under a special exhaust hood; workers must be provided with the PPE necessary for
work with mercury; and the air must be monitored systematically in premises used for
amalgamation and distilling. There should also be medical monitoring.
Contamination of the air by hydrogen cyanide in cyanidation plants is dependent on air

temperature, ventilation, the volume of material being processed, the concentration of
the cyanide solutions in use, the quality of the reagents and the number of open
installations. Medical examination of workers in gold-extracting factories has revealed
symptoms of chronic hydrogen cyanide poisoning, in addition to a high frequency of
allergic dermatitis, eczema and pyoderma (an acute inflammatory skin disease with
pus formation).
Proper organization of the preparation of cyanide solutions is particularly important. If

the opening of drums containing cyanide salts and the feeding of these salts into
dissolving tubs is not mechanized, there can be substantial contamination by cyanide
dust and hydrogen cyanide gas. Cyanide solutions should be fed in through closed
systems by automatic proportioning pumps. In gold cyanidation plants, the correct
degree of alkalinity must be maintained in all cyanidation apparatus; in addition,
cyanidation apparatus must be hermetically sealed and equipped with LEV backed up
by adequate general ventilation and leak monitoring. All cyanidation apparatus and the
walls, floors, open areas and stairs of the premises must be covered with non-porous
materials and regularly cleaned with weak alkaline solutions.
The use of acids to break down zinc in the processing of gold slime may give off
hydrogen cyanide and arsine. These operations must therefore be performed in
specially equipped and separated premises, with the use of local exhaust hoods.
Smoking should be prohibited and workers should be provided with separate facilities
for eating and drinking. First-aid equipment should be available and should contain
material for immediately removing any cyanide solution that comes in contact with
workers’ bodies and antidotes for cyanide poisoning. Workers must be supplied with
personal protective clothing impervious to cyanide compounds.
Environmental Effects
There is evidence of exposure to metallic mercury vapour and methylation of mercury

in nature, particularly where the gold is processed. In one study of water, settlements
and fish from gold mining areas of Brazil, the mercury concentrations in edible parts
of locally consumed fish surpassed by almost 6 times the Brazilian advisory level for
human consumption (Palheta and Taylor 1995). In a contaminated area of Venezuela,
gold prospectors have been using mercury to separate gold from auriferous sand and
rock powders for many years. The high level of mercury in the surface soil and rubber
sediments of the contaminated area constitutes a serious occupational and public health
risk.
Cyanide contamination of wastewater is also a great concern. Cyanide solutions should

be treated before being released or should be recovered and reused. Emissions of
hydrogen cyanide gas, for example, in the digest reactor, are treated with a scrubber
before being exhausted out the stack.
FOUNDRIES
Franklin E. Mirer
Founding, or metal casting, involves the pouring of molten metal into the hollow
inside of a heat-resistant mould which is the outside or negative shape of the pattern of
the desired metal object. The mould may contain a core to determine the dimensions of
any internal cavity in the final casting. Foundry work comprises:
· making a pattern of the desired article
· making the mould and cores and assembling the mould
· melting and refining the metal
· pouring the metal into the mould
· cooling the metal casting
· removing the mould and core from the metal casting
· removing extra metal from the finished casting.
The basic principles of foundry technology have changed little in thousands of years.
However, processes have become more mechanized and automatic. Wooden patterns
have been replaced by metal and plastic, new substances have been developed for
producing cores and moulds, and a wide range of alloys are used. The most prominent
foundry process is sand moulding of iron.
Iron, steel, brass and bronze are traditional cast metals. The largest sector of the
foundry industry produces grey and ductile iron castings. Gray iron foundries use iron
or pig iron (new ingots) to make standard iron castings. Ductile iron foundries add
magnesium, cerium or other additives (often called ladle additives) to the ladles of
molten metal before pouring to make nodular or malleable iron castings. The different
additives have little impact on workplace exposures. Steel and malleable iron make up
the balance of the ferrous foundry industrial sector. The major customers of the largest
ferrous foundries are the auto, construction and agricultural implement industries. Iron
foundry employment has decreased as engine blocks become smaller and can be
poured in a single mould, and as aluminium is substituted for cast iron. Non-ferrous
foundries, especially aluminium foundry and die-cast operations, have heavy
employment. Brass foundries, both free standing and those producing for the plumbing
equipment industry, are a shrinking sector which, however, remains important from an
occupational health perspective. In recent years, titanium, chromium, nickel and
magnesium, and even more toxic metals such as beryllium, cadmium and thorium, are
used in foundry products.
Although the metal founding industry may be assumed to start by remelting solid
material in the form of metal ingots or pigs, the iron and steel industry in the large
units may be so integrated that the division is less obvious. For instance, the merchant
blast furnace may turn all its output into pig iron, but in an integrated plant some iron
may be used to produce castings, thus taking part in the foundry process, and the blast
furnace iron may be taken molten to be turned into steel, where the same thing can
occur. There is in fact a separate section of the steel trade known for this reason as
ingot moulding. In the normal iron foundry, the remelting of pig iron is also a refining
process. In the non-ferrous foundries the process of melting may require the addition
of metals and other substances, and thus constitutes an alloying process.
Moulds made from silica sand bound with clay predominate in the iron foundry sector.
Cores traditionally produced by baking silica sand bound with vegetable oils or natural
sugars have been substantially replaced. Modern founding technology has developed
new techniques to produce moulds and cores.
In general, the health and safety hazards of foundries can be classified by type of metal
cast, moulding process, size of casting and degree of mechanization.
Process Overview
On the basis of the designer’s drawings, a pattern conforming to the external shape of
the finished metal casting is constructed. In the same way, a corebox is made that will
produce suitable cores to dictate the internal configuration of the final article. Sand
casting is the most widely used method, but other techniques are available. These
include: permanent mould casting, using moulds of iron or steel; die casting, in which
the molten metal, often a light alloy, is forced into a metal mould under pressures of 70
to 7,000 kgf/cm2; and investment casting, where a wax pattern is made of each casting
to be produced and is covered with refractory which will form the mould into which
the metal is poured. The “lost foam” process uses polystyrene foam patterns in sand to
make aluminium castings.
Metals or alloys are melted and prepared in a furnace which may be of the cupola,
rotary, reverberatory, crucible, electric arc, channel or coreless induction type
(see table 82.5). Relevant metallurgical or chemical analyses are performed. Molten
metal is poured into the assembled mould either via a ladle or directly from the
furnace. When the metal has cooled, the mould and core material are removed
(shakeout, stripping or knockout) and the casting is cleaned and dressed (despruing,
shot-blasting or hydro-blasting and other abrasive techniques). Certain castings may
require welding, heat treatment or painting before the finished article will meet the
specifications of the buyer.
Table 82.5 Types of foundry furnaces
Furnace Description
Cupola furnace A cupola furnace is a tall, vertical furnace, open at the top with
hinged doors at the bottom. It is charged from the top with alternate
layers of coke, limestone and metal; the molten metal is removed at
the bottom. Special hazards include carbon monoxide and heat.
Electric arc furnace The furnace is charged with ingots, scrap, alloy metals and fluxing
agents. An arc is produced between three electrodes and the metal
charge, melting the metal. A slag with fluxes covers the surface of
the molten metal to prevent oxidation, to refine the metal and protect
the furnace roof from excessive heat. When ready, the electrodes are
raised and the furnace tilted to pour the molten metal into the
receiving ladle. Special hazards include metal fumes and noise.
Induction furnace An induction furnace melts the metal by passing a high electric
current through copper coils on the outside of the furnace, inducing
an electric current in the outer edge of the metal charge that heats the
metal because of the high electrical resistance of the metal charge.
Melting progresses from the outside of the charge to the inside.
Special hazards include metal fumes.
Crucible furnace The crucible or container holding the metal charge is heated by a gas
or oil burner. When ready, the crucible is lifted out of the furnace and
tilted for pouring into moulds. Special hazards include carbon
monoxide, metal fumes, noise and heat.
Rotary furnace A long, inclined rotating cylindrical furnace that is charged from the
top and fired from the lower end.
Channel furnace A type of induction furnace.
Reverberatory This horizontal furnace consists of a fireplace at one end, separated

furnace from the metal charge by a low partition wall called the fire-bridge,
and a stack or chimney at the other end. The metal is kept from
contact with the solid fuel. Both the fireplace and metal charge are
covered by an arched roof. The flame in its path from the fireplace to
the stack is reflected downwards or reverberated on the metal
beneath, melting it.
Hazards such as the danger arising from the presence of hot metal are common to most
foundries, irrespective of the particular casting process employed. Hazards may also be
specific to a particular foundry process. For example, the use of magnesium presents
flare risks not encountered in other metal founding industries. This article emphasizes
iron foundries, which contain most of the typical foundry hazards.
The mechanized or production foundry employs the same basic methods as the
conventional iron foundry. When moulding is done, for example, by machine and
castings are cleaned by shot blasting or hydroblasting, the machine usually has built-in
dust control devices, and the dust hazard is reduced. However, sand is frequently
moved from place to place on an open-belt conveyor, and transfer points and sand
spillage may be sources of considerable quantities of airborne dust; in view of the high
production rates, the airborne dust burden may be even higher than in the conventional
foundry. A review of air sampling data in the middle 1970s showed higher dust levels
in large American production foundries than in small foundries sampled during the
same period. Installation of exhaust hoods over transfer points on belt conveyors,
combined with scrupulous housekeeping, should be normal practice. Conveying by
pneumatic systems is sometimes economically possible and results in a virtually dust-
free conveying system.
Iron Foundries
For simplicity, an iron foundry can be presumed to comprise the following six
sections:
1. metal melting and pouring
2. pattern-making
3. moulding
4. coremaking
5. shakeout/knockout
6. casting cleaning.
In many foundries, almost any of these processes may be carried out simultaneously or
consecutively in the same workshop area.
In a typical production foundry, iron moves from melting to pouring, cooling,

shakeout, cleaning and shipping as a finished casting. Sand is cycled from sand mix,
moulding, shakeout and back to sand mixing. Sand is added to the system from core
making, which starts with new sand.
Melting and pouring
The iron founding industry relies heavily on the cupola furnace for metal melting and
refining. The cupola is a tall, vertical furnace, open at the top with hinged doors at the
bottom, lined with refractory and charged with coke, scrap iron and limestone. Air is
blown through the charge from openings (tuyers) at the bottom; combustion of coke
heats, melts and purifies the iron. Charge materials are fed into the top of the cupola by
crane during operation and must be stored close at hand, usually in compounds or bins
in the yard adjacent to the charging machinery. Tidiness and efficient supervision of
the stacks of raw materials are essential to minimize the risk of injury from slippages
of heavy objects. Cranes with large electromagnets or heavy weights are often used to
reduce the scrap metal to manageable sizes for charging into the cupola and for filling
the charging hoppers themselves. The crane cab should be well protected and the
operators properly trained.
Employees handling raw materials should wear hand leathers and protective boots.
Careless charging can overfill the hopper and can cause dangerous spillage. If the
charging process is found to be too noisy, the noise of metal-on-metal impact can be
reduced by fitting rubber noise-dampening liners to storage skips and bins. The
charging platform is necessarily above ground level and can present a hazard unless it
is level and has a non-slip surface and strong rails around it and any floor openings.
Cupolas generate large quantities of carbon monoxide, which may leak from the
charging doors and be blown back by local eddy currents. Carbon monoxide is
invisible, odourless and can quickly produce toxic ambient levels. Employees working
on the charging platform or surrounding catwalks should be well trained in order to
recognize the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. Both continuous and spot
monitoring of exposure levels are needed. Self-contained breathing apparatus and
resuscitation equipment should be maintained in readiness, and operators should be
instructed in their use. When emergency work is carried out, a confined-space entry
system of contaminant monitoring should be developed and enforced. All work should
be supervised.
Cupolas are usually sited in pairs or groups, so that while one is being repaired the
others operate. The period of use must be based on experience with durability of
refractories and on engineering recommendations. Procedures must be worked out in
advance for tapping out iron and for shutting down when hot spots develop or if the
water cooling system is disabled. Cupola repair necessarily involves the presence of
employees inside the cupola shell itself to mend or renew refractory linings. These
assignments should be considered confined-space entries and appropriate precautions
taken. Precautions should also be taken to prevent the discharge of material through
the charging doors at such times. To protect the workers from falling objects, they
should wear safety helmets and, if working at a height, safety harnesses.
Workers tapping cupolas (transferring molten metal from the cupola well to a holding
furnace or ladle) must observe rigorous personal protection measures. Goggles and
protective clothing are essential. The eye protectors should resist both high velocity
impact and molten metal. Extreme caution should be exercised in order to prevent
remaining molten slag (the unwanted debris removed from the melt with the aid of the
limestone additives) and metal from coming into contact with water, which will cause
a steam explosion. Tappers and supervisors must ensure that any person not involved
in the operation of the cupola remains outside the danger area, which is delineated by a
radius of about 4 m from the cupola spout. Delineation of a non-authorized no-entry
zone is a statutory requirement under the British Iron and Steel Foundries Regulations
of 1953.
When the cupola run is at an end, the cupola bottom is dropped to remove the
unwanted slag and other material still inside the shell before employees can carry out
the routine refractory maintenance. Dropping the cupola bottom is a skilled and
dangerous operation requiring trained supervision. A refractory floor or layer of dry
sand on which to drop the debris is essential. If a problem occurs, such as jammed
cupola bottom doors, great caution must be exercised to avoid risks of burns to
workers from the hot metal and slag.
Visible white-hot metal is a danger to workers’ eyes due to the emission of infrared
and ultraviolet radiation, extensive exposure to which can cause cataracts.
The ladle must be dried before filling with molten metal, to prevent steam explosions;
a satisfactory period of flame heating must be established.
Employees in metal and pouring sections of the foundry should be provided with hard
hats, tinted eye protection and face shields, aluminized clothing such as aprons, gaiters
or spats (lower-leg and foot coverings) and boots. Use of protective equipment should
be mandatory, and there should be adequate instruction in its use and maintenance.
High standards of housekeeping and exclusion of water to the highest degree possible
are needed in all areas where molten metal is being manipulated.
Where large ladles are slung from cranes or overhead conveyors, positive ladle-control
devices should be employed to ensure that spillage of metal cannot occur if the
operator releases his or her hold. Hooks holding molten metal ladles must be
periodically tested for metal fatigue to prevent failure.
In production foundries, the assembled mould moves along a mechanical conveyor to a

ventilated pouring station. Pouring may be from a manually controlled ladle with
mechanical assist, an indexing ladle controlled from a cab, or it can be automatic.
Typically, the pouring station is provided with a compensating hood with a direct air
supply. The poured mould proceeds along the conveyor through an exhausted cooling
tunnel until shakeout. In smaller, job shop foundries, moulds may be poured on a
foundry floor and allowed to burn off there. In this situation, the ladle should be
equipped with a mobile exhaust hood.
Tapping and transport of molten iron and charging of electric furnaces creates
exposure to iron oxide and other metal oxide fumes. Pouring into the mould ignites
and pyrolyses organic materials, generating large amounts of carbon monoxide,
smoke, carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pyrolysis
products from core materials which may be carcinogenic and also respiratory
sensitizers. Moulds containing large polyurethane bound cold box cores release a
dense, irritating smoke containing isocyanates and amines. The primary hazard control
for mould burn off is a locally exhausted pouring station and cooling tunnel.
In foundries with roof fans for exhausting pouring operations, high metal fume
concentrations may be found in the upper regions where crane cabs are located. If the
cabs have an operator, the cabs should be enclosed and provided with filtered,
conditioned air.
Pattern making
Pattern making is a highly skilled trade translating the two-dimensional design plans to
a three-dimensional object. Traditional wooden patterns are made in standard
workshops containing hand tools and electric cutting and planing equipment. Here, all
reasonably practicable measures should be taken to reduce the noise to the greatest
extent possible, and suitable ear protectors must be provided. It is important that the
employees are aware of the advantages of using such protection.
Power-driven wood cutting and finishing machines are obvious sources of danger, and
often suitable guards cannot be fitted without preventing the machine from functioning
at all. Employees must be well versed in normal operating procedure and should also
be instructed in the hazards inherent in the work.
Wood sawing can create dust exposure. Efficient ventilation systems should be fitted
to eliminate wood dust from the pattern shop atmosphere. In certain industries using
hard woods, nasal cancer has been observed. This has not been studied in the founding
industry.
Casting in permanent metal moulds, as in die-casting, has been an important

development in the foundry industry. In this case, pattern making is largely replaced
by engineering methods and is really a die manufacture operation. Most of the pattern-
making hazards and the risks from sand are eliminated, but are replaced by the risk
inherent in the use of some sort of refractory material to coat the die or mould. In
modern die-foundry work, increasing use is made of sand cores, in which case the dust
hazards of the sand foundry are still present.
Moulding
The most common moulding process in the iron founding industry uses the traditional
“green sand” mould made from silica sand, coal dust, clay and organic binders. Other
methods of mould production are adapted from coremaking: thermosetting, cold self-
setting and gas-hardened. These methods and their hazards will be discussed under
coremaking. Permanent moulds or the lost foam process may also be used, especially
in the aluminium foundry industry.
In production foundries, sand mix, moulding, mould assembly, pouring and shakeout
are integrated and mechanized. Sand from shakeout is recycled back to the sand mix
operation, where water and other additives are added and the sand is mixed in mullers
to maintain the desired physical properties.
For ease of assembly, patterns (and their moulds) are made in two parts. In manual
mould-making, the moulds are enclosed in metal or wooden frames called flasks. The
bottom half of the pattern is placed in the bottom flask (the drag), and first fine sand
and then heavy sand are poured around the pattern. The sand is compacted in the
mould by a jolt-squeeze, sand slinger or pressure process. The top flask (the cope) is
prepared similarly. Wooden spacers are placed in the cope to form the sprue and riser
channels, which are the pathway for the molten metal to flow into the mould cavity.
The patterns are removed, the core inserted, and then the two halves of the mould
assembled and fastened together, ready for pouring. In production foundries, the cope
and drag flasks are prepared on a mechanical conveyor, cores are placed in the drag
flask, and the mould assembled by mechanical means.
Silica dust is a potential problem wherever sand is handled. Moulding sand is usually
either damp or mixed with liquid resin, and is therefore less likely to be a significant
source of respirable dust. A parting agent such as talc is sometimes added to promote
the ready removal of the pattern from the mould. Respirable talc causes talcosis, a type
of pneumoconiosis. Parting agents are more widespread where hand moulding is
employed; in the larger, more automatic processes they are rarely seen. Chemicals are
sometimes sprayed onto the mould surface, suspended or dissolved in isopropyl
alcohol, which is then burned off to leave the compound, usually a type of graphite,
coating the mould in order to achieve a casting with a finer surface finish. This
involves an immediate fire risk, and all employees involved in applying these coatings
should be provided with fire-retardant protective clothing and hand protection, as
organic solvents can also cause dermatitis. Coatings should be applied in a ventilated
booth to prevent the organic vapours from escaping into the workplace. Strict
precautions should also be observed to ensure that the isopropyl alcohol is stored and
used with safety. It should be transferred to a small vessel for immediate use, and the
larger storage vessels should be kept well away from the burning-off process.
Manual mould making can involve the manipulation of large and cumbersome objects.
The moulds themselves are heavy, as are the moulding boxes or flasks. They are often
lifted, moved and stacked by hand. Back injuries are common, and power assists are
needed so employees do not need to lift objects too heavy to be carried safely.
Standardized designs are available for enclosures of mixers, conveyors and pouring
and shakeout stations with appropriate exhaust volumes and capture and transport
velocities. Adherence to such designs and strict preventive maintenance of control
systems will attain compliance with international recognized limits for dust exposure.
Coremaking
Cores inserted into the mould determine the internal configuration of a hollow casting,
such as the water jacket of an engine block. The core must withstand the casting
process but at the same time must not be so strong as to resist removal from the casting
during the knocking-out stage.
Prior to the 1960s, core mixtures comprised sand and binders, such as linseed oil,
molasses or dextrin (oil sand). The sand was packed in a core box with a cavity in the
shape of the core, and then dried in an oven. Core ovens evolve harmful pyrolysis
products and require a suitable, well maintained chimney system. Normally,
convection currents within the oven will be sufficient to ensure satisfactory removal of
fumes from the workplace, although they contribute enormously to air pollution After
removal from the oven, the finished oil sand cores can still give rise to a small amount
of smoke, but the hazard is minor; in some cases, however, small amounts of acrolein
in the fumes may be a considerable nuisance. Cores may be treated with a “flare-off
coating” to improve the surface finish of the casting, which calls for the same
precautions as in the case of moulds.
Hot box or shell moulding and coremaking are thermosetting processes used in iron
foundries. New sand may be mixed with resin at the foundry, or resin-coated sand may
be shipped in bags for addition to the coremaking machine. Resin sand is injected into
a metal pattern (the core box). The pattern is then heated—by direct natural gas fires in
the hot box process or by other means for shell cores and moulding. Hot boxes
typically use a furfuryl alcohol (furan), urea- or phenol-formaldehyde thermosetting
resin. Shell moulding uses a urea- or phenol-formaldehyde resin. After a short curing
time, the core hardens considerably and can be pushed clear of the pattern plate by
ejector pins. Hot box and shell coremaking generate substantial exposure to
formaldehyde, which is a probable carcinogen, and other contaminants, depending on
the system. Control measures for formaldehyde include direct air supply at the
operator station, local exhaust at the corebox, enclosure and local exhaust at the core
storage station and low-formaldehyde-emission resins. Satisfactory control is difficult
to achieve. Medical surveillance for respiratory conditions should be provided to
coremaking workers. Phenol- or urea-formaldehyde resin contact with the skin or eyes
must be prevented because the resins are irritants or sensitizers and can cause
dermatitis. Copious washing with water will help to avoid the problem.
Cold-setting (no-bake) hardening systems presently in use include: acid-catalyzed

urea- and phenol-formaldehyde resins with and without furfuryl alcohol; alkyd and
phenolic isocyanates; Fascold; self-set silicates; Inoset; cement sand and fluid or
castable sand. Cold-setting hardeners do not require external heating to set. The
isocyanates employed in binders are normally based on methylene diphenyl isocyanate
(MDI), which, if inhaled, can act as a respiratory irritant or sensitizer, causing asthma.
Gloves and protective goggles are advisable when handling or using these compounds.
The isocyanates themselves should be carefully stored in sealed containers in dry
conditions at a temperature between 10 and 30°C. Empty storage vessels should be
filled and soaked for 24 hours with a 5% sodium carbonate solution in order to
neutralize any residual chemical left in the drum. Most general housekeeping
principles should be strictly applied to resin moulding processes, but the greatest
caution of all should be exercised when handling the catalysts used as setting agents.
The catalysts for the phenol and oil isocyanate resins are usually aromatic amines
based on pyridine compounds, which are liquids with a pungent smell. They can cause
severe skin irritation and renal and hepatic damage and can also affect the central
nervous system. These compounds are supplied either as separate additives (three-part
binder) or are ready mixed with the oil materials, and LEV should be provided at the
mixing, moulding, casting and knockout stages. For certain other no-bake processes
the catalysts used are phosphoric or various sulphonic acids, which are also toxic;
accidents during transport or use should be adequately guarded against.
Gas-hardened coremaking comprises the carbon dioxide (CO 2)-silicate and the Isocure
(or “Ashland”) processes. Many variations of the CO 2-silicate process have been
developed since the 1950s. This process has generally been used for the production of
medium to large moulds and cores. The core sand is a mixture of sodium silicate and
silica sand, usually modified by adding such substances as molasses as breakdown
agents. After the core box is filled, the core is cured by passing carbon dioxide through
the core mixture. This forms sodium carbonate and silica gel, which acts as a binder.
Sodium silicate is an alkaline substance, and can be harmful if it comes into contact
with the skin or eyes or is ingested. It is advisable to provide an emergency shower
close to areas where large quantities of sodium silicate are handled and gloves should
always be worn. A readily available eye-wash fountain should be located in any
foundry area where sodium silicate is used. The CO 2 can be supplied as a solid, liquid
or gas. Where it is supplied in cylinders or pressure tanks, a great many housekeeping
precautions should be taken, such as cylinder storage, valve maintenance, handling and
so on. There is also the risk from the gas itself, since it can lower the oxygen
concentration in the air in enclosed spaces.
The Isocure process is used for cores and moulds. This is a gas-setting system in which
a resin, frequently phenol-formaldehyde, is mixed with a di-isocyanate (e.g., MDI) and
sand. This is injected into the core box and then gassed with an amine, usually either
triethylamine or dimethylethylamine, to cause the crosslinking, setting reaction. The
amines, often sold in drums, are highly volatile liquids with a strong smell of
ammonia. There is a very real risk of fire or explosion, and extreme care should be
taken, especially where the material is stored in bulk. The characteristic effect of these
amines is to cause halo vision and corneal swelling, although they also affect the
central nervous system, where they can cause convulsions, paralysis and, occasionally,
death. Should some of the amine come into contact with the eyes or skin, first-aid
measures should include washing with copious quantities of water for at least 15
minutes and immediate medical attention. In the Isocure process, the amine is applied
as a vapour in a nitrogen carrier, with excess amine scrubbed through an acid tower.
Leakage from the corebox is the principle cause of high exposure, although offgassing
of amine from manufactured cores is also significant. Great care should be taken at all
times when handling this material, and suitable exhaust ventilation equipment should
be installed to remove vapours from the working areas.
Shakeout, casting extraction and core knockout
After the molten metal has cooled, the rough casting must be removed from the mould.
This is a noisy process, typically exposing operators well above 90 dBA over an 8
hour working day. Hearing protectors should be provided if it is not practicable to
reduce the noise output. The main bulk of the mould is separated from the casting
usually by jarring impact. Frequently the moulding box, mould and casting are
dropped onto a vibrating grid to dislodge the sand (shakeout). The sand then drops
through the grid into a hopper or onto a conveyor where it can be subjected to
magnetic separators and recycled for milling, treatment and re-use, or merely dumped.
Sometimes hydroblasting can be used instead of a grid, creating less dust. The core is
removed here, also sometimes using high-pressure water streams.
The casting is then removed and transferred to the next stage of the knockout
operation. Often small castings can be removed from the flask by a “punch-out”
process before shakeout, which produces less dust. The sand gives rise to hazardous
silica dust levels because it has been in contact with molten metal and is therefore very
dry. The metal and sand remain very hot. Eye protection is needed. Walking and
working surfaces must be kept free of scrap, which is a tripping hazard, and of dust,
which can be resuspended to pose an inhalation hazard.
Relatively few studies have been carried out to determine what effect, if any, the new
core binders have on the health of the de-coring operator in particular. The furanes,
furfuryl alcohol and phosphoric acid, urea- and phenol-formaldehyde resins, sodium
silicate and carbon dioxide, no-bakes, modified linseed oil and MDI, all undergo some
type of thermal decomposition when exposed to the temperatures of the molten metals.
No studies have yet been conducted on the effect of the resin-coated silica particle on
the development of pneumoconiosis. It is not known whether these coatings will have
an inhibiting or accelerating effect on lung-tissue lesions. It is feared that the reaction
products of phosphoric acid may liberate phosphine. Animal experiments and some
selected studies have shown that the effect of the silica dust on lung tissue is greatly
accelerated when silica has been treated with a mineral acid. Urea- and phenol-
formaldehyde resins can release free phenols, aldehydes and carbon monoxide. The
sugars added to increase collapsibility produce significant amounts of carbon
monoxide. No-bakes will release isocyanates (e.g., MDI) and carbon monoxide.
Fettling (cleaning)
Casting cleaning, or fettling, is carried out following shakeout and core knockout. The
various processes involved are variously designated in different places but can be
broadly classified as follows:
· Dressing covers stripping, roughing or mucking-off, removal of adherent moulding

sand, core sand, runners, risers, flash and other readily disposable matter with hand
tools or portable pneumatic tools.
· Fettling covers removal of burnt-on moulding sand, rough edges, surplus metal,
such as blisters, stumps of gates, scabs or other unwanted blemishes, and the hand
cleaning of the casting using hand chisels, pneumatic tools and wire brushes. Welding
techniques, such as oxyacetylene-flame cutting, electric arc, arc-air, powder washing
and the plasma torch, may be employed for burning off headers, for casting repair and
for cutting and washing.
Sprue removal is the first dressing operation. As much as half of the metal cast in the
mould is not part of the final casting. The mould must include reservoirs, cavities,
feeders and sprue in order that it be filled with metal to complete the cast object. The
sprue usually can be removed during the knockout stage, but sometimes this must be
carried out as a separate stage of the fettling or dressing operation. Sprue removal is
done by hand, usually by knocking the casting with a hammer. To reduce noise, the
metal hammers can be replaced by rubber-covered ones and the conveyors lined with
the same noise-damping rubber. Hot metal fragments are thrown off and pose an eye
hazard. Eye protection must be used. Detached sprues should normally be returned to
the charging region of the melting plant and should not be permitted to accumulate at
the despruing section of the foundry. After despruing (but sometimes before) most
castings are shot blasted or tumbled to remove mould materials and perhaps to
improve the surface finish. Tumbling barrels generate high noise levels. Enclosures
may be necessary, which can also require LEV.
Dressing methods in steel, iron and non-ferrous foundries are very similar, but special
difficulties exist in the dressing and fettling of steel castings owing to greater amounts
of burnt-on fused sand compared to iron and non-ferrous castings. Fused sand on large
steel castings may contain cristobalite, which is more toxic than the quartz found in
virgin sand.
Airless shot blasting or tumbling of castings before chipping and grinding is needed to
prevent overexposure to silica dust. The casting must be free of visible dust, although a
silica hazard may still be generated by grinding if silica is burnt into the apparently
clean metal surface of the casting. The shot is centrifugally propelled at the casting,
and no operator is required inside the unit. The blast cabinet must be exhausted so no
visible dust escapes. Only when there is a breakdown or deterioration of the shot-blast
cabinet and/or the fan and collector is there a dust problem.
Water or water and sand or pressure shot blasting may be used to remove adherent
sand by subjecting the casting to a high-pressure stream of either water or iron or steel
shot. Sand blasting has been banned in several countries (e.g., the United Kingdom)
because of the silicosis risk as the sand particles become finer and finer and the
respirable fraction thus continually increases. The water or shot is discharged through
a gun and can clearly present a risk to personnel if not handled correctly. Blasting
should always be carried out in an isolated, enclosed space. All blasting enclosures
should be inspected at regular intervals to ensure that the dust extraction system is
functioning and that there are no leaks through which shot or water could escape into
the foundry. Blasters’ helmets should be approved and carefully maintained. It is
advisable to post a notice on the door to the booth, warning employees that blasting is
under way and that unauthorized entry is prohibited. In certain circumstances delay
bolts linked to the blast drive motor can be fitted to the doors, making it impossible to
open the doors until blasting has ceased.
A variety of grinding tools are used to smooth the rough casting. Abrasive wheels may
be mounted on floor-standing or pedestal machines or in portable or swing-frame
grinders. Pedestal grinders are used for smaller castings that can be easily handled;
portable grinders, surface disc wheels, cup wheels and cone wheels are used for a
number of purposes, including smoothing of internal surfaces of castings; swing-frame
grinders are used primarily on large castings that require a great deal of metal removal.
Other Foundries
Steel founding
Production in the steel foundry (as distinct from a basic steel mill) is similar to that in
the iron foundry; however, the metal temperatures are much higher. This means that
eye protection with coloured lenses is essential and that the silica in the mould is
converted by heat to tridymite or crystobalite, two forms of crystalline silica which are
particularly dangerous to the lungs. Sand often becomes burnt on to the casting and
has to be removed by mechanical means, which give rise to dangerous dust;
consequently, effective dust exhaust systems and respiratory protection are essential.
Light-alloy founding
The light-alloy foundry uses mainly aluminium and magnesium alloys. These often
contain small amounts of metals which may give off toxic fumes under certain
circumstances. The fumes should be analysed to determine their constituents where the
alloy might contain such components.
In aluminium and magnesium foundries, melting is commonly done in crucible

furnaces. Exhaust vents around the top of the pot for removing fumes are advisable. In
oil-fired furnaces, incomplete combustion due to faulty burners may result in products
such as carbon monoxide being released into the air. Furnace fumes may contain
complex hydrocarbons, some of which may be carcinogenic. During furnace and flue
cleaning there is the hazard of exposure to vanadium pentoxide concentrated in
furnace soot from oil deposits.
Fluorspar is commonly used as a flux in aluminium melting, and significant quantities

of fluoride dust may be released to the environment. In certain cases barium chloride
has been used as a flux for magnesium alloys; this is a significantly toxic substance
and, consequently, considerable care is required in its use. Light alloys may
occasionally be degassed by passing sulphur dioxide or chlorine (or proprietary
compounds that decompose to produce chlorine) through the molten metal; exhaust
ventilation and respiratory protective equipment are required for this operation. In
order to reduce the cooling rate of the hot metal in the mould, a mixture of substances
(usually aluminium and iron oxide) which react highly exothermically is placed on the
mould riser. This “thermite” mixture gives off dense fumes which have been found to
be innocuous in practice. When the fumes are brown in colour, alarm may be caused
due to suspicion of the presence of nitrogen oxides; however, this suspicion is
unfounded. The finely divided aluminium produced during the dressing of aluminium
and magnesium castings constitutes a severe fire hazard, and wet methods should be
used for dust collection.
Magnesium casting entails considerable potential fire and explosion hazard. Molten
magnesium will ignite unless a protective barrier is maintained between it and the
atmosphere; molten sulphur is widely employed for this purpose. Foundry workers
applying the sulphur powder to the melting pot by hand may develop dermatitis and
should be provided with gloves made of fireproof fabric. The sulphur in contact with
the metal is constantly burning, so considerable quantities of sulphur dioxide are given
off. Exhaust ventilation should be installed. Workers should be informed of the danger
of a pot or ladle of molten magnesium catching fire, which may give rise to a dense
cloud of finely divided magnesium oxide. Protective clothing of fireproof materials
should be worn by all magnesium foundry workers. Clothing coated with magnesium
dust should not be stored in lockers without humidity control, since spontaneous
combustion may occur. The magnesium dust should be removed from the
clothing.French chalk is used extensively in mould dressing in magnesium foundries;
the dust should be controlled to prevent talcosis. Penetrating oils and dusting powders
are employed in the inspection of light-alloy castings for the detection of cracks.
Dyes have been introduced to improve the effectiveness of these techniques. Certain
red dyes have been found to be absorbed and excreted in sweat, thus causing soiling of
personal clothing; although this condition is a nuisance, no effects on health have been
observed.
Brass and bronze foundries
Toxic metal fumes and dust from typical alloys are a special hazard of brass and
bronze foundries. Exposures to lead above safe limits in both melting, pouring and
finishing operations are common, especially where alloys have a high lead
composition. The lead hazard in furnace cleaning and dross disposal is particularly
acute. Overexposure to lead is frequent in melting and pouring and can also occur in
grinding. Zinc and copper fumes (the constituents of bronze) are the most common
causes of metal fume fever, although the condition has also been observed in foundry
workers using magnesium, aluminium, antimony and so on. Some high-duty alloys
contain cadmium, which can cause chemical pneumonia from acute exposure and
kidney damage and lung cancer from chronic exposure.
Permanent-mould process
Casting in permanent metal moulds, as in die-casting, has been an important

development in the foundry. In this case, pattern making is largely replaced by
engineering methods and is really a die-sinking operation. Most of the pattern making
hazards are thereby removed and the risks from sand are also eliminated but are
replaced by a degree of risk inherent in the use of some sort of refractory material to
coat the die or mould. In modern die-foundry work, increasing use is made of sand
cores, in which case the dust hazards of the sand foundry are still present.
Die casting
Aluminium is a common metal in die casting. Automotive hardware such as chrome

trim is typically zinc die cast, followed by copper, nickel and chrome plating. The
hazard of metal fume fever from zinc fumes should be constantly controlled, as must
be chromic acid mist.
Pressure die-casting machines present all the hazards common to hydraulic power
presses. In addition, the worker may be exposed to the mist of oils used as die
lubricants and must be protected against the inhalation of these mists and the danger of
oil-saturated clothing. The fire-resistant hydraulic fluids used in the presses may
contain toxic organophosphorus compounds, and particular care should be taken
during maintenance work on hydraulic systems.
Precision founding
Precision foundries rely on the investment or lost-wax casting process, in which

patterns are made by injection moulding wax into a die; these patterns are coated with
a fine refractory powder which serves as a mould-facing material, and the wax is then
melted out prior to casting or by the introduction of the casting metal itself.
Wax removal presents a definite fire hazard, and decomposition of the wax produces
acrolein and other hazardous decomposition products. Wax-burnout kilns must be
adequately ventilated. Trichloroethylene has been used to remove the last traces of
wax; this solvent may collect in pockets in the mould or be absorbed by the refractory
material and vaporize or decompose during pouring. The inclusion of asbestos
investment casting refractory materials should be eliminated due to the hazards of
asbestos.
Health Problems and Disease Patterns
Foundries stand out among industrial processes because of a higher fatality rate arising
from molten metal spills and explosions, cupola maintenance including bottom drop
and carbon monoxide hazards during relining. Foundries report a higher incidence of
foreign body, contusion and burn injuries and a lower proportion of musculoskeletal
injuries than other facilities. They also have the highest noise exposure levels.
A study of several dozen fatal injuries in foundries revealed the following causes:
crushing between mould conveyor cars and building structures during maintenance
and trouble-shooting, crushing while cleaning mullers which were remotely activated,
molten metal burns after crane failure, mould cracking, overflowing transfer ladle,
steam eruption in undried ladle, falls from cranes and work platforms, electrocution
from welding equipment, crushing from material-handling vehicles, burns from cupola
bottom drop, high-oxygen atmosphere during cupola repair and carbon monoxide
overexposure during cupola repair.
Abrasive wheels
The bursting or breaking of abrasive wheels may cause fatal or very serious injuries:
gaps between the wheel and the rest at pedestal grinders may catch and crush the hand
or forearm. Unprotected eyes are at risk at all stages. Slips and falls, especially when
carrying heavy loads, may be caused by badly maintained or obstructed floors. Injuries
to the feet may be caused by falling objects or dropped loads. Sprains and strains may
result from overexertion in lifting and carrying. Badly maintained hoisting appliances
may fail and cause materials to fall on workers. Electric shock may result from badly
maintained or unearthed (ungrounded) electrical equipment, especially portable tools.
All dangerous parts of machinery, especially abrasive wheels, should have adequate
guarding, with automatic lockout if the guard is removed during processing.
Dangerous gaps between the wheel and the rest at pedestal grinders should be
eliminated, and close attention should be paid to all precautions in the care and
maintenance of abrasive wheels and in regulation of their speed (particular care is
required with portable wheels). Strict maintenance of all electrical equipment and
proper grounding arrangements should be enforced. Workers should be instructed in
correct lifting and carrying techniques and should know how to attach loads to crane
hooks and other hoisting appliances. Suitable PPE, such as eye and face shields and
foot and leg protection, should also be provided. Provision should be made for prompt
first aid, even for minor injuries, and for competent medical care when needed.
Dust
Dust diseases are prominent among foundry workers. Silica exposures are often close
to or exceed prescribed exposure limits, even in well-controlled cleaning operations in
modern production foundries and where castings are free of visible dust. Exposures
many times above the limit occur where castings are dusty or cabinets leak.
Overexposures are likely where visible dust escapes venting in shakeout, sand
preparation or refractory repair.
Silicosis is the predominant health hazard in the steel fettling shop; a mixed
pneumoconiosis is more prevalent in iron fettling (Landrigan et al. 1986). In the
foundry, the prevalence increases with length of exposure and higher dust levels.
There is some evidence that conditions in steel foundries are more likely to cause
silicosis than those in iron foundries because of the higher levels of free silica present.
Attempts to set an exposure level at which silicosis will not occur have been
inconclusive; the threshold is probably less than 100 micrograms/m 3 and perhaps as
low as half that amount.
In most countries, the occurrence of new cases of silicosis is declining, in part because
of changes in technology, a move away from silica sand in foundries and a shift away
from silica brick and towards basic furnace linings in steel melting. A major reason is
the fact that automation has resulted in the employment of fewer workers in steel
production and foundries. Exposure to respirable silica dust remains stubbornly high in
many foundries, however, and in countries where processes are labour intensive,
silicosis remains a major problem.
Silico-tuberculosis has long been reported in foundry workers. Where the prevalence
of silicosis has declined, there has been a parallel falling off in reported cases of
tuberculosis, although that disease has not been completely eradicated. In countries
where dust levels have remained high, dusty processes are labour intensive and the
prevalence of tuberculosis in the general population is elevated, tuberculosis remains
an important cause of death amongst foundry workers.
Many workers suffering from pneumoconiosis also have chronic bronchitis, often
associated with emphysema; it has long been thought by many investigators that, in
some cases at least, occupational exposures may have played a part. Cancer of the
lung, lobar pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and coronary thrombosis have also been
reported to be associated with pneumoconiosis in foundry workers.
A recent review of mortality studies of foundry workers, including the American auto
industry, showed increased deaths from lung cancer in 14 of 15 studies. Because high
lung cancer rates are found among cleaning room workers where the primary hazard is
silica, it is likely that mixed exposures are also found.
Studies of the carcinogens in the foundry environment have concentrated on polycyclic

aromatic hydrocarbons formed in the thermal breakdown of sand additives and
binders. It has been suggested that metals such as chromium and nickel, and dusts such
as silica and asbestos, may also be responsible for some of the excess mortality.
Differences in moulding and core-making chemistry, sand type and the composition of
iron and steel alloys may be responsible for different levels of risk in different
foundries (IARC 1984).
Increased mortality from non-malignant respiratory disease was found in 8 of 11

studies. Silicosis deaths were recorded as well. Clinical studies found x-ray changes
characteristic of pneumoconiosis, lung function deficits characteristic of obstruction,
and increased respiratory symptoms among workers in modern “clean” production
foundries. These resulted from exposures after the l960s and strongly suggest that the
health risks prevalent in the older foundries have not yet been eliminated.
Prevention of lung disorders is essentially a matter of dust and fume control; the
generally applicable solution is providing good general ventilation coupled with
efficient LEV. Low-volume, high-velocity systems are most suitable for some
operations, particularly portable grinding wheels and pneumatic tools.
Hand or pneumatic chisels used to remove burnt-on sand produce much finely divided
dust. Brushing off excess materials with revolving wire brushes or hand brushes also
produces much dust; LEV is required.
Dust control measures are readily adaptable to floor-standing and swing-frame

grinders. Portable grinding on small castings can be carried out on exhaust-ventilated
benches, or ventilation may be applied to the tools themselves. Brushing can also be
carried out on a ventilated bench. Dust control on large castings presents a problem,
but considerable progress has been made with low-volume, high-velocity ventilation
systems. Instruction and training in their use is needed to overcome the objections of
workers who find these systems cumbersome and complain that their view of the
working area is impaired.
Dressing and fettling of very large castings where local ventilation is impracticable
should be done in a separate, isolated area and at a time when few other workers are
present. Suitable PPE that is regularly cleaned and repaired, should be provided for
each worker, along with instruction in its proper use.
Since the 1950s, a variety of synthetic resin systems have been introduced into
foundries to bind sand in cores and moulds. These generally comprise a base material
and a catalyst or hardener which starts the polymerization. Many of these reactive
chemicals are sensitizers (e.g., isocyanates, furfuryl alcohol, amines and
formaldehyde) and have now been implicated in cases of occupational asthma among
foundry workers. In one study, 12 out of 78 foundry workers exposed to Pepset (cold-
box) resins had asthmatic symptoms, and of these, six had a marked decline in airflow
rates in a challenge test using methyl di-isocyanate (Johnson et al. 1985).
Welding
Welding in fettling shops exposes workers to metal fumes with the consequent hazard
of toxicity and metal fever, depending on the composition of the metals involved.
Welding on cast iron requires a nickel rod and creates exposure to nickel fumes. The
plasma torch produces a considerable amount of metal fumes, ozone, nitrogen oxide
and ultraviolet radiation, and generates high levels of noise.
An exhaust-ventilated bench can be provided for welding small castings. Controlling

exposures during welding or burning operations on large castings is difficult. A
successful approach involves creating a central station for these operations and
providing LEV through a flexible duct positioned at the point of welding. This requires
training the worker to move the duct from one location to another. Good general
ventilation and, when necessary, the use of PPE will aid in reducing the overall dust
and fume exposures.
Noise and vibration
The highest levels of noise in the foundry are usually found in knockout and cleaning
operations; they are higher in mechanized than in manual foundries. The ventilation
system itself may generate exposures close to 90 dBA.
Noise levels in the fettling of steel castings may be in the range of 115 to 120 dBA,
while those actually encountered in the fettling of cast iron are in the 105 to 115 dBA
range. The British Steel Casting Research Association established that the sources of
noise during fettling include:
· the fettling tool exhaust
· the impact of the hammer or wheel on the casting
· resonance of the casting and vibration against its support
· transmission of vibration from the casting support to surrounding structures
· reflection of direct noise by the hood controlling air flow through the ventilation
system.
Noise control strategies vary with the size of the casting, the type of metal, the work
area available, the use of portable tools and other related factors. Certain basic
measures are available to reduce noise exposure of individuals and co-workers,
including isolation in time and space, complete enclosures, partial sound-absorbing
partitions, execution of work on sound-absorbing surfaces, baffles, panels and hoods
made from sound-absorbing or other acoustical materials. The guidelines for safe daily
exposure limits should be observed and, as a last resort, personal protective devices
may be used.
A fettling bench developed by the British Steel Casting Research Association reduces
the noise in chipping by about 4 to 5 dBA. This bench incorporates an exhaust system
to remove dust. This improvement is encouraging and leads to hope that, with further
development, even greater noise reductions will become possible.
Hand-arm vibration syndrome
Portable vibrating tools may cause Raynaud’s phenomenon (hand-arm vibration

syndrome—HAVS). This is more prevalent in steel fettlers than in iron fettlers and
more frequent among those using rotating tools. The critical vibratory rate for the
onset of this phenomenon is between 2,000 and 3,000 revolutions per minute and in
the range of 40 to 125 Hz.
HAVS is now thought to involve effects on a number of other tissues in the forearm
apart from peripheral nerves and blood vessels. It is associated with carpal tunnel
syndrome and degenerative changes in the joints. A recent study of steelworks
chippers and grinders showed they were twice as likely to develop Dupuytren’s
contracture than a comparison group (Thomas and Clarke 1992).
Vibration transmitted to the hands of the worker can be considerably reduced by:
selection of tools designed to reduce the harmful ranges of frequency and amplitude;
direction of the exhaust port away from the hand; use of multiple layers of gloves or an
insulating glove; and shortening of exposure time by changes in work operations, tools
and rest periods.
Eye problems
Some of the dusts and chemicals encountered in foundries (e.g., isocyanates,

formaldehyde and tertiary amines, such as dimethlyethylamine, triethylamine and so
on) are irritants and have been responsible for visual symptoms among exposed
workers. These include itchy, watery eyes, hazy or blurred vision or so called “blue-
grey vision”. On the basis of the occurrence of these effects, reducing time-weighted
average exposures below 3 ppm has been recommended.
Other problems
Formaldehyde exposures at or above the US exposure limit are found in well-

controlled hot-box core-making operations. Exposures many times above the limit
may be found where hazard control is poor.
Asbestos has been used widely in the foundry industry and, until recently, it was often
used in protective clothing for heat-exposed workers. Its effects have been found in x-
ray surveys of foundry workers, both among production workers and maintenance
workers who have been exposed to asbestos; a cross-sectional survey found the
characteristic pleural involvement in 20 out of 900 steel workers (Kronenberg et al.
1991).
Periodic examinations
Preplacement and periodic medical examinations, including a survey of symptoms,

chest x rays, pulmonary function tests and audiograms, should be provided for all
foundry workers with appropriate follow-up if questionable or abnormal findings are
detected. The compounding effects of tobacco smoke on the risk of respiratory
problems among foundry workers mandate inclusion of advice on smoking cessation
in a programme of health education and promotion.
Conclusion
Foundries have been an essential industrial operation for centuries. Despite continuing
advances in technology, they present workers with a panoply of hazards to safety and
health. Because hazards continue to exist even in the most modern plants with
exemplary prevention and control programmes, protecting the health and well-being of
workers remains an ongoing challenge to management and to the workers and their
representatives. This remains difficult both in industry downturns (when concerns for
worker health and safety tend to give way to economic stringencies) and in boom
times (when the demand for increased output may lead to potentially dangerous short
cuts in the processes). Education and training in hazard control, therefore, remain a
constant necessity.
FORGING AND STAMPING

Robert M. Park
Process Overview
Forming metal parts by application of high compressive and tensile forces is common
throughout industrial manufacturing. In stamping operations, metal, most often in the
form of sheets, strips or coils, is formed into specific shapes at ambient temperatures
by shearing, pressing and stretching between dies, usually in a series of one or more
discrete impact steps. Cold-rolled steel is the starting material in many stamping
operations creating sheet metal parts in the automotive and appliance and other
industries. Approximately 15% of workers in the automotive industry work in
stamping operations or plants.
In forging, compressive force is applied to pre-formed blocks (blanks) of metal,

usually heated to high temperatures, also in one or more discrete pressing steps. The
shape of the final piece is determined by the shape of the cavities in the metal die or
dies used. With open impression dies, as in drop hammer forging, the blank is
compressed between one die attached to the bottom anvil and the vertical ram. With
closed impression dies, as in press forging, the blank is compressed between the
bottom die and an upper die attached to the ram.
Drop hammer forges use a steam or air cylinder to raise the hammer, which is then
dropped by gravity or is driven by steam or air. The number and force of the hammer
blows are manually controlled by the operator. The operator often holds the cold end
of the stock while operating the drop hammer. Drop hammer forging once comprised
about two-thirds of all forging done in the United States, but is less common today.
Press forges use a mechanical or hydraulic ram to shape the piece with a single, slow,
controlled stroke (see figure 82.1). Press forging is usually controlled automatically. It
can be done hot or at normal temperatures (cold-forging, extruding). A variation on
normal forging is rolling, where continuous applications of force are used and the
operator turns the part.
Figure 82.1 Press forging
Die lubricants are sprayed or otherwise applied to die faces and blank surfaces before
and between hammer or press strokes.
High-strength machine parts such as shafts, ring gears, bolts and vehicle suspension
components are common steel forging products. High-strength aircraft components
such as wing spars, turbine disks and landing gear are forged from aluminium,
titanium or nickel and steel alloys. Approximately 3% of automotive workers are in
forging operations or plants.
Working Conditions
Many hazards common in heavy industry are present in stamping and forging
operations. These include repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) from repeated handling and
processing of parts and operation of machine controls such as palm buttons. Heavy
parts place workers at risk for back and shoulder problems as well as upper extremity
musculoskeletal disorders. Press operators in automotive stamping plants have rates of
RSIs that are comparable to those of assembly plant workers in high-risk jobs. High-
impulse vibration and noise are present in most stamping and some forging (e.g.,
steam or air hammer) operations, causing hearing loss and possible cardiovascular
illness; these are among the highest-noise industrial environments (over 100 dBA). As
in other forms of automation-driven systems, worker energy loads can be high,
depending on the parts handled and machine cycling rates.
Catastrophic injuries resulting from unanticipated machine movements are common in

stamping and forging. These can be due to: (1) mechanical failure of machine control
systems, such as clutch mechanisms in situations where workers are routinely expected
to be within the machine operating envelope (an unacceptable process design); (2)
deficiencies in machine design or performance that invite unprogrammed worker
interventions such as moving jammed or misaligned parts; or (3) improper, high-risk
maintenance procedures performed without adequate lockout of the entire machine
network involved, including parts transfer automation and the functions of other
connected machines. Most automated machine networks are not configured for quick,
efficient and effective lockout or safe trouble-shooting.
Mists from machine lubricating oils generated during normal operation are another
generic health hazard in stamping and forging press operations powered by
compressed air, potentially putting workers at risk for respiratory, dermatological and
digestive diseases.
Health and Safety Problems
Stamping
Stamping operations have high risk of severe laceration due to the required handling of
parts with sharp edges. Possibly worse is the handling of the scrap resulting from cut-
off perimeters and punched out sections of parts. Scrap is typically collected by
gravity-fed chutes and conveyors. Clearing occasional jams is a high-risk activity.
Chemical hazards specific to stamping typically arise from two main sources: drawing
compounds (i.e., die lubricants) in actual press operations and welding emissions from
assembly of the stamped parts. Drawing compounds (DCs) are required for most
stamping. The material is sprayed or rolled onto sheet metal and further mists are
generated by the stamping event itself. Like other metalworking fluids, drawing
compounds may be straight oils or oil emulsions (soluble oils). Components include
petroleum oil fractions, special lubricity agents (e.g., animal and vegetable fatty acid
derivatives, chlorinated oils and waxes), alkanolamines, petroleum sulphonates,
borates, cellulose-derived thickeners, corrosion inhibitors and biocides. Air
concentrations of mist in stamping operations may reach those of typical machining
operations, although these levels tend to be lower on average (0.05 to 2.0 mg/m 3).
However, visible fog and accumulated oil film on building surfaces are often present,
and skin contact may be higher due to extensive handling of parts. Exposures most
likely to present hazards are chlorinated oils (possible cancer, liver disease, skin
disorders), rosin or tall oil fatty acid derivatives (sensitizers), petroleum fractions
(digestive cancers) and, possibly, formaldehyde (from biocides) and nitrosamines
(from alkanolamines and sodium nitrite, either as DC ingredients or in surface coatings
on incoming steel). Elevated digestive cancer has been observed in two automotive
stamping plants. Microbiological blooms in systems that apply DCs by rolling it onto
sheet metal from an open reservoir can pose risks to workers for respiratory and
dermatological problems analogous to those in machining operations.
Welding of stamped parts is often performed in stamping plants, usually without

intermediate washing. This produces emissions that include metal fumes and pyrolysis
and combustion products from drawing compound and other surface residues. Typical
(primarily resistance) welding operations in stamping plants generate total particulate
air concentrations in the range 0.05 to 4.0 mg/m 3. Metal content (as fumes and oxides)
usually makes up less than half of that particulate matter, indicating that up to 2.0
mg/m3 is poorly characterized chemical debris. The result is haze visible in many
stamping plant welding areas. The presence of chlorinated derivatives and other
organic ingredients raises serious concerns over the composition of welding smoke in
these settings and strongly argues for ventilation controls. Application of other
materials prior to welding (such as primer, paint and epoxy-like adhesives), some of
which are then welded over, adds further concern. Welding production repair
activities, usually done manually, often pose higher exposures to these same air
contaminants. Excess rates of lung cancer have been observed among welders in an
automotive stamping plant.
Forging
Like stamping, forging operations can pose high laceration risks when workers handle
forged parts or trim the flash or unwanted edges off parts. High impact forging can
also eject fragments, scale or tools, causing injury. In some forging activities, the
worker grasps the working piece with tongs during the pressing or impact steps,
increasing the risk for musculoskeletal injuries. In forging, unlike stamping, furnaces
for heating parts (for forging and annealing) as well as bins of hot forgings are usually
nearby. These create potential for high heat stress conditions. Additional factors in
heat stress are the worker’s metabolic load during manual handling of materials and, in
some cases, heat from combustion products of oil-based die lubricants.
Die lubrication is required in most forging and has the added feature that the lubricant
comes in contact with high-temperature parts. This causes immediate pyrolysis and
aerosolization not only in the dies but also subsequently from smoking parts in cooling
bins. Forging die lubricant ingredients can include graphite slurries, polymeric
thickeners, sulphonate emulsifiers, petroleum fractions, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite,
sodium carbonate, sodium silicate, silicone oils and biocides. These are applied as
sprays or, in some applications, by swab. Furnaces used for heating metal to be forged
are usually fired by oil or gas, or they are induction furnaces. Emissions can result
from fuel-fired furnaces with inadequate draft and from non-ventilated induction
furnaces when incoming metal stock has surface contaminants, such as oil or corrosion
inhibitors, or if, prior to forging, it was lubricated for shearing or sawing (as in the case
of bar stock). In the US, total particulate air concentrations in forging operations
typically range from 0.1 to 5.0 mg/m3 and vary widely within forging operations due to
thermal convection currents. An elevated lung cancer rate was observed among
forging and heat treatment workers from two ball-bearing manufacturing plants.
Health and Safety Practices
Few studies have evaluated actual health effects in workers with stamping or forging
exposures. Comprehensive characterization of the toxicity potential of most routine
operations, including identification and measurement of priority toxic agents, has not
been done. Evaluating the long-term health effects of die lubrication technology
developed in the 1960s and 1970s has only recently become feasible. As a result,
regulation of these exposures defaults to generic dust or total particulate standards
such as 5.0 mg/m3 in the US. While probably adequate in some circumstances, this
standard is not demonstrably adequate for many stamping and forging applications.
Some reduction in die lubricant mist concentrations is possible with careful

management of the application procedure in both stamping and forging. Roll
application in stamping is preferred when feasible, and using minimal air pressure in
sprays is beneficial. Possible elimination of priority hazardous ingredients should be
investigated. Enclosures with negative pressure and mist collectors can be highly
effective but may be incompatible with parts handling. Filtering air released from
high-pressure air systems in presses would reduce press oil mist (and noise). Skin
contact in stamping operations can be reduced with automation and good personal
protective wear, providing protection against both laceration and liquid saturation. For
stamping plant welding, washing parts prior to welding is highly desirable, and partial
enclosures with LEV would reduce smoke levels substantially.
Controls to reduce heat stress in stamping and hot forging include minimizing the
amount of manual material handling in high-heat areas, shielding of furnaces to reduce
radiation of heat, minimizing the height of furnace doors and slots and using cooling
fans. The location of cooling fans should be an integral part of the design of air
movement to control mist exposures and heat stress; otherwise, cooling may be
obtained only at the expense of higher exposures.
Mechanization of material handling, switching from hammer to press forging when

possible and adjusting the work rate to ergonomically practical levels can reduce the
number of musculoskeletal injuries.
Noise levels can be reduced through a combination of switching from hammer to press
forges when possible, well-designed enclosures and quieting of furnace blowers, air
clutches, air leads and parts handling. A hearing conservation programme should be
instituted.
PPE needed includes head protection, foot protection, goggles, hearing protectors
(around are as with excessive noise), heat- and oil-proof aprons and leggings (with
heavy use of oil-based die lubricants) and infrared eye and face protection (around
furnaces).
Environmental Health Hazards
The environmental hazards arising from stamping plants, relatively minor compared to
those from some other types of plants, include disposal of waste drawing compound
and washing solutions and the exhausting of welding smoke without adequate
cleaning. Some forging plants historically have caused acute degradation of local air
quality with forging smoke and scale dust. However, with appropriate air cleaning
capacity, this need not occur. Disposition of stamping scrap and forging scale
containing die lubricants is another potential issue.
WELDING AND THERMAL CUTTING
Philip A. Platcow and G.S. Lyndon*
*This article is a revision of the 3rd edition of the Encyclopaedia of Occupational

Health and Safety article “Welding and thermal cutting” by G.S. Lyndon.
Process Overview
Welding is a generic term referring to the union of pieces of metal at joint faces
rendered plastic or liquid by heat or pressure, or both. The three common direct
sources of heat are:
1. flame produced by the combustion of fuel gas with air or oxygen
2. electrical arc, struck between an electrode and a workpiece or between two

electrodes
3. electrical resistance offered to passage of current between two or more

workpieces.
Other sources of heat for welding are discussed below (see table 82.6).
Table 82.6 Description and hazards of welding processes
Welding Process Description Hazards
Gas welding and cutting
Welding The torch melts the metal surface and filler rod, Metal fumes, nitrogen dioxide,
causing a joint to be formed. carbon monoxide, noise, burns
infrared radiation, fire,
explosions
Brazing The two metal surfaces are bonded without Metal fumes (especially
melting the metal. The melting temperature of the cadmium), fluorides, fire,
filler metal is above 450 °C. Heating is done by explosion, burns
flame heating, resistance heating and induction
heating.
Soldering Similar to brazing, except the melting temperature Fluxes, lead fumes, burns
of the filler metal is below 450 °C. Heating is also
done using a soldering iron.
Metal cutting and flame In one variation, the metal is heated by a flame, Metal fumes, nitrogen dioxide,
gouging and a jet of pure oxygen is directed onto the point carbon monoxide, noise, burns
of cutting and moved along the line to be cut. In infrared radiation, fire,
flame gouging, a strip of surface metal is removed explosions
but the metal is not cut through.
Gas pressure welding The parts are heated by gas jets while under Metal fumes, nitrogen dioxide,
pressure, and become forged together. carbon monoxide, noise, burns
infrared radiation, fire,
explosions
Flux-shielded arc welding
Shielded metal arc welding Uses a consumable electrode consisting of a metal Metal fumes, fluorides
(SMAC); "stick" arc core surrounded by a flux coating (especially with low-hydrogen
welding; manual metal arc electrodes), infrared and
welding (MMA); open arc ultraviolet radiation, burns,
welding electrical, fire; also noise, ozon
nitrogen dioxide
Submerged arc welding A blanket of granulated flux is deposited on the Fluorides, fire, burns, infrared
(SAW) workpiece, followed by a consumable bare metal radiation, electrical; also metal
wire electrode. The arc melts the flux to produce a fumes, noise, ultraviolet
protective molten shield in the welding zone. radiation, ozone, and nitrogen
dioxide
Gas-shielded arc welding
Metal inert gas (MIG); gas The electrode is normally a bare consumable wire Ultraviolet radiation, metal
metal arc welding (GMAC) of similar composition to the weld metal and is fed fumes, ozone, carbon monoxid
continuously to the arc. (with CO2 gas), nitrogen dioxid
fire, burns, infrared radiation,
electrical, fluorides, noise
Tungsten inert gas (TIG); The tungsten electrode is non-consumable, and Ultraviolet radiation, metal
gas tungsten arc welding filler metal is introduced as a consumable into the fumes, ozone, nitrogen dioxide
(GTAW); heliarc arc manually. fire, burns, infrared radiation,
electrical, noise, fluorides, carb
monoxide
Plasma arc welding (PAW) Similar to TIG welding, except that the arc and Metal fumes, ozone, nitrogen
and plasma arc spraying; stream of inert gases pass through a small orifice dioxide, ultraviolet and infrared
tungsten arc cutting before reaching the workpiece, creating a "plasma" radiation, noise; fire, burns,
of highly ionized gas which can achieve electrical, fluorides, carbon
temperatures of over 33,400°C.This is also used monoxide, possible x rays
for metallizing.
Flux core arc welding Uses a flux-cored consumable electrode; may have Ultraviolet radiation, metal
(FCAW); metal active gas carbon dioxide shield (MAG) fumes, ozone, carbon monoxid
welding (MAG) (with CO2 gas), nitrogen dioxid
fire, burns, infrared radiation,
electrical, fluorides, noise
Electric resistance welding
Resistance welding (spot, A high current at low voltage flows through the Ozone, noise (sometimes),
seam, projection or butt two components from electrodes. The heat machinery hazards, fire, burns,
welding) generated at the interface between the components electrical, metal fumes
brings them to welding temperatures. During the
passage of the current, pressure by the electrodes
produces a forge weld. No flux or filler metal is
used.
Electro-slag welding Used for vertical butt welding. The workpieces are Burns, fire, infrared radiation,
set vertically, with a gap between them, and electrical, metal fumes
copper plates or shoes are placed on one or both
sides of the joint to form a bath. An arc is
established under a flux layer between one or more
continuously fed electrode wires and a metal plate.
A pool of molten metal is formed, protected by
molten flux or slag, which is kept molten by
resistance to the current passing between the
electrode and the workpieces. This resistance-
generated heat melts the sides of the joint and the
electrode wire, filling the joint and making a weld.
As welding progresses, the molten metal and slag
are retained in position by shifting the copper
plates.
Flash welding The two metal parts to be welded are connected to Electrical, burns, fire, metal
a low-voltage, high-current source. When the ends fumes
of the components are brought into contact, a large
current flows, causing "flashing" to occur and
bringing the ends of the components to welding
temperatures. A forge weld is obtained by
pressure.
Other welding processes
Electron beam welding A workpiece in an vacuum chamber is bombarded X rays at high voltages,
by a beam of electrons from an electron gun at electrical, burns, metal dusts,
high voltages. The energy of the electrons is confined spaces
transformed into heat upon striking the workpiece,
thus melting the metal and fusing the workpiece.
Arcair cutting An arc is struck between the end of a carbon Metal fumes, carbon monoxide
electrode (in a manual electrode holder with its nitrogen dioxide, ozone, fire,
own supply of compressed air) and the workpiece. burns, infrared radiation,
The molten metal produced is blown away by jets electrical
of compressed air.
Friction welding A purely mechanical welding technique in which Heat, burns, machinery hazards
one component remains stationary while the other
is rotated against it under pressure. Heat is
generated by friction, and at forging temperature
the rotation ceases. A forging pressure then effects
the weld.
Laser welding and drilling Laser beams can be used in industrial applications Electrical, laser radiation,
requiring exceptionally high precision, such as ultraviolet radiation, fire, burns
miniature assemblies and micro techniques in the metal fumes, decomposition
electronics industry or spinnerets for the artificial products of workpiece coatings
fibre industry. The laser beam melts and joins the
workpieces.
Stud welding An arc is struck between a metal stud (acting as Metal fumes, infrared and
the electrode) held in a stud welding gun and the ultraviolet radiation, burns,
metal plate to be joined, and raises the temperature electrical, fire, noise, ozone,
of the ends of the components to melting point. nitrogen dioxide
The gun forces the stud against the plate and welds
it. Shielding is provided by a ceramic ferrule
surrounding the stud.
Thermite welding A mixture of aluminium powder and a metal oxide Fire, explosion, infrared
powder (iron, copper, etc.) is ignited in a crucible, radiation, burns
producing molten metal with the evolution of
intense heat. The crucible is tapped and the molten
metal flows into the cavity to be welded (which is
surrounded by a sand mould). This is often used to
repair castings or forgings.
In gas welding and cutting, oxygen or air and a fuel gas are fed to a blowpipe (torch) in
which they are mixed prior to combustion at the nozzle. The blowpipe is usually hand
held (see figure 82.2). The heat melts the metal faces of the parts to be joined, causing
them to flow together. A filler metal or alloy is frequently added. The alloy often has a
lower melting point than the parts to be joined. In this case, the two pieces are
generally not brought to fusion temperature (brazing, soldering). Chemical fluxes may
be used to prevent oxidation and facilitate the joining.
Figure 82.2 Gas welding with a torch and rod of filter metal. The welder is
protected by a leather apron, gauntlets and goggles
In arc welding, the arc is struck between an electrode and the workpieces. The
electrode can be connected to either an alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC)
electric supply. The temperature of this operation is about 4,000°C when the
workpieces fuse together. Usually it is necessary to add molten metal to the joint either
by melting the electrode itself (consumable electrode processes) or by melting a
separate filler rod which is not carrying current (non-consumable electrode processes).
Most conventional arc welding is done manually by means of a covered (coated)

consumable electrode in a hand-held electrode holder. Welding is also accomplished
by many semi or fully automatic electric welding processes such as resistance welding
or continuous electrode feed.
During the welding process, the welding area must be shielded from the atmosphere in
order to prevent oxidation and contamination. There are two types of protection: flux
coatings and inert gas shielding. In flux-shielded arc welding, the consumable
electrode consists of a metal core surrounded by a flux coating material, which is
usually a complex mixture of mineral and other components. The flux melts as
welding progresses, covering the molten metal with slag and enveloping the welding
area with a protective atmosphere of gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) generated by the
heated flux. After welding, the slag must be removed, often by chipping.
In gas-shielded arc welding, a blanket of inert gas seals off the atmosphere and
prevents oxidation and contamination during the welding process. Argon, helium,
nitrogen or carbon dioxide are commonly used as the inert gases. The gas selected
depends upon the nature of the materials to be welded. The two most popular types of
gas-shielded arc welding are metal- and tungsten inert gas (MIG and TIG).
Resistance welding involves using the electrical resistance to the passage of a high
current at low voltage through components to be welded to generate heat for melting
the metal. The heat generated at the interface between the components brings them to
welding temperatures.
All welding involves hazards of fire, burns, radiant heat (infrared radiation) and
inhalation of metal fumes and other contaminants. Other hazards associated with
specific welding processes include electrical hazards, noise, ultraviolet radiation,
ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, fluorides, compressed gas cylinders and
explosions. See table 82.6 for additional detail.
Much welding is not done in shops where conditions can generally be controlled, but
in the field in the construction or repair of large structures and machinery (e.g.,
frameworks of buildings, bridges and towers, ships, railroad engines and cars, heavy
equipment and so on). The welder may have to carry all his or her equipment to the
site, set it up and work in confined spaces or on scaffolds. Physical strain, inordinate
fatigue and musculoskeletal injuries may follow being required to reach, kneel or work
in other uncomfortable and awkward positions. Heat stress may result from working in
warm weather and the occlusive effects of the personal protective equipment, even
without the heat generated by the welding process.
Compressed gas cylinders
In high-pressure gas welding installations, oxygen and the fuel gas (acetylene,
hydrogen, town gas, propane) are supplied to the torch from cylinders. The gases are
stored in these cylinders at high pressure. The special fire and explosion hazards and
precautions for the safe use and storage of the fuel gases are also discussed elsewhere
in this Encyclopaedia. The following precautions should be observed:
· Only pressure regulators designed for the gas in use should be fitted to cylinders.
For example, an acetylene regulator should not be used with coal gas or hydrogen
(although it may be used with propane).
· Blowpipes must be kept in good order and cleaned at regular intervals. A

hardwood stick or soft brass wire should be used for cleaning the tips. They should be
connected to regulators with special canvas-reinforced hoses placed in such a way that
they are unlikely to be damaged.
· Oxygen and acetylene cylinders must be stored separately and only on fire-
resistant premises devoid of flammable material and must be so located that they may
be readily removed in case of fire. Local building and fire protection codes must be
consulted.
· The colour coding in force or recommended for identification of cylinders and

accessories should be scrupulously observed. In many countries, the internationally
accepted colour codes used for the transport of dangerous materials are applied in this
field. The case for enforcement of uniform international standards in this respect is
strengthened by safety considerations bound up with the increasing international
migration of industrial workers.
Acetylene generators
In the low-pressure gas welding process, acetylene is generally produced in generators

by reaction of calcium carbide and water. The gas is then piped to the welding or
cutting torch into which oxygen is fed.
Stationary generating plants should be installed either in the open air or in a well-
ventilated building away from the main workshops. The ventilation of the generator
house should be such as to prevent the formation of an explosive or toxic atmosphere.
Adequate lighting should be provided; switches, other electrical gear and electrical
lamps should either be located outside the building or be explosion-proof. Smoking,
flames, torches, welding plant or flammable materials must be excluded from the
house or from the vicinity of an open-air generator. Many of these precautions also
apply to portable generators. Portable generators should be used, cleaned and
recharged only in the open air or in a well-ventilated shop, away from any flammable
material.
Calcium carbide is supplied in sealed drums. The material should be stored and kept
dry, on a platform raised above the floor level. Stores must be situated under cover,
and if they adjoin another building the party wall must be fireproof. The storeroom
should be suitably ventilated through the roof. Drums should be opened only
immediately before the generator is charged. A special opener should be provided and
used; a hammer and chisel should never be used to open drums. It is dangerous to
leave calcium carbide drums exposed to any source of water.
Before a generator is dismantled, all calcium carbide must be removed and the plant
filled with water. The water should remain in the plant for at least half an hour to
ensure that every part is free from gas. The dismantling and servicing should be carried
out only by the manufacturer of the equipment or by a specialist. When a generator is
being recharged or cleaned, none of the old charge must be used again.
Pieces of calcium carbide wedged in the feed mechanism or adhering to parts of the
plant should be carefully removed, using non-sparking tools made of bronze or another
suitable non-ferrous alloy.
All concerned should be fully conversant with the manufacturer’s instructions, which
should be conspicuously displayed. The following precautions should also be
observed:
· A properly designed back-pressure valve must be fitted between the generator and
each blowpipe to prevent backfire or reverse flow of gas. The valve should be
regularly inspected after backfire, and the water level checked daily.
· Only blowpipes of the injector type designed for low-pressure operation should be
used. For heating and cutting, town gas or hydrogen at low pressure are sometimes
employed. In these cases, a non-return valve should be placed between each blowpipe
and the supply main or pipeline.
· An explosion may be caused by “flash-back”, which results from dipping the
nozzle-tip into the molten metal pool, mud or paint, or from any other stoppage.
Particles of slag or metal that become attached to the tip should be removed. The tip
should also be cooled frequently.
· Local building and fire codes should be consulted.
Fire and explosion prevention
In locating welding operations, consideration should be given to surrounding walls,

floors, nearby objects and waste material. The following procedures should be
followed:
· All combustible material must be removed or adequately protected by sheet metal

or other suitable materials; tarpaulins should never be used.
· Wood structures should be discouraged or similarly protected. Wood floors should

be avoided.
· Precautionary measures should be taken in the case of openings or cracks in walls

and floors; flammable material in adjoining rooms or on the floor below should be
removed to a safe position. Local building and fire codes should be consulted.
· Suitable fire-extinguishing apparatus should always be at hand. In the case of low-

pressure plant using an acetylene generator, buckets of dry sand should also be kept
available; fire extinguishers of dry powder or carbon dioxide types are satisfactory.
Water must never be used.
· Fire brigades may be necessary. A responsible person should be assigned to keep

the site under observation for at least half an hour after completion of the work, in
order to deal with any outbreak of fire.
· Since explosions can occur when acetylene gas is present in air in any proportion
between 2 and 80%, adequate ventilation and monitoring are required to ensure
freedom from gas leaks. Only soapy water should be used to search for gas leaks.
· Oxygen must be carefully controlled. For example, it should never be released into
the air in a confined space; many metals, clothing and other materials become actively
combustible in the presence of oxygen. In gas cutting, any oxygen which may not be
consumed will be released into the atmosphere; gas cutting should never be undertaken
in a confined space without proper ventilation arrangements.
· Alloys rich in magnesium or other combustible metals should be kept away from
welding flames or arcs.
· Welding of containers can be extremely hazardous. If the previous contents are

unknown, a vessel should always be treated as if it had contained a flammable
substance. Explosions may be prevented either by removing any flammable material or
by making it non-explosive and non-flammable.
· The mixture of aluminium and iron oxide used in thermite welding is stable under
normal conditions. However, in view of the ease with which aluminium powder will
ignite, and the quasi-explosive nature of the reaction, appropriate precautions should
be taken in handling and storage (avoidance of exposure to high heat and possible
ignition sources).
· A written hot-work permit programme is required for welding in some

jurisdictions. This programme outlines the precautions and procedures to be followed
during welding, cutting, burning and so on. This programme should include the
specific operations conducted along with the safety precautions to be implemented. It
must be plant specific and may include an internal permit system that must be
completed with each individual operation.
Protection from heat and burn hazards
Burns of the eyes and exposed parts of the body may occur due to contact with hot
metal and spattering of incandescent metal particles or molten metal. In arc welding, a
high-frequency spark used to initiate the arc can cause small, deep burns if
concentrated at a point on the skin. Intense infrared and visible radiation from a gas
welding or cutting flame and incandescent metal in the weld pool can cause discomfort
to the operator and persons in the vicinity of the operation. Each operation should be
considered in advance, and necessary precautions designed and implemented. Goggles
made specifically for gas welding and cutting should be worn to protect the eyes from
heat and light radiated from the work. Protective covers over filter glass should be
cleaned as required and replaced when scratched or damaged. Where molten metal or
hot particles are emitted, the protective clothing being worn should deflect spatter. The
type and thickness of fire-resistant clothing worn should be chosen according to the
degree of hazard. In cutting and arc welding operations, leather shoe coverings or other
suitable spats should be worn to prevent hot particles from falling into boots or shoes.
For protecting the hands and forearms against heat, spatter, slag and so on, the leather
gauntlet type of glove with canvas or leather cuffs is sufficient. Other types of
protective clothing include leather aprons, jackets, sleeves, leggings and head
covering. In overhead welding, a protective cape and cap are necessary. All protective
clothing should be free from oil or grease, and seams should be inside, so as not to trap
globules of molten metal. Clothing should not have pockets or cuffs that could trap
sparks, and it should be worn so sleeves overlap gloves, leggings overlap shoes and so
on. Protective clothing should be inspected for burst seams or holes through which
molten metal or slag may enter. Heavy articles left hot on completion of welding
should always be marked “hot” as a warning to other workers. With resistance
welding, the heat produced may not be visible, and burns can result from handling of
hot assemblies. Particles of hot or molten metal should not fly out of spot, seam or
projection welds if conditions are correct, but non-flammable screens should be used
and precautions taken. Screens also protect passers-by from eye burns. Loose parts
should not be left in the throat of the machine because they are liable to be projected
with some velocity.
Electrical safety
Although no-load voltages in manual arc welding are relatively low (about 80 V or
less), welding currents are high, and transformer primary circuits present the usual
hazards of equipment operated at power supply line voltage. The risk of electric shock
should therefore not be ignored, especially in cramped spaces or in insecure positions.
Before welding commences, the grounding installation on arc welding equipment

should always be checked. Cables and connections should be sound and of adequate
capacity. A proper grounding clamp or bolted terminal should always be used. Where
two or more welding machines are grounded to the same structure, or where other
portable electric tools are also in use, grounding should be supervised by a competent
person. The working position should be dry, secure and free from dangerous
obstructions. A well-arranged, well-lighted, properly ventilated and tidy workplace is
important. For work in confined spaces or dangerous positions, additional electrical
protection (no-load, low-voltage devices) can be installed in the welding circuit,
ensuring that only extremely low-voltage current is available at the electrode holder
when welding is not taking place. (See discussion of confined spaces below.)
Electrode holders in which the electrodes are held by a spring grip or screw thread are
recommended. Discomfort due to heating can be reduced by effective heat insulation
on that part of the electrode holder which is held in the hand. Jaws and connections of
electrode holders should be cleaned and tightened periodically to prevent overheating.
Provision should be made to accommodate the electrode holder safely when not in use
by means of an insulated hook or a fully insulated holder. The cable connection should
be designed so that continued flexing of the cable will not cause wear and failure of
the insulation. Dragging of cables and plastic gas supply tubes (gas-shielded
processes) across hot plates or welds must be avoided. The electrode lead should not
come in contact with the job or any other earthed object (ground). Rubber tubes and
rubber-covered cables must not be used anywhere near the high-frequency discharge,
because the ozone produced will rot the rubber. Plastic tubes and polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) covered cables should be used for all supplies from the transformer to the
electrode holder. Vulcanized or tough rubber-sheathed cables are satisfactory on the
primary side. Dirt and metallic or other conducting dust can cause a breakdown in the
high-frequency discharge unit. To avoid this condition, the unit should be cleaned
regularly by blowing-out with compressed air. Hearing protection should be worn
when using compressed air for more than a few seconds. For electron-beam welding,
the safety of the equipment used must be checked prior to each operation. To protect
against electric shock, a system of interlocks must be fitted to the various cabinets. A
reliable system of grounding of all units and control cabinets is necessary. For plasma
welding equipment used for cutting heavy thicknesses, the voltages may be as high as
400 V and danger should be anticipated. The technique of firing the arc by a high-
frequency pulse exposes the operator to the dangers of an unpleasant shock and a
painful, penetrating high-frequency burn.
Ultraviolet radiation
The brilliant light emitted by an electric arc contains a high proportion of ultraviolet
radiation. Even momentary exposure to bursts of arc flash, including stray flashes from
other workers’ arcs, may produce a painful conjunctivitis (photo-ophthalmia) known
as “arc eye” or “eye flash”. If any person is exposed to arc flash, immediate medical
attention must be sought. Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation may also cause
overheating and burning of the skin (sunburn effect). Precautions include:
· A shield or helmet fitted with correct grade of filter should be used (see the article
“Eye and face protection” elsewhere in this Encyclopaedia). For the gas-shielded arc
welding processes and carbon-arc cutting, flat handshields provide insufficient
protection from reflected radiation; helmets should be used. Filtered goggles or
eyeglasses with sideshields should be worn under the helmet to avoid exposure when
the helmet is lifted up for inspection of the work. Helmets will also provide protection
from spatter and hot slag. Helmets and handshields are provided with a filter glass and
a protective cover glass on the outside. This should be regularly inspected, cleaned and
replaced when scratched or damaged.
· The face, nape of the neck and other exposed parts of the body should be properly
protected, especially when working close to other welders.
· Assistants should wear suitable goggles at a minimum and other PPE as the risk
requires.
· All arc welding operations should be screened to protect other persons working
nearby. Where the work is carried out at fixed benches or in welding shops, permanent
screens should be erected where possible; otherwise, temporary screens should be
used. All screens should be opaque, of sturdy construction and of a flame-resistant
material.
· The use of black paints for the inside of welding booths has become an accepted
practice, but the paint should produce a matte finish. Adequate ambient lighting should
be provided to prevent eye strain leading to headaches and accidents.
· Welding booths and portable screens should be checked regularly to ensure that
there is no damage which might result in the arc affecting persons working nearby.
Chemical hazards
Airborne contaminants from welding and flame cutting, including fumes and gases,
arise from a variety of sources:
· the metal being welded, the metal in the filler rod or constituents of various types
of steel such as nickel or chromium)
· any metallic coating on the article being welded or on the filler rod (e.g., zinc and
cadmium from plating, zinc from galvanizing and copper as a thin coating on
continuous mild steel filler rods)
· any paint, grease, debris and the like on the article being welded (e.g., carbon
monoxide, carbon dioxide, smoke and other irritant breakdown products)
· flux coating on the filler rod (e.g., inorganic fluoride)
· the action of heat or ultraviolet light on the surrounding air (e.g., nitrogen dioxide,
ozone) or on chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g., phosgene)
· inert gas used as a shield (e.g., carbon dioxide, helium, argon).
Fumes and gases should be removed at the source by LEV. This can be provided by
partial enclosure of the process or by the installation of hoods which supply
sufficiently high air velocity across the weld position so as to ensure capture of the
fumes.
Special attention should be paid to ventilation in the welding of non-ferrous metals and
certain alloy steels, as well as to protection from the hazard of ozone, carbon
monoxide and nitrogen dioxide which may be formed. Portable as well as fixed
ventilation systems are readily available. In general, the exhausted air should not be
recirculated. It should be recirculated only if there are not hazardous levels of ozone or
other toxic gases and the exhaust air is filtered through a high-efficiency filter.
With electron-beam welding and if materials being welded are of a toxic nature (e.g.,
beryllium, plutonium and so on), care must be taken to protect the operator from any
dust cloud when opening the chamber.
When there is a risk to health from toxic fumes (e.g., lead) and LEV is not practicable
—for example, when lead-painted structures are being demolished by flame cutting—
the use of respiratory protective equipment is necessary. In such circumstances, an
approved, high-efficiency full-facepiece respirator or ahigh-efficiency positive
pressure powered air-purified respirator (PAPR) should be worn. A high standard of
maintenance of the motor and the battery is necessary, especially with the original
high-efficiency positive pressure power respirator. The use of positive pressure
compressed air line respirators should be encouraged where a suitable supply of
breathing-quality compressed air is available. Whenever respiratory protective
equipment is to be worn, the safety of the workplace should be reviewed to determine
whether extra precautions are necessary, bearing in mind the restricted vision,
entanglement possibilities and so on of persons wearing respiratory protective
equipment.
Metal fume fever
Metal fume fever is commonly seen in workers exposed to the fumes of zinc in the
galvanizing or tinning process, in brass founding, in the welding of galvanized metal
and in metallizing or metal spraying, as well as from exposure to other metals such as
copper, manganese and iron. It occurs in new workers and those returning to work
after a weekend or holiday hiatus. It is an acute condition that occurs several hours
after the initial inhalation of particles of a metal or its oxides. It starts with a bad taste
in the mouth followed by dryness and irritation of the respiratory mucosa resulting in
cough and occasionally dyspnoea and “tightness” of the chest. These may be
accompanied by nausea and headache and, some 10 to 12 hours after the exposure,
chills and fever which may be quite severe. These last several hours and are followed
by sweating, sleep and often by polyuria and diarrhoea. There is no particular
treatment, and recovery is usually complete in about 24 hours with no residua. It can
be prevented by keeping exposure to the offending metallic fumes well within the
recommended levels through the use of efficient LEV.
Confined spaces
For entry into confined spaces, there may be a risk of the atmosphere being explosive,
toxic, oxygen deficient or combinations of the above. Any such confined space must
be certified by a responsible person as safe for entry and for work with an arc or flame.
A confined-space entry programme, including an entry permit system, may be required
and is highly recommended for work that must be carried out in spaces that are
typically not constructed for continuous occupancy. Examples include, but are not
limited to, manholes, vaults, ship holds and the like. Ventilation of confined spaces is
crucial, since gas welding not only produces airborne contaminants but also uses up
oxygen. Gas-shielded arc welding processes can decrease the oxygen content of the
air. (See figure 82.3 .)
Figure 82.3 Welding in an enclosed space
S.F. Gilman
Noise
Noise is a hazard in several welding processes, including plasma welding, some types
of resistance welding machines and gas welding. In plasma welding, the plasma jet is
ejected at very high speeds, producing intense noise (up to 90 dBA), particularly in the
higher frequency bands. The use of compressed air to blow off dust also creates high
noise levels. To prevent hearing damage, ear plugs or muffs must be worn and a
hearing conservation programme should be instituted, including audiometric (hearing
capacity) examinations and employee training.
Ionizing radiation
In welding shops where welds are inspected radiographically with x-ray or gamma-ray
equipment, the customary warning notices and instructions must be strictly observed.
Workers must be kept at a safe distance from such equipment. Radioactive sources
must be handled only with the required special tools and subject to special precautions.
Local and governmental regulations must be followed. See the chapter Radiation,
ionizing elsewhere in this Encyclopaedia.
Sufficient shielding must be provided with electron-beam welding to prevent x rays

from penetrating the walls and windows of the chamber. Any parts of the machine
providing shields against x-ray radiation should be interlocked so that the machine
cannot be energized unless they are in position. Machines should be checked at the
time of installation for leaks of x-ray radiation, and regularly thereafter.
Other hazards
Resistance welding machines have at least one electrode, which moves with
considerable force. If a machine is operated while a finger or hand is lying between the
electrodes, severe crushing will result. Where possible, a suitable means of guarding
must be devised to safeguard the operator. Cuts and lacerations can be minimized by
first deburring components and by wearing protective gloves or gauntlets.
Lockout/tagout procedures should be used when machinery with electrical, mechanical

or other energy sources is being maintained or repaired.
When slag is being removed from welds by chipping and so on, the eyes should be
protected by goggles or other means.
LATHES
Toni Retsch*
The important part lathes play in metalworking shops is best illustrated by the fact that
90 to 95% of the swarf (metal shavings) produced in the valves and fittings industry
originates from lathes. About one-tenth of the accidents reported in this industry are
due to lathes; this corresponds to one-third of all machine accidents. According to a
study of the relative accident frequency per machine unit carried out in a plant
manufacturing small precision parts and electrical equipment, lathes rank fifth after
woodworking machines, metal-cutting saws, power presses and drilling machines. The
need for protective measures on lathes is therefore beyond doubt.
Turning is a machine process in which the diameter of material is reduced by a tool

with a special cutting edge. The cutting movement is produced by rotating the
workpiece, and the feed and traverse movements are produced by the tool. By varying
these three basic movements, and also by choosing the appropriate tool cutting-edge
geometry and material, it is possible to influence the rate of stock removal, surface
quality, shape of the chip formed and tool wear.
Structure of Lathes
A typical lathe consists of:
· a bed or base with machined slideways for the saddle and tailstock
· a headstock mounted on the bed, with the spindle and chuck
· a feed gearbox attached to the front of the bed for transmitting the feed movement
as a function of the cutting speed through the leadscrew or feed shaft and apron to the
saddle
· a saddle (or carriage) carrying the cross slide which performs the traverse
movement
· a toolpost mounted on the cross slide (see figure 82.4).

Figure 82.4 Lathes, cutting-off machines, threading machines
This basic model of a lathe can be infinitely varied, from the universal machine to the
special automatic lathe designed for one type of work only.
The most important types of lathe are as follows:
· Centre lathe. This is the most frequently used turning machine. It corresponds to
the basic model with horizontal turning axis. The work is held between centres, by a
faceplate or in a chuck.
· Multiple-tool lathe. This enables several tools to be engaged at the same time.
· Turret lathe, capstan lathe. Machines of this type enable a workpiece to be

machined by several tools which are engaged one after the other. The tools are held in
the turret, which rotates for bringing them into cutting position. The turrets are
generally of the disc or crown type, but there are also drum-type turret lathes.
· Copy-turning lathes. The desired shape is transmitted by tracer control from a

template to the work.
· Automatic lathe. The various operations, including the change of the work, are
automated. There are bar automatics and chucking automatics.
· Vertical lathe (boring and turning mill). The work turns about a vertical axis; it is
clamped to a horizontal revolving table. This type of machine is generally used for
machining large castings and forgings.
· NC and CNC lathes. All the aforementioned machines can be equipped with a
numerical control (NC) or computer-assisted numerical control (CNC) system. The
result is a semi-automated or fully automated machine which can be used rather
universally, thanks to the great versatility and easy programmability of the control
system.
The future development of the lathe will probably concentrate on control systems.
Contact controls will be increasingly replaced by electronic control systems. As
regards the latter, there is a trend in evolution from interpolation-programmed to
memory-programmed controls. It is foreseeable in the long run that the use of
increasingly efficient process computers will tend to optimize the machining process.
Accidents
Lathe accidents are generally caused by:
· disregard for safety regulations when the machines are installed in workshops
(e.g., not enough space between machines, no power disconnect switch for each
machine)
· missing guards or the absence of auxiliary devices (severe injuries have been
caused to workers who tried to brake the spindle of their lathes by pressing one of their
hands against unguarded belt pulleys and to operators who inadvertently engaged
unguarded clutch levers or pedals; injuries due to flying chips because of the absence
of hinged or sliding covers have also occurred)
· inadequately located control elements (e.g., a turner’s hand can be pierced by the
tailstock centre if the pedal controlling the chuck is mistaken for the one controlling
the hydraulic circuit of the tailstock centre movement)
· adverse conditions of work (i.e., shortcomings from the point of view of

occupational physiology)
· lack of PPE or wearing unsuitable work clothing (severe and even fatal injuries
have been caused to lathe operators who wore loose clothes or had long, free-hanging
hair)
· insufficient instruction of personnel (an apprentice was fatally injured when he
filed a short shaft which was fixed between centres and rotated by a cranked carrier on
the spindle nose and a straight one on the shaft; the lathe carrier seized his left-hand
sleeve, which was wrapped around the workpiece, dragging the apprentice violently
into the lathe)
· poor work organization leading to the use of unsuitable equipment (e.g., a long bar
was machined on a conventional production lathe; it was too long for this lathe, and it
projected more than 1 m beyond the headstock; moreover, the chuck aperture was too
large for the bar and was made up by inserting wooden wedges; when the lathe spindle
started rotating, the free bar end bent by 45° and struck the operator’s head; the
operator died during the following night)
· defective machine elements (e.g., a loose carrier pin in a clutch may cause the
lathe spindle to start rotating while the operator is adjusting a workpiece in the chuck).
Accident Prevention
The prevention of lathe accidents starts at the design stage. Designers should give
special attention to control and transmission elements.
Control elements
Each lathe must be equipped with a power disconnect (or isolating) switch so that
maintenance and repair work may be carried out safely. This switch must disconnect
the current on all poles, reliably cut the pneumatic and hydraulic power and vent the
circuits. On large machines, the disconnect switch should be so designed that it can be
padlocked in its out position—a safety measure against accidental reconnection.
The layout of the machine controls should be such that the operator can easily
distinguish and reach them, and that their manipulation presents no hazard. This means
that controls must never be arranged at points which can be reached only by passing
the hand over the working zone of the machine or where they may be hit by flying
chips.
Switches which monitor guards and interlock them with the machine drive should be
chosen and installed in such a way that they positively open the circuit as soon as the
guard is shifted from its protecting position.
Emergency stop devices must cause the immediate standstill of the dangerous
movement. They must be designed and located in such a way that they can be easily
operated by the threatened worker. Emergency stop buttons must be easily reached and
should be in red.
The actuating elements of control gear which may trip a dangerous machine movement
must be guarded so as to exclude any inadvertent operation. For instance, the clutch
engaging levers on the headstock and apron should be provided with safety locking
devices or screens. A push-button can be made safe by lodging it in a recess or by
shrouding it with a protective collar.
Hand-operated controls should be designed and located in such a way that the hand
movement corresponds to the controlled machine movement.
Controls should be identified with easily readable and understandable markings. To

avoid misunderstandings and linguistic difficulties, it is advisable to use symbols.
Transmission elements
All moving transmission elements (belts, pulleys, gears) must be covered with guards.
An important contribution to the prevention of lathe accidents can be made by the
persons responsible for the installation of the machine. Lathes should be so installed
that the operators tending them do not hinder or endanger each other. The operators
should not turn their backs towards passageways. Protective screens should be
installed where neighbouring workplaces or passageways are within the range of flying
chips.
Passageways must be clearly marked. Enough space should be left for materials-
handling equipment, for stacking workpieces and for tool boxes. Bar-stock guides
must not protrude into the passageways.
The floor on which the operator stands must be insulated against cold. Care should be
taken that the insulation forms no stumbling obstacle, and the flooring should not
become slippery even when covered with a film of oil.
Conduit and pipework should be installed in such a way that they do not become
obstacles. Temporary installations should be avoided.
Safety engineering measures on the shop floor should be directed in particular at the
following points:
· work-holding fixtures (faceplates, chucks, collets) should be dynamically balanced

before use
· the maximum permissible speed of a chuck should be indicated on the chuck by
the manufacturer and respected by the lathe operator
· when scroll chucks are used, it should be ensured that the jaws cannot be slung out
when the lathe is started
· chucks of this type should be designed in such a manner that the key cannot be
taken off before the jaws have been secured. The chuck keys in general should be so
designed that it is impossible to leave them in the chuck.
It is important to provide for auxiliary lifting equipment to facilitate mounting and

removing of heavy chucks and faceplates. To prevent chucks from running off the
spindle when the lathe is suddenly braked, they must be securely fixed. This can be
achieved by putting a retaining nut with left-hand thread on the spindle nose, by using
a “Camlock” quick-action coupling, by fitting the chuck with a locking key or by
securing it with a two-part locking ring.
When powered work-holding fixtures are used, such as hydraulically operated chucks,
collets and tailstock centres, measures must be taken which make it impossible for the
hands to be introduced into the danger zone of closing fixtures. This can be achieved
by limiting the travel of the clamping element to 6 mm, by choosing the location of
deadman’s controls so as to exclude the introduction of the hands into the danger zone
or by providing a moving guard which has to be closed before the clamping movement
can be started.
If starting the lathe while the chuck jaws are open presents a danger, the machine
should be equipped with a device which prevents the spindle rotation being started
before the jaws are closed. The absence of power must not cause the opening or
closure of a powered work-holding fixture.
If the gripping force of a power chuck diminishes, the spindle rotation must be
stopped, and it must be impossible to start the spindle. Reversing the gripping
direction from inside to outside (or vice versa) while the spindle rotates must not cause
the chuck to be dislodged from the spindle. Removal of holding fixtures from the
spindle should be possible only when the spindle has ceased rotating.
When machining bar stock, the portion projecting beyond the lathe must be enclosed
by bar-stock guides. Bar feed weights must be guarded by hinged covers extending to
the floor.
Carriers
To prevent serious accidents—in particular, when filing work in a lathe—unprotected

carriers must not be used. A centring safety carrier should be used, or a protective
collar should be fitted to a conventional carrier. It is also possible to use self-locking
carriers or to provide the carrier disc with a protective cover.
Working zone of the lathe
Universal-lathe chucks should be guarded by hinged covers. If possible, protective

covers should be interlocked with spindle drive circuits. Vertical boring and turning
mills should be fenced with bars or plates to prevent injury from revolving parts. To
enable the operator to watch the machining process safely, platforms with railings
must be provided. In certain cases, TV cameras can be installed so that the operator
may monitor the tool edge and tool in-feed.
The working zones of automatic lathes, NC and CNC lathes should be completely
enclosed. Enclosures of fully automatic machines should only have openings through
which the stock to be machined is introduced, the turned part ejected and the swarf
removed from the working zone. These openings must not constitute a hazard when
work passes through them, and it must be impossible to reach through them into the
danger zone.
The working zones of semi-automatic, NC and CNC lathes must be enclosed during
the machining process. The enclosures are generally sliding covers with limit switches
and interlocking circuit.
Operations requiring access to the working zone, such as change of work or tools,
gauging and so on, must not be carried out before the lathe has been safely stopped.
Zeroing a variable-speed drive is not considered a safe standstill. Machines with such
drives must have locked protective covers that cannot be unlocked before the machine
is safely stopped (e.g., by cutting the spindle-motor power supply).
If special tool-setting operations are required, an inching control is to be provided

which enables certain machine movements to be tripped while the protective cover is
open. In such cases, the operator can be protected by special circuit designs (e.g., by
permitting only one movement to be tripped at a time). This can be achieved by using
two-hand controls.
Turning swarf
Long turning chips are dangerous because they may get entangled with arms and legs
and cause serious injury. Continuous and ravelled chips can be avoided by choosing
appropriate cutting speeds, feeds and chip thicknesses or by using lathe tools with chip
breakers of the gullet or step type. Swarf hooks with handle and buckle should be used
for removing chips.
Ergonomics
Every machine should be so designed that it enables a maximal output to be obtained

with a minimum of stress on the operator. This can be achieved by adapting the
machine to the worker.
Ergonomic factors must be taken into account when designing the human-machine
interface of a lathe. Rational workplace design also includes providing for auxiliary
handling equipment, such as loading and unloading attachments.
All controls must be located within the physiological sphere or reach of both hands.
The controls must be clearly laid out and should be logical to operate. Pedal-operated
controls should be avoided in machines tended by standing operators.
Experience has shown that good work is performed when the workplace is designed
for both standing and sitting postures. If the operator has to work standing up, he or
she should be given the possibility of changing posture. Flexible seats are in many
cases a welcome relief for strained feet and legs.
Measures should be taken to create optimal thermal comfort, taking into account the
air temperature, relative humidity, air movement and radiant heat. The workshop
should be adequately ventilated. There should be local exhaust devices to eliminate
gaseous emanations. When machining bar stock, sound-absorbent-lined guide tubes
should be used.
The workplace should preferably be provided with uniform lighting, affording an

adequate level of illumination.
Work Clothing and Personal Protection
Overalls should be close fitting and buttoned or zipped to the neck. They should be
without breast pockets, and the sleeves must be tightly buttoned at the wrists. Belts
should not be worn. No finger rings and bracelets should be worn when working on
lathes. Wearing of safety spectacles should be obligatory. When heavy workpieces are
machined, safety shoes with steel toe caps must be worn. Protective gloves must be
worn whenever swarf is being collected.
Training
The lathe operator’s safety depends to a large extent on working methods. It is

therefore important that he or she should receive thorough theoretical and practical
training to acquire skills and develop a behaviour affording the best possible
safeguards. Correct posture, correct movements, correct choice and handling of tools
should become routine to such an extent that the operator works correctly even if his or
her concentration is temporarily relaxed.
Important points in a training programme are an upright posture, the proper mounting
and removal of the chuck and the accurate and secure fixing of workpieces. Correct
holding of files and scrapers and safe working with abrasive cloth must be intensively
practised.
Workers must be well informed about the hazards of injury which may be caused
when gauging work, checking adjustments and cleaning lathes.
Maintenance
Lathes must be regularly maintained and lubricated. Faults must be corrected

immediately. If safety is at stake in the event of a fault, the machine should be put out
of operation until corrective action has been taken.
Repair and maintenance work must be carried out only after the machine has been
isolated from the power supply.
GRINDING AND POLISHING

K. Welinder*
Grinding generally involves the use of a bonded abrasive to wear away parts of a
workpiece. The aim is to give the work a certain shape, correct its dimensions, increase
the smoothness of a surface or improve the sharpness of cutting edges. Examples
include removal of sprues and rough edges from a foundry casting, removal of surface
scale from metals before forging or welding and deburring of parts in sheet metal and
machine shops. Polishing is used to remove surface imperfections such as tool marks.
Buffing does not remove metal, but uses a soft abrasive blended in a wax or grease
base to produce a high-lustre surface.
Grinding is the most comprehensive and diversified of all machining methods and is
employed on many materials—predominantly iron and steel but also other metals,
wood, plastics, stone, glass, pottery and so on. The term covers other methods of
producing very smooth and glossy surfaces, such as polishing, honing, whetting and
lapping.
The tools used are wheels of varying dimensions, grinding segments, grinding points,
sharpening stones, files, polishing wheels, belts, discs and so on. In grinding wheels
and the like, the abrasive material is held together by bonding agents to form a rigid,
generally porous body. In the case of abrasive belts, the bonding agent holds the
abrasive secured to a flexible base material. Buffing wheels are made from cotton or
other textile disks sewn together.
The natural abrasives—natural corundum or emery (aluminium oxides), diamond,

sandstone, flint and garnet—have been largely superseded by artificial abrasives
including aluminium oxide (fused alumina), silicon carbide (carborundum) and
synthetic diamonds. A number of fine-grained materials such as chalk, pumice, tripoli,
tin putty and iron oxide are also used, especially for polishing and buffing.
Aluminium oxide is most widely used in grinding wheels, followed by silicon carbide.
Natural and artificial diamonds are used for important special applications. Aluminium
oxide, silicon carbide, emery, garnet and flint are used in grinding and polishing belts.
Both organic and inorganic bonding agents are used in grinding wheels. The main type
of inorganic bonds are vitrified silicate and magnesite. Notable among organic
bonding agents are phenol- or urea- formaldehyde resin, rubber and shellac. The
vitrified bonding agents and phenolic resin are completely dominating within their
respective groups. Diamond grinding wheels can also be metal bonded. The various
bonding agents give the wheels different grinding properties, as well as different
properties with regard to safety.
Abrasive and polishing belts and discs are composed of a flexible base of paper or
fabric to which the abrasive is bonded by means of a natural or synthetic adhesive.
Different machines are used for different types of operations, such as surface grinding,
cylindrical (including centreless) grinding, internal grinding, rough grinding and
cutting. The two main types are: those where either the grinder or the work is moved
by hand and machines with mechanical feeds and chucks. Common equipment types
include: surface-type grinders; pedestal-type grinders, polishers and buffers; disk
grinders and polishers; internal grinders; abrasive cut-off machines; belt polishers;
portable grinders, polishers and buffers; and multiple polishers and buffers.
Bursting
The major injury risk in the use of grinding wheels is that the wheel may burst during
grinding. Normally, grinding wheels operate at high speeds. There is a trend towards
ever-increasing speeds. Most industrialized nations have regulations limiting the
maximum speeds at which the various types of grinding wheels may be run.
The fundamental protective measure is to make the grinding wheel as strong as

possible; the nature of the bonding agent is most important. Wheels with organic
bonds, in particular phenolic resin, are tougher than those with inorganic bonds and
more resistant to impacts. High peripheral speeds may be permissible for wheels with
organic bonds.
Very high-speed wheels, in particular, often incorporate various types of

reinforcement. For example, certain cup wheels are fitted with steel hubs to increase
their strength. During rotation the major stress develops around the centre hole. To
strengthen the wheel, the section around the centre hole, which takes no part in the
grinding, can thus be made of an especially strong material which is not suitable for
grinding. Large wheels with a centre section reinforced in this way are used
particularly by the steel works for grinding slabs, billets and the like at speeds up to 80
m/s.
The most common method of reinforcing grinding wheels, however, is to include glass
fibre fabric in their construction. Thin wheels, such as those used for cutting, may
incorporate glass fibre fabric at the centre or at each side, while thicker wheels have a
number of fabric layers depending on the thickness of the wheel.
With the exception of some grinding wheels of small dimensions, either all wheels or a
statistical sampling of them must be given speed tests by the manufacturer. In tests the
wheels are run over a certain period at a speed exceeding that permitted in grinding.
Test regulations vary from country to country, but usually the wheel has to be tested at
a speed 50% above the working speed. In some countries, regulations require special
testing of wheels that are to operate at higher speeds than normal at a central testing
institute. The institute may also cut specimens from the wheel and investigate their
physical properties. Cutting wheels are subjected to certain impact tests, bending tests
and so on. The manufacturer is also obliged to ensure that the grinding wheel is well
balanced prior to delivery.
The bursting of a grinding wheel may cause fatal or very serious injuries to anyone in
the vicinity and heavy damage to plant or premises. In spite of all precautions taken by
the manufacturers, occasional wheel bursts or breaks may still occur unless proper care
is exercised in their use. Precautionary measures include:
· Handling and storing. A wheel may become damaged or cracked during transit or
handling. Moisture may attack the bonding agent in phenolic resin wheels, ultimately
reducing their strength. Vitrified wheels may be sensitive to repeated temperature
variations. Irregularly absorbed moisture may throw the wheel out of balance.
Consequently, it is most important that wheels are carefully handled at all stages and
kept in an orderly manner in a dry and protected place.
· Checking for cracks. A new wheel should be checked to ensure that it is

undamaged and dry, most simply by tapping with a wooden mallet. A faultless
vitrified wheel will give a clear ring, an organic bonded wheel a less ringing tone; but
either can be differentiated from the cracked sound of a defective wheel. In case of
doubt, the wheel should not be used and the supplier should be consulted.
· Testing. Before the new wheel is put into service, it should be tested at full speed
with due precautions being observed. After wet grinding, the wheel should be run idle
to eject the water; otherwise the water may collect at the bottom of the wheel and
cause imbalance, which may result in bursting when the wheel is next used.
· Mounting. Accidents and breakages occur when grinding wheels are mounted on
unsuitable apparatus—for example, on spindle ends of buffing machines. The spindle
should be of adequate diameter but not so large as to expand the centre hole of the
wheel; flanges should be not less than one-third the diameter of the wheel and made of
mild steel or of similar material.
· Speed. In no circumstances should the maximum permissible operating speed

specified by the makers be exceeded. A notice indicating the spindle speed should be
fitted to all grinding machines, and the wheel should be marked with the maximum
permissible peripheral speed and the corresponding number of revolutions for a new
wheel. Special precautions are necessary with variable speed grinding machines and to
ensure the fitting of wheels of appropriate permissible speeds in portable grinders.
· Work rest. Wherever practicable, rigidly mounted work rests of adequate

dimensions should be provided. They should be adjustable and kept as close as
possible to the wheel to prevent a trap in which the work might be forced against the
wheel and break it or, more probable, catch and injure the operator’s hand.
· Guarding. Abrasive wheels should be provided with guards strong enough to

contain the parts of a bursting wheel (see figure 82.5). Some countries have detailed
regulations regarding the design of the guards and the materials to be used. In general,
cast iron and cast aluminium are to be avoided. The grinding opening should be as
small as possible, and an adjustable nose piece may be necessary. Exceptionally,
where the nature of the work precludes the use of a guard, special protective flanges or
safety chucks may be used. The spindles and tapered ends of double-ended polishing
machines can cause entanglement accidents unless they are effectively guarded.
Figure 82.5 A well guarded, vitrified abrasive wheel mounted in a surface grinder
and operating at a peripheral speed of 33 m/s
Eye injuries
Dust, abrasives, grains and splinters are a common hazard to the eyes in all dry-
grinding operations. Effective eye protection by goggles or spectacles and fixed eye
shields at the machine are essential; fixed eye shields are particularly useful when
wheels are in intermittent use—for example, for tool grinding.
Fire
Grinding of magnesium alloys carries a high fire risk unless strict precautions are
taken against accidental ignition and in the removal and drenching of dust. High
standards of cleanliness and maintenance are required in all exhaust ducting to prevent
risk of fire and also to keep ventilation working efficiently. Textile dust released from
buffing operations is a fire hazard requiring good housekeeping and LEV.
Vibration
Portable and pedestal grinders carry a risk of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS),
also known as “white finger” from its most noticeable sign. Recommendations include
limiting intensity and duration of exposure, redesigning tools, protective equipment
and monitoring exposure and health.
Health hazards
Although modern grinding wheels do not themselves create the serious silicosis hazard
associated in the past with sandstone wheels, highly dangerous silica dust may still be
given off from the materials being ground—for example, sand castings. Certain resin-
bonded wheels may contain fillers which create a dangerous dust. In addition,
formaldehyde-based resins can emit formaldehyde during grinding. In any event, the
volume of dust produced by grinding makes efficient LEV essential. It is more
difficult to provide local exhaust for portable wheels, although some success in this
direction has been achieved by use of low-volume, high-velocity capture systems.
Prolonged work should be avoided and respiratory protective equipment provided if
necessary. Exhaust ventilation is also required for most belt sanding, finishing,
polishing and similar operations. With buffing in particular, combustible textile dust is
a serious concern.
Protective clothing and good sanitary and washing facilities with showers should be
provided, and medical supervision is desirable, especially for metal grinders.
INDUSTRIAL LUBRICANTS, METAL WORKING FLUIDS

AND AUTOMOTIVE OILS
Richard S. Kraus
The industrial revolution could not have occurred without the development of refined
petroleum-based industrial oils, lubricants, cutting oils and greases. Prior to the
discovery in the 1860s that a superior lubricant could be produced by distilling crude
oil in a vacuum, industry depended on naturally occurring oils and animal fats such as
lard and whale sperm oil for lubricating moving parts. These oils and animal products
were especially susceptible to melting, oxidation and breakdown from exposure to heat
and moisture produced by the steam engines which powered almost all industrial
equipment at that time. The evolution of petroleum-based refined products has
continued from the first lubricant, which was used to tan leather, to modern synthetic
oils and greases with longer service life, superior lubricating qualities and better
resistance to change under varying temperatures and climatic conditions.
Industrial Lubricants
All moving parts on machinery and equipment require lubrication. Although

lubrication may be provided by dry materials such as Teflon or graphite, which are
used in parts such as small electrical motor bearings, oils and greases are the most
commonly used lubricants. As the complexity of the machinery increases, the
requirements for lubricants and metal process oils become more stringent. Lubricating
oils now range from clear, very thin oils used to lubricate delicate instruments, to
thick, tar-like oils used on large gears such as those which turn steel mills. Oils with
very specific requirements are used both in the hydraulic systems and to lubricate large
computer-operated machine tools such as those used in the aerospace industry to
produce parts with extremely close tolerances. Synthetic oils, fluids and greases, and
blends of synthetic and petroleum-based oils, are used where extended lubricant life is
desired, such as sealed-for-life electric motors, where the increased time between oil
changes offsets the difference in cost; where extended temperature and pressure ranges
exist, such as in aerospace applications; or where it is difficult and expensive to re-
apply the lubricant.
Industrial Oils
Industrial oils such as spindle and lubricating oils, gear lubricants, hydraulic and
turbine oils and transmission fluids are designed to meet specific physical and
chemical requirements and to operate without discernible change for extended periods
under varying conditions. Lubricants for aerospace use must meet entirely new
conditions, including cleanliness, durability, resistance to cosmic radiation and the
ability to operate in extremely cold and hot temperatures, without gravity and in a
vacuum.
Transmissions, turbines and hydraulic systems contain fluids which transfer force or
power, reservoirs to hold the fluids, pumps to move the fluids from one place to
another and auxiliary equipment such as valves, piping, coolers and filters. Hydraulic
systems, transmissions and turbines require fluids with specific viscosities and
chemical stability to operate smoothly and provide the controlled transfer of power.
The characteristics of good hydraulic and turbine oils include a high viscosity index,
thermal stability, long life in circulating systems, deposit resistance, high lubricity,
anti-foam capabilities, rust protection and good demulsibility.
Gear lubricants are designed to form strong, tenacious films which provide lubrication
between gears under extreme pressure. The characteristics of gear oils include good
chemical stability, demulsibility and resistance to viscosity increase and deposit
formation. Spindle oils are thin, extremely clean and clear oils with lubricity additives.
The most important characteristics for way oils—used to lubricate two flat sliding
surfaces where there is high pressure and slow speed—are lubricity and tackiness to
resist squeezing out and resistance to extreme pressure.
Cylinder and compressor oils combine the characteristics of both industrial and
automotive oils. They should resist accumulation of deposits, act as a heat transfer
agent (internal combustion engine cylinders), provide lubrication for cylinders and
pistons, provide a seal to resist blow-back pressure, have chemical and thermal
stability (especially vacuum pump oil), have a high viscosity index and resist water
wash (steam-operated cylinders) and detergency.
Automotive Engine Oils
Manufacturers of internal combustion engines and organizations, such as the Society

of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in the United States and Canada, have established
specific performance criteria for automotive engine oils. Automotive gasoline and
diesel engine oils are subjected to a series of performance tests to determine their
chemical and thermal stability, corrosion resistance, viscosity, wear protection,
lubricity, detergency and high and low temperature performance. They are then
classified according to a code system which allows consumers to determine their
suitability for heavy-duty use and for different temperatures and viscosity ranges.
Oils for automotive engines, transmissions and gear cases are designed with high
viscosity indexes to resist changes in viscosity with temperature changes. Automotive
engine oils are especially formulated to resist breakdown under heat as they lubricate
internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engine oils must not be too thick to
lubricate the internal moving parts when an engine starts up in cold weather, and they
must not thin out as the engine heats up when operating. They should resist carbon
build-up on valves, rings and cylinders and the formation of corrosive acids or deposits
from moisture. Automotive engine oils contain detergents designed to hold carbon and
metallic wear particles in suspension so that they can be filtered out as the oil
circulates and not accumulate on internal engine parts and cause damage.
Cutting Fluids
The three types of cutting fluids used in industry are mineral oils, soluble oils and
synthetic fluids. Cutting oils are typically a blend of high-quality, high-stability
mineral oils of various viscosities together with additives to provide specific
characteristics depending on the type of material being machined and the work
performed. Soluble water-in-oil cutting fluids are mineral oils (or synthetic oils) which
contain emulsifiers and special additives including defoamants, rust inhibitors,
detergents, bactericides and germicides. They are diluted with water in varying ratios
before being used. Synthetic cutting fluids are solutions of non-petroleum-based fluids,
additives and water, rather than emulsions, some of which are fire resistant for
machining specific metals. Semi-synthetic fluids contain 10 to 15% mineral oil. Some
special fluids have both lubricating oil and cutting fluid characteristics due to the
tendency of fluids to leak and intermix in certain machine tools such as multi-spindle,
automatic screw machines.
The desired characteristics of cutting fluids depend on the composition of the metal
being worked on, the cutting tool being used and the type of cutting, planing or
shaping operation performed. Cutting fluids improve and enhance the metal working
process by cooling and lubrication (i.e., protecting the edge of the cutting tool). For
example, when working on a soft metal which creates a lot of heat, cooling is the most
important criterion. Improved cooling is provided by using a light oil (such as
kerosene) or water-based cutting fluid. Control of the built-up edge on cutting tools is
provided by anti-weld or anti-wear additives such as sulphur, chlorine or phosphorus
compounds. Lubricity, which is important when working on steel to overcome the
abrasiveness of iron sulphide, is provided by synthetic and animal fats or sulphurized
sperm oil additives.
Other Metal Working and Process Oils
Grinding fluids are designed to provide cooling and prevent metal build-up on
grinding wheels. Their characteristics include thermal and chemical stability, rust
protection (soluble fluids), preventing gummy deposits upon evaporation and a safe
flashpoint for the work performed.
Quench oils, which require high stability, are used in metal treating to control the
change of the molecular structure of steel as it cools. Quenching in lighter oil is used to
case harden small, inexpensive steel parts. A slower quench rate is used to produce
machine tool steels which are fairly hard on the outside with lower internal stress. A
gapped or multi-phase quenching oil is used to treat high carbon and alloy steels.
Roll oils are specially formulated mineral or soluble oils which lubricate and provide a
smooth finish to metal, particularly aluminium, copper and brass, as it goes through
hot and cold rolling mills. Release oils are used to coat dies and moulds to facilitate
the release of the formed metal parts. Tanning oils are still used in the felt and leather-
making industry. Transformer oils are specially formulated dielectric fluids used in
transformers and large electric breakers and switches.
Heat transfer oils are used in open or closed systems and may last up to 15 years in
service. The primary characteristics are good thermal stability as systems operate at
temperatures from 150 to 315°C, oxidation stability and high flashpoint. Heat transfer
oils are normally too viscous to be pumped at ambient temperatures and must be
heated to provide fluidity.
Petroleum solvents are used to clean parts by spraying, dripping or dipping. The
solvents remove oil and emulsify dirt and metal particles. Rust preventive oils may be
either solvent or water based. They are applied to stainless steel coils, bearings and
other parts by dipping or spraying, and leave polarized or wax films on the metal
surfaces for fingerprint and rust protection and water displacement.
Greases
Greases are mixtures of fluids, thickeners and additives used to lubricate parts and
equipment which cannot be made oil-tight, which are hard to reach or where leaking or
splashed liquid lubricants might contaminate products or create a hazard. They have a
wide range of applications and performance requirements, from lubricating jet engine
bearings at sub-zero temperatures to hot rolling mill gears, and resisting acid or water
washout, as well as the continuous friction created by railroad car wheel roller
bearings.
Grease is made by the blending of metallic soaps (salts of long-chained fatty acids)
into a lubricating oil medium at temperatures of 205 to 315°C. Synthetic greases may
use di-esters, silicone or phosphoric esters and polyalkyl glycols as fluids. The
characteristics of the grease depend to a great extent upon the particular fluid, metallic
element (e.g., calcium, sodium, aluminium, lithium and so on) in the soap and the
additives used to improve performance and stability and to reduce friction. These
additives include extreme-pressure additives which coat the metal with a thin layer of
non-corrosive metallic sulphur compounds, lead naphthenate or zinc dithiophosphate,
rust inhibitors, anti-oxidants, fatty acids for added lubricity, tackiness additives, colour
dyes for identification and water inhibitors. Some greases may contain graphite or
molybdenum fillers which coat the metallic parts and provide lubrication after the
grease has run out or decomposed.
Industrial Lubricants, Grease and Automotive Engine Oil Additives
In addition to using high-quality lubricant base stocks with chemical and thermal
stability and high viscosity indexes, additives are needed to enhance the fluid and
provide specific characteristics required in industrial lubricants, cutting fluids, greases
and automotive engine oils. The most commonly used additives include but are not
limited to the following:
· Anti-oxidants. Oxidation inhibitors, such as 2,6-ditertiary butyl, paracresol and

phenyl naphthylamine, reduce the rate of deterioration of oil by breaking up the long-
chain molecules which form when exposed to oxygen. Oxidation inhibitors are used to
coat metals such as copper, zinc and lead to prevent contact with the oil so they will
not act as catalysts, speeding up oxidation and forming acids which attack other
metals.
· Foam inhibitors. Defoamants, such as silicones and polyorganic silioxanes, are

used in hydraulic oils, gear oils, transmission fluids and turbine oils to reduce surface
film tension and remove air entrapped in the oil by pumps and compressors, in order to
maintain constant hydraulic pressure and prevent cavitation.
· Corrosion inhibitors. Anti-rust additives, such as lead naphthenate and sodium

sulphonate, are used to prevent rust from forming on metallic parts and systems where
circulating oil has been contaminated with water or by moist air which entered system
reservoirs as they cooled down when the equipment or machinery was not in use.
· Anti-wear additives. Anti-wear additives, such as tricresylphosphate, form polar

compounds which are attracted to metal surfaces and provide a physical layer of
additional protection in the event that the oil film is not sufficient.
· Viscosity index improvers. Viscosity index improvers help oils resist the effects of
temperature changes. Unfortunately, their effectiveness diminishes with extended use.
Synthetic oils are designed with very high viscosity indexes, allowing them to
maintain their structure over wider temperature ranges and for much longer periods of
time than mineral oils with viscosity index improver additives.
· Demulsifiers. Water inhibitors and special compounds separate water out of oil
and prevent gum formation; they contain waxy oils which provide added lubricity.
They are used where equipment is subject to water wash or where a large amount of
moisture is present, such as in steam cylinders, air compressors and gear cases
contaminated by soluble cutting fluids.
· Colour dyes. Dyes are used to assist users to identify different oils used for
specific purposes, such as transmission fluids and gear oils, in order to prevent
misapplication.
· Extreme pressure additives. Extreme pressure additives, such as non-corrosive

sulphurized fatty compounds, zinc dithiophosphate and lead naphthenate, are used in
automotive, gear and transmission oils to form coatings which protect metal surfaces
when the protective oil film thins or is squeezed out and cannot prevent metal to metal
contact.
· Detergents. Metal sulphonate and metal phenate detergents are used to hold dirt,
carbon and metallic wear particles in suspension in hydraulic oils, gear oils, engine oils
and transmission fluids. These contaminants are typically removed when the oil passes
through a filter to prevent their being recirculated through the system where they could
cause damage.
· Tackiness additives. Adhesive or tackiness additives are used to enable oils to

adhere to and resist leakage from bearing assemblies, gear cases, large open gears on
mills and construction equipment, and overhead machinery. Their tackiness diminishes
with extended service.
· Emulsifiers. Fatty acids and fatty oils are used as emulsifiers in soluble oils to help
form solutions with water.
· Lubricity additives. Fat, lard, tallow, sperm and vegetable oils are used to provide
a higher degree of oiliness in cutting oils and some gear oils.
· Bactericides. Bactericides and germicides, such as phenol and pine oil, are added
to soluble cutting oils to prolong the life of the fluid, maintain stability, reduce odours
and prevent dermatitis.
Manufacturing Industrial Lubricants and Automotive Oils
Industrial lubricants and oils, grease, cutting fluids and automotive engine oils are
manufactured in blending and packaging facilities, also called “lube plants” or
“blending plants”. These facilities may be located either in or adjacent to refineries
which produce lubricant base stocks, or they may be some distance away and receive
the base stocks by marine tankers or barges, railroad tank cars or tank trucks. Blending
and packaging plants blend and compound additives into lubricating oil base stocks to
manufacture a wide range of finished products, which are then shipped in bulk or in
containers.
The blending and compounding processes used to manufacture lubricants, fluids and
greases depend on the age and sophistication of the facility, the equipment available,
the types and formulation of the additives used and the variety and volume of products
produced. Blending may require only physical mixing of base stocks and additive
packages in a kettle using mixers, paddles or air agitation, or auxiliary heat from
electric or steam coils may be needed to help dissolve and blend in the additives. Other
industrial fluids and lubricants are produced automatically by mixing base stocks and
pre-blended additive and oil slurries through manifold systems. Grease may be either
batch produced or continuously compounded. Lube plants may compound their own
additives from chemicals or purchase pre-packaged additives from specialty
companies; a single plant may use both methods. When lube plants manufacture their
own additives and additive packages, there may be a need for high temperatures and
pressures in addition to chemical reactions and physical agitation to compound the
chemicals and materials.
After production, fluids and lubricants may be held in the blending kettles or placed in
holding tanks to ensure that the additives remain in suspension or solution, to allow
time for testing to determine whether the product meets quality specifications and
certification requirements, and to allow process temperatures to return to ambient
levels before products are packaged and shipped. When testing is completed, finished
products are released for bulk shipment or packaging into containers.
Finished products are shipped in bulk in railroad tank cars or in tank trucks directly to
consumers, distributors or outside packaging plants. Finished products also are shipped
to consumers and distributors in railroad box cars or package delivery trucks in a
variety of containers, as follows:
· Metal, plastic and combination metal/plastic or plastic/fibre intermediate bulk

containers, which range in size from 227 l to approximately 2,840 l, are shipped as
individual units on built-in or separate pallets, stacked 1 or 2 high.
· Metal, fibre or plastic drums with a capacity of 208 l, 114 l or 180 kg are typically
shipped 4 to a pallet.
· Metal or plastic drums with a capacity of 60 l or 54 kg, and 19 l or 16 kg metal or

plastic pails, are stacked on pallets and banded or stretch wrapped to maintain stability.
· Metal or plastic containers with a capacity of 8 l or 4 l, 1 l plastic, metal and fibre
bottles and cans and 2 kg grease cartridges are packaged in cartons which are stacked
on pallets and banded or stretch wrapped for shipment.
Some blending and packaging plants may ship pallets of mixed products and mixed
sizes of containers and packages directly to small consumers. For example, a single-
pallet shipment to a service station could include 1 drum of transmission fluid, 2 kegs
of grease, 8 cases of automotive engine oil and 4 pails of gear lubricant.
Product Quality
Lubricant product quality is important to keep machines and equipment operating

properly and to produce quality parts and materials. Blending and packaging plants
manufacture finished petroleum products to strict specifications and quality
requirements. Users should maintain the level of quality by establishing safe practices
for the handling, storage, dispensing and transfer of lubricants from their original
containers or tanks to the dispensing equipment and to the point of application on the
machine or equipment to be lubricated or the system to be filled. Some industrial
facilities have installed centralized dispensing, lubrication and hydraulic systems
which minimize contamination and exposure. Industrial oils, lubricants, cutting oils
and grease will deteriorate from water or moisture contamination, exposure to
excessively high or low temperatures, inadvertent mixing with other products and
long-term storage which allows additive drop-out or chemical changes to occur.
Health and Safety
Because they are used and handled by consumers, finished industrial and automotive
products must be relatively free of hazards. There is a potential for hazardous
exposures when blending and compounding products, when handling additives, when
using cutting fluids and when operating oil mist lubrication systems.
The chapter Oil and natural gas refineries in this Encyclopaedia gives information
regarding potential hazards associated with auxiliary facilities at blending and
packaging plants such as boiler rooms, laboratories, offices, oil-water separators and
waste treatment facilities, marine docks, tank storage, warehouse operations, railroad
tank car and tank truck loading racks and railroad box car and package truck loading
and unloading facilities.
Safety
Manufacturing additives and slurries, batch compounding, batch blending and in-line
blending operations require strict controls to maintain desired product quality and,
along with the use of PPE, to minimize exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals
and materials as well as contact with hot surfaces and steam. Additive drums and
containers should be stored safely and kept tightly sealed until ready for use. Additives
in drums and bags need to be handled properly to avoid muscular strain. Hazardous
chemicals should be properly stored, and incompatible chemicals should not be stored
where they can mix with one another. Precautions to be taken when operating filling
and packaging machinery include using gloves and avoiding catching fingers in
devices which crimp covers on kegs and pails. Machine guards and protective systems
should not be removed, disconnected or by-passed to expedite work. Intermediate bulk
containers and drums should be inspected before filling to make sure they are clean
and suitable.
A confined-space permit system should be established for entry into storage tanks and
blending kettles for cleaning, inspection, maintenance or repair. A lockout/tagout
procedure should be established and implemented before working on packaging
machinery, blending kettles with mixers, conveyors, palletizers and other equipment
with moving parts.
Leaking drums and containers should be removed from the storage area and spills
cleaned up to prevent slips and falls. Recycling, burning and disposal of waste, spilled
and used lubricants, automotive engine oils and cutting fluids should be in accordance
with government regulations and company procedures. Workers should use
appropriate PPE when cleaning spills and handling used or waste products. Drained
motor oil, cutting fluids or industrial lubricants which may be contaminated with
gasoline and flammable solvents should be stored in a safe place away from sources of
ignition, until proper disposal.
Fire protection
While the potential for fire is less in industrial and automotive lubricant blending and
compounding than in refining processes, care must be taken when manufacturing
metal working oils and greases due to the use of high blending and compounding
temperatures and lower flashpoint products. Special precautions should be taken to
prevent fires when products are dispensed or containers filled at temperatures above
their flashpoints. When transferring flammable liquids from one container to another,
proper bonding and grounding techniques should be applied to prevent static build-up
and electrostatic discharge. Electrical motors and portable equipment should be
properly classified for the hazards present in the area in which they are installed or
used.
The potential for fire exists if a leaking product or vapour release in the lube blending
and grease processing or storage areas reaches a source of ignition. The establishment
and implementation of a hot-work permit system should be considered to prevent fires
in blending and packaging facilities. Storage tanks installed inside buildings should be
constructed, vented and protected in accordance with government requirements and
company policy. Products stored on racks and in piles should not block fire protection
systems, fire doors or exit routes.
Storage of finished products, both in bulk and in containers and packages, should be in
accordance with recognized practices and fire prevention regulations. For example,
flammable liquids and additives which are in solutions of flammable liquids may be
stored in outside buildings or separate, specially designed inside or attached storage
rooms. Many additives are stored in warm rooms (38 to 65°C) or in hot rooms (over
65°C) in order to keep the ingredients in suspension, to reduce the viscosity of thicker
products or to provide for easier blending or compounding. These storage rooms
should comply with electrical classification, drainage, ventilation and explosion
venting requirements, especially when flammable liquids or combustible liquids are
stored and dispensed at temperatures above their flashpoints.
Health
When blending, sampling and compounding, personal and respiratory protective

equipment should be considered to prevent exposures to heat, steam, dusts, mists,
vapours, fumes, metallic salts, chemicals and additives. Safe work practices, good
hygiene and appropriate personal protection may be needed for exposure to oil mists,
fumes and vapours, additives, noise and heat when conducting inspection and
maintenance activities while sampling and handling hydrocarbons and additives during
the production and packaging and when cleaning up spills and releases:
· Work shoes with oil- or slip-resistant soles should be worn for general work, and
approved protective toe safety shoes with oil- or slip-resistant soles should be worn
where hazards of foot injuries from rolling or falling objects or equipment exist.
· Safety goggles and respiratory protection may be needed for hazardous exposures
to chemicals, dust or steam.
· Impervious gloves, aprons, footwear, face shields and chemical goggles should be
worn when handling hazardous chemicals, additives and caustic solutions and when
cleaning up spills.
· Head protection may be needed when working in pits or areas where the potential
exists for injury to the head.
· Ready access to appropriate cleaning and drying facilities to handle splashes and
spills should be provided.
Oil is a common cause of dermatitis, which can be controlled through the use of PPE
and good personal hygiene practices. Direct skin contact with any formulated greases
or lubricants should be avoided. Lighter oils such as kerosene, solvents and spindle
oils defat the skin and cause rashes. Thicker products, such as gear oils and greases,
block the pores of the skin, leading to folliculitis.
Health hazards due to microbial contamination of oil may be summarized as follows:
· Pre-existing skin conditions may be aggravated.
· Lubricant aerosols of respirable size may cause respiratory illness.
· Organisms may change the composition of the product so that it becomes directly
injurious.
· Harmful bacteria from animals, birds or humans may be introduced.
Contact dermatitis may occur when employees are exposed to cutting fluids during
production, work or maintenance and when they wipe oil-covered hands with rags
embedded with minute metal particles. The metal causes small lacerations in the skin
which may become infected. Water-based cutting fluids on skin and clothing may
contain bacteria and cause infections, and the emulsifiers may dissolve fats from the
skin. Oil folliculitis is caused by prolonged exposure to oil-based cutting fluids, such
as from wearing oil-soaked clothing. Employees should remove and launder clothing
that is soaked with oil before wearing it again. Dermatitis may also be caused by using
soaps, detergents or solvents to clean the skin. Dermatitis is best controlled by good
hygiene practices and minimizing exposure. Medical advice should be sought when
dermatitis persists.
In the extensive review conducted as a basis for its criteria document, the US National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found an association between
exposure to metal working fluids and the risk of developing cancer at several organ
sites, including the stomach, pancreas, larynx and rectum (NIOSH 1996). The specific
formulations responsible for the elevated cancer risks remain to be determined.
Occupational exposure to oil mists and aerosols is associated with a variety of non-
malignant respiratory effects, including lipoid pneumonia, asthma, acute airways
irritation, chronic bronchitis and impaired pulmonary function (NIOSH 1996).
Metal working fluids are readily contaminated by bacteria and fungi. They may affect
the skin or, when inhaled as contaminated aerosols, they may have systemic effects.
Refinery processes such as hydrofinishing and acid treatment are used to remove
aromatics from industrial lubricants, and the use of naphthenic base stocks has been
restricted in order to minimize carcinogenicity. Additives introduced in blending and
compounding may also create a potential risk to health. Exposures to chlorinated
compounds and leaded compounds, such as those used in some gear lubricants and
greases, cause irritation of the skin and may be potentially hazardous. Tri-orthocresyl
phosphate has caused outbreaks of nerve palsies when lubricating oil was accidentally
used for cooking. Synthetic oils consist mainly of sodium nitrite and triethanolamine
and additives. Commercial triethanolamine contains diethanolamine, which can react
with sodium nitrite to form a relatively weak carcinogen, N-nitrosodiethanolamine,
which may create a hazard. Semi-synthetic lubricants present the hazards of both
products, as well as the additives in their formulations.
Product safety information is important to employees of both manufacturers and users

of lubricants, oils and greases. Manufacturers should have material safety data sheets
(MSDSs) or other product information available for all of the additives and base stocks
used in blending and compounding. Many companies have conducted epidemiological
and toxicological testing to determine the degree of hazards associated with any acute
and chronic health effects of their products. This information should be available to
workers and users through warning labels and product safety information.
SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALS

J.G. Jones, J.R. Bevan, J.A. Catton, A. Zober, N. Fish, K.M. Morse, G. Thomas, M.A.
El Kadeem and Philip A. Platcow*
There is a wide variety of techniques for finishing the surfaces of metal products so
that they resist corrosion, fit better and look better (see table 82.7). Some products are
treated by a sequence of several of these techniques. This article will briefly describe
some of those most commonly used.
Table 82.7 Summary of the hazards associated with the different metal treatment
methods
Metal treatment Hazards Precautions

method
Electrolytic Burns and irritation from caustic Use appropriate personal protective
polishing and corrosive chemicals equipment. Install effective exhaust
ventilation.
Electroplating Exposure to potentially cancer Use appropriate personal protective

causing chromium and nickel; equipment. Install effective exhaust
exposure to cyanides; burns and ventilation, often slotted, push-pull
irritation from caustic and system. Clean up spills immediately.
corrosive chemicals; electric Install non-skid flooring. Use effective
shock; the process can be wet, design of work procedures and
causing slip and fall hazards; stations to avoid ergonomic stress.
potential explosive dust
generation; ergonomic hazards
Enamels and Physical hazards from grinders, Install proper machine guards,
glazing conveyers, mills; burn hazard from including interlocks. Use appropriate
high temperature liquids and personal protective equipment. Install
equipment; exposure to dusts that effective exhaust ventilation to avoid
may cause lung disease dust exposure. HEPA-filtered
equipment may be necessary.
Etching Exposure to hydrofluoric acid; Implement a programme to avoid

burns and irritation from caustic exposure to hydrofluoric acid. Use
and corrosive chemicals; burn appropriate personal protective
hazard from high temperature equipment. Install effective exhaust
liquids and equipment ventilation.
Galvanizing Burn hazard from high temperature Use appropriate personal protective
liquids, metals, and equipment; equipment. Install effective exhaust
burns and irritation from caustic ventilation. Implement a lead
and corrosive chemicals; metal exposure reduction/monitoring
fume fever; potential lead exposure programme.
Heat treatment Burn hazard from high temperature Use appropriate personal protective
liquids, metals and equipment; equipment. Install effective exhaust
burns and irritation from caustic ventilation. Display signs warning of
and corrosive chemicals; possible high temperature equipment and
explosive atmospheres of surfaces. Install systems to monitor
hydrogen; potential exposure to the concentration of carbon monoxide.
carbon monoxide; potential Install adequate fire-suppression
exposure to cyanides; fire hazard systems.
from oil quenching
Metallizing Burn hazard from high temperature Install adequate fire suppression
metals and equipment; possible systems. Properly separate chemicals
explosive atmospheres of dust, and gases. Use appropriate personal
acetylene; zinc metal fume fever protective equipment. Install effective
exhaust ventilation.
Phosphating Burns and irritation from caustic Use appropriate personal protective
and corrosive chemicals equipment. Install effective exhaust
ventilation.
Plastics coating Exposure to chemical sensitizers Seek alternatives to sensitizers. Use

appropriate personal protective
equipment. Install effective exhaust
ventilation.
Priming Exposure to various solvents Seek alternatives to sensitizers. Use

which are potentially toxic and appropriate personal protective
flammable, exposure to chemical equipment. Install effective exhaust
sensitizers, exposure to potentially ventilation. Properly separate
carcinogenic chromium chemicals/gases.
Before any of these techniques can be applied, the products must be thoroughly
cleaned. A number of methods of cleaning are used, individually or in sequence. They
include mechanical grinding, brushing and polishing (which produce metallic or oxidic
dust—aluminium dust may be explosive), vapour degreasing, washing with organic
grease solvents, “pickling” in concentrated acid or alkaline solutions and electrolytic
degreasing. The last involves immersion in baths containing cyanide and concentrated
alkali in which electrolytically formed hydrogen or oxygen remove the grease,
resulting in “blank” metal surfaces that are free from oxides and grease. The cleaning
is followed by adequate rinsing and drying of the product.
Proper design of the equipment and effective LEV will reduce some of the risk.
Workers exposed to the hazard of splashes must be provided with protective goggles
or eye shields and protective gloves, aprons and clothing. Showers and eyewash
fountains should be nearby and in good working order, and splashes and spills should
be washed away promptly. With electrolytic equipment, the gloves and shoes must be
non-conducting, and other standard electrical precautions, such as the installation of
ground fault circuit interrupters and lockout/tagout procedures should be followed.
Treatment Processes
Electrolytic polishing
Electrolytic polishing is used to produce a surface of improved appearance and

reflectivity, to remove excess metal to accurately fit the required dimensions and to
prepare the surface for inspection for imperfections. The process involves preferential
anodic dissolution of high spots on the surface after vapour degreasing and hot alkaline
cleaning. Acids are frequently used as the electrolyte solutions; accordingly, adequate
rinsing is required afterwards.
Electroplating
Electroplating is a chemical or electrochemical process for applying a metallic layer to

the product—for example, nickel to protect against corrosion, hard chromium to
improve the surface properties or silver and gold to beautify it. Occasionally, non-
metallic materials are used. The product, wired as the cathode, and an anode of the
metal to be deposited are immersed in an electrolyte solution (which can be acidic,
alkaline or alkaline with cyanide salts and complexes) and connected externally to a
source of direct current. The positively charged cations of the metallic anode migrate
to the cathode, where they are reduced to the metal and deposited as a thin layer
(see figure 82.6). The process is continued until the new coating reaches the desired
thickness, and the product is then washed, dried and polished.
Anode: Cu → Cu+2 + 2e- ; Cathode: Cu2+ + 2e- → Cu
In electroforming, a process closely related to electroplating, objects moulded of, for

example, plaster or plastic are made conductive by the application of graphite and then
are connected as the cathode so that the metal is deposited on them.
Figure 82.6 Schematic representation of electroplating
In anodization, a process that has become increasingly important in recent years,

products of aluminium (titanium and other metals are also used) are connected as the
anode and immersed in dilute sulphuric acid. However, instead of the formation of
positive aluminium ions and migrating for deposition on the cathode, they are oxidized
by the oxygen atoms arising at the anode and become bound to it as an oxide layer.
This oxide layer is partially dissolved by the sulphuric acid solution, making the
surface layer porous. Subsequently, coloured or light-sensitive materials can be
deposited in these pores, as in the fabrication of nameplates, for example.
Enamels and glazes
Vitreous enamel or porcelain enamel is used to give a high heat-, stain- and corrosion-
resistant covering to metals, usually iron or steel, in a wide range of fabricated
products including bath tubs, gas and electric cookers, kitchen ware, storage tanks and
containers, and electrical equipment. In addition, enamels are used in the decoration of
ceramics, glass, jewellery and decorative ornaments. The specialized use of enamel
powders in the production of such ornamental ware as Cloisonné and Limoges has
been known for centuries. Glazes are applied to pottery ware of all kinds.
The materials used in the manufacture of vitreous enamels and glazes include:
· refractories, such as quartz, feldspar and clay

· fluxes, such as borax (sodium borate decahydrate), soda ash (anhydrous sodium
carbonate), sodium nitrate, fluorspar, cryolite, barium carbonate, magnesium
carbonate, lead monoxide, lead tetroxide and zinc oxide
· colours, such as oxides of antimony, cadmium, cobalt, iron, nickel, manganese,

selenium, vanadium, uranium and titanium
· opacifiers, such as oxides of antimony, titanium, tin and zirconium, and sodium
antimoninate
· electrolytes, such as borax, soda ash, magnesium carbonate and sulphate, sodium
nitrite and sodium aluminate
· flocculating agents, such as clay, gums, ammonium alginate, bentonite and

colloidal silica.
The first step in all types of vitreous enamelling or glazing is the making of the frit, the
enamel powder. This involves preparation of the raw materials, smelting and frit
handing.
After careful cleaning of the metal products (e.g., shot blasting, pickling, degreasing),
the enamel may be applied by a number of procedures:
· In the wet process, the object is dipped into the aqueous enamel slip, withdrawn
and allowed to drain or, in “slushing”, the enamel slip is thicker and must be shaken
from the object.
· In the dry process, the ground-coated object is heated to the enamelling
temperature and then dry enamel powder is dusted through sieves onto it. The enamel
sinters into place and, when the object is returned to the furnace, it melts down to a
smooth surface.
· Spray application is being used increasingly, usually in a mechanized operation. It

requires a cabinet under exhaust ventilation.
· Decorative enamels are usually applied by hand, using brushes or similar tools.
· Glazes for porcelain and pottery articles are usually applied by dipping or
spraying. Although some dipping operations are being mechanized, pieces are usually
dipped by hand in the domestic porcelain industry. The object is held in the hand,
dipped into a large tub of glaze, the glaze is removed by a flick of the wrist and the
object is placed in a dryer. An enclosed hood or cabinet with efficient exhaust
ventilation should be provided when the glaze is sprayed.
The prepared objects are then “fired” in a furnace or kiln, which usually is gas fuelled.
Etching
Chemical etching produces a satin or matte finish. Most frequently, it is used as a pre-
treatment prior to anodizing, lacquering, conversion coating, buffing or chemical
brightening. It is most frequently applied to aluminium and stainless steel, but is also
used for many other metals.
Aluminium is usually etched in alkaline solutions containing various mixtures of

sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, trisodium phosphate and sodium carbonate,
together with other ingredients to prevent sludge formation. One of the most common
processes uses sodium hydroxide at a concentration of 10 to 40 g/l maintained at a
temperature of 50 to 85°C with an immersion time as long as 10 minutes.
The alkaline etching is usually preceded and followed by treatment in various mixtures
of hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, nitric, phosphoric, chromic or sulphuric acid. A typical
acid treatment involves immersions of 15 to 60 seconds in a mixture of 3 parts by
volume of nitric acid and 1 part by volume of hydrofluoric acid that is maintained at a
temperature of 20°C.
Galvanizing
Galvanizing applies a zinc coating to a variety of steel products to protect against

corrosion. The product must be clean and oxide-free for the coating to adhere properly.
This usually involves a number of cleaning, rinsing, drying or annealing processes
before the product enters the galvanizing bath. In “hot dip” galvanizing, the product is
passed through a bath of molten zinc; “cold” galvanizing is essentially electroplating,
as described above.
Manufactured products are usually galvanized in a batch process, while the continuous
strip method is used for steel strip, sheet or wire. Flux may be employed to maintain
satisfactory cleaning of both the product and the zinc bath and to facilitate drying. A
prefluxing step may be followed by an ammonium chloride flux cover on the surface
of the zinc bath, or the latter may be used alone. In galvanizing pipe, the pipe is
immersed in a hot solution of zinc ammonium chloride after cleaning and before the
pipe enters the molten zinc bath. The fluxes decompose to form irritating hydrogen
chloride and ammonia gas, requiring LEV.
The various types of continuous hot-dip galvanizing differ essentially in how the
product is cleaned and whether the cleaning is done on-line:
· cleaning by flame oxidation of the surface oils with subsequent reduction in the
furnace and annealing done in-line
· electrolytic cleaning done prior to in-line annealing
· cleaning by acid pickling and alkali cleaning, using a flux prior to the preheat
furnace and annealing in a furnace before galvanizing
· cleaning by acid pickling and alkali cleaning, eliminating the flux and preheating
in a reducing gas (e.g., hydrogen) prior to galvanizing.
The continuous galvanizing line for light-gauge strip steel omits pickling and the use
of flux; it uses alkaline cleaning and maintains the clean surface of the strip by heating
it in a chamber or furnace with a reducing atmosphere of hydrogen until it passes
below the surface of the molten zinc bath.
Continuous galvanizing of wire requires annealing steps, usually with a molten lead
pan in front of the cleaning and galvanizing tanks; air or water cooling; pickling in hot,
dilute hydrochloric acid; rinsing; application of a flux; drying; and then galvanizing in
the molten zinc bath.
A dross, an alloy of iron and zinc, settles to the bottom of the molten zinc bath and
must be removed periodically. Various types of materials are floated on the surface of
the zinc bath to prevent oxidation of the molten zinc. Frequent skimming is needed at
the points of entry and exit of the wire or strip being galvanized.
Heat treatment
Heat treatment, the heating and cooling of a metal which remains in the solid state, is
usually an integral part of the processing of metal products. It almost always involves a
change in the crystalline structure of the metal which results in a modification of its
properties (e.g., annealing to make the metal more malleable, heating and slow cooling
to reduce hardness, heating and quenching to increase hardness, low-temperature
heating to minimize internal stresses).
Annealing
Annealing is a “softening” heat treatment widely used to allow further cold working of
the metal, improve machinability, stress-relieve the product before it is used and so on.
It involves heating the metal to a specific temperature, holding it at that temperature
for a specific length of time and allowing it to cool at a particular rate. A number of
annealing techniques are used:
· Blue annealing, in which a layer of blue oxide is produced on the surface of iron-
based alloys
· Bright annealing, which is carried out in a controlled atmosphere to minimize

surface oxidation
· Close annealing or box annealing, a method in which both ferrous and non-ferrous
metals are heated in a sealed metal container with or without a packing material and
then slowly cooled
· Full annealing, usually carried out in a protective atmosphere, aimed at obtaining

the maximum softness economically feasible
· Malleablizing, a special kind of anneal given to iron castings to make them

malleable by transforming the combined carbon in the iron to fine carbon (i.e.,
graphite)
· Partial annealing, a low-temperature process to remove internal stresses induced in

the metal by cold working
· Sub-critical or spheroidizing annealing, which produces improved machinability

by allowing the iron carbide in the crystalline structure to acquire a spheroid shape.
Age-hardening
Age-hardening is a heat treatment often used on aluminium-copper alloys in which the

natural hardening that takes place in the alloy is accelerated by heating to about 180°C
for about 1 hour.
Homogenizing
Homogenizing, usually applied to ingots or powdered metal compacts, is designed to

remove or greatly reduce segregation. It is achieved by heating to a temperature about
20°C below the metal’s melting point for about 2 hours or more and then quenching.
Normalizing
A process similar to full annealing, ensures the uniformity of the mechanical properties
to be obtained and also produces greater toughness and resistance to mechanical
loading.
Patenting
Patenting is a special type of annealing process that is usually applied to materials of

small cross-section which are intended to be drawn (e.g., 0.6% carbon steel wire). The
metal is heated in an ordinary furnace to above the transformation range and then
passes from the furnace directly into, for example, a lead bath held at a temperature of
about 170°C.
Quench-hardening and tempering
An increase in hardness can be produced in an iron-based alloy by heating to above the

transformation range and rapidly cooling to room temperature by quenching in oil,
water or air. The article is often too highly stressed to be put into service and, in order
to increase its toughness, it is tempered by reheating to a temperature below the
transformation range and allowing it to cool at the desired rate.
Martempering and austempering are similar processes except that the article is
quenched, for example, in a salt or lead bath held at a temperature of 400°C.
Surface- and case-hardening
This is another heat-treatment process applied most frequently to iron-based alloys,

which allows the surface of the object to remain hard while its core remains relatively
ductile. It has a number of variations:
· Flame hardening involves hardening the surfaces of the object (e.g., gear teeth,
bearings, slideways) by heating with a high-temperature gas torch and then quenching
in oil, water or another suitable medium.
· Electrical induction hardening is similar to flame hardening except that the heating
is produced by eddy currents induced in the surface layers.
· Carburizing increases the carbon content of the surface of an iron-based alloy by

heating the object in a solid, liquid or gaseous carbonaceous medium (e.g., solid
charcoal and barium carbonate, liquid sodium cyanide and sodium carbonate, gaseous
carbon monoxide, methane and so on) at a temperature of about 900°C.
· Nitriding increases the nitrogen content of the surface of a special low-alloy cast
iron or steel object by heating it in a nitrogenous medium, usually ammonia gas, at
about 500 to 600°C.
· Cyaniding is a method of case-hardening in which the surface of a low-carbon

steel object is enriched in both carbon and nitrogen simultaneously. It usually involves
heating the object for 1 hour in a bath of molten 30% sodium cyanide at 870°C, and
then quenching in oil or water.
· Carbo-nitriding is a gaseous process for the simultaneous absorption of carbon and

nitrogen into the surface layer of steel by heating it to 800 to 875°C in an atmosphere
of a carburizing gas (see above) and a nitriding gas (e.g., 2 to 5% anhydrous
ammonia).
Metallizing
Metallizing, or metal spraying, is a technique for applying a protective metallic coating

to a mechanically roughened surface by spraying it with molten droplets of metal. It is
also used to build up worn or corroded surfaces and for salvaging badly-machined
component parts. The process is widely known as Schooping, after the Dr. Schoop
who invented it.
It uses the Schooping gun, a hand-held, pistol-shaped spray gun through which the
metal in wire form is fed into a fuel gas/oxygen blowpipe flame which melts it and,
using compressed air, sprays it onto the object. The heat source is a mixture of oxygen
and either acetylene, propane or compressed natural gas. The coiled wire is usually
straightened before being fed into the gun. Any metal that can be made into a wire may
be used; the gun can also accept the metal in powder form.
Vacuum metallizing is a process in which the object is placed in a vacuum jar into
which the coating metal is sprayed.
Phosphating
Phosphating is used mainly on mild and galvanized steel and aluminium to augment
the adhesion and corrosion resistance of paint, wax and oil finishes. It is also used to
form a layer which acts as a parting film in the deep drawing of sheet metal and
improves its wear resistance. It essentially consists of allowing the metal surface to
react with a solution of one or more phosphates of iron, zinc, manganese, sodium or
ammonium. Sodium and ammonium phosphate solutions are used for combined
cleaning and phosphating. The need to phosphate multi-metal objects and the desire to
increase line speeds in automated operations have led to reducing reaction times by the
addition of accelerators such as fluorides, chlorates, molybdates and nickel compounds
to the phosphating solutions.To reduce crystal size and, consequently, increase the
flexibility of zinc phosphate coatings, crystal refining agents such as tertiary zinc
phosphate or titanium phosphate are added to the pre-treatment rinse.
The phosphating sequence typically includes the following steps:
· hot caustic cleaning
· brushing and rinsing
· further hot caustic cleaning
· conditioning water rinse
· spraying or dipping in hot solutions of acid phosphates
· cold water rinse
· warm chromic acid rinse
· another cold water rinse
· drying.
Priming
Organic paint primers are applied to metal surfaces to promote the adhesion of
subsequently applied paints and to retard corrosion at the paint-metal interface. The
primers usually contain resins, pigments and solvents and may be applied to the
prepared metal surfaces by brush, spray, immersion, roller coating or electrophoresis.
The solvents may be any combination of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones,
esters, alcohols and ethers. The most commonly used resins are polyvinyl butynol,
phenolic resins, drying oil alkyds, epoxidized oils, epoxyesters, ethyl silicates and
chlorinated rubbers. In complex primers, cross-linking agents such as tetraethylene
pentamine, pentaethylene hexamine, isocyanates and urea formaldehyde are used.
Inorganic pigments used in primer formulations include lead, barium, chromium, zinc
and calcium compounds.
Plastic coating
Plastic coatings are applied to metals in liquid form, as powders which are
subsequently cured or sintered by heating, or in the form of fabricated sheets which are
laminated to the metal surface with an adhesive. The most commonly used plastics
include polyethylene, polyamides (nylons) and PVC. The latter may include
plasticizers based on monomeric and polymeric esters and stabilizers such as lead
carbonate, fatty acid salts of barium and cadmium, dibutyltin dilaurate, alkyltin
mercaptides and zinc phosphate. Although generally of low toxicity and non-irritating,
some of the plasticizers are skin sensitizers.
As might be deduced from the complexity of the processes outlined above, there is a
large variety of safety and health hazards associated with the surface treatment of
metals. Many are regularly encountered in manufacturing operations; others are
presented by the uniqueness of the techniques and materials employed. Some are
potentially life threatening. By and large, however, they can be prevented or
controlled.
Workplace design
The workplace should be designed to allow the delivery of raw materials and supplies
and the removal of the finished products without interfering with the ongoing
processing. Since many of the chemicals are flammable or prone to react when mixed,
proper separation in storage and in transit is essential. Many of the metal finishing
operations involve liquids, and when leaks, spills or splashes of acids or alkalis occur
they must be washed away promptly. Accordingly, adequately drained, slip-resistant
floors must be provided. Housekeeping must be diligent to keep the work areas and
other spaces clean and free from accumulations of materials. Systems for disposal of
solid and liquid wastes and effluents from furnaces and exhaust ventilation must be
designed with environmental concerns in mind.
Work stations and work assignments should use ergonomic principles to minimize
strains, sprains, excessive fatigue and RSIs. Machine guards must have automatic
lockout so the machine is de-energized if the guard is removed. Splash guards are
essential. Because of the danger of splashes of hot acid and alkali solutions, eyewash
fountains and whole-body showers must be installed within easy reach. Signs should
be posted to warn other production and maintenance personnel of such dangers as
chemical baths and hot surfaces.
Chemical assessment
All chemicals should be evaluated for potential toxicity and physical hazards, and less
hazardous materials should be substituted where possible. However, since the less
toxic material may be more flammable, the hazard of fire and explosion must also be
considered. In addition, the chemical compatibility of materials must be considered.
For example, mixing of nitrate and cyanide salts by accident could cause an explosion
due to the strong oxidizing properties of nitrates.
Ventilation
Most of the metal coating processes require LEV that is strategically placed to draw
the vapours or other contaminants away from the worker. Some systems push fresh air
across the tank to “push” airborne contaminants to the exhaust side of the system.
Fresh air intakes must be located away from exhaust vents so that potentially toxic
gases are not recirculated.
Personal protective equipment
Processes should be engineered to prevent potentially toxic exposures, but since they
cannot always be totally avoided, employees will have to be provided with appropriate
PPE (e.g., goggles with or without face shields as appropriate, gloves, aprons or
coveralls and shoes). Because many of the exposures involve hot corrosive or caustic
solutions, the protective items should be insulated and chemical-resistant. If there is
possible exposure to electricity, PPE should be non-conductive. PPE must be available
in adequate quantity to allow contaminated, wet items to be cleaned and dried before
re-using them. Insulated gloves and other protective clothing should be available
where there is the risk of thermal burns from hot metal, furnaces and so on.
An important adjunct is the availability of wash-up facilities and clean lockers and
dressing rooms, so that workers’ clothing remains uncontaminated and workers do not
carry toxic materials back into their homes.
Employee training and supervision
Employee education and training are essential both when new to the job or when there
have been changes in the equipment or the process. MSDSs must be provided for each
of the chemical products which explain the chemical and physical hazards, in
languages and at educational levels that ensure they will be understood by the workers.
Competence testing and periodic retraining will assure that workers have retained the
needed information. Close supervision is advisable to make sure that the proper
procedures are being followed.
Selected hazards
Certain hazards are unique to the metal coating industry and deserve special
consideration.
Alkaline and acid solutions
The heated alkaline and acid solutions used in cleaning and treatment of metals are
particularly corrosive and caustic. They are irritating to the skin and mucous
membranes and are especially dangerous when splashed into the eye. Eyewash
fountains and emergency showers are essential. Proper protective clothing and goggles
will guard against the inevitable splashes; when a splash reaches the skin, the area
should be immediately and copiously rinsed with cool, clean water for at least 15
minutes; medical attention may be necessary, particularly when the eye is involved.
Care should be exercised when utilizing chlorinated hydrocarbons as phosgene may

result from a reaction of the chlorinated hydrocarbon, acids and metals. Nitric and
hydrofluoric acid are particularly dangerous when their gases are inhaled, because it
may take 4 hours or more before the effects on the lungs become apparent. Bronchitis,
pneumonitis and even potentially fatal pulmonary oedema may appear belatedly in a
worker who apparently had no initial effect from the exposure. Prompt prophylactic
medical treatment and, often, hospitalization are advisable for workers who have been
exposed. Skin contact with hydrofluoric acid can cause severe burns without pain for
several hours. Prompt medical attention is essential.
Dust
Metallic and oxidic dusts are a particular problem in grinding and polishing operations,
and are most effectively removed by LEV as they are created. Ductwork should be
designed to be smooth and air velocity should be sufficient to keep the particulates
from settling out of the air stream. Aluminium and magnesium dust may be explosive
and should be collected in a wet trap. Lead has become less of a problem with the
decline of its use in ceramics and porcelain glazes, but it remains the ubiquitous
occupational hazard and must always be guarded against. Beryllium and its
compounds have received interest recently due to the possibility of carcinogenicity and
chronic beryllium disease.
Certain operations present a risk of silicosis and pneumoconiosis: the calcining,

crushing and drying of flint, quartz or stone; the sieving, mixing and weighing out of
these substances in the dry state; and the charging of furnaces with such materials.
They also represent a danger when they are used in a wet process and are splashed
about the workplace and on workers’ clothing, to become dusts again when they dry
out. LEV and rigorous cleanliness and personal hygiene are important preventive
measures.
Organic solvents
Solvents and other organic chemicals used in degreasing and in certain processes are
dangerous when inhaled. In the acute phase, their narcotic effects may lead to
respiratory paralysis and death. In chronic exposure, toxicity of the central nervous
system and liver and kidney damage are most frequent. Protection is provided by LEV
with a safety zone of at least 80 to 100 cm between the source and the breathing area
of the worker. Bench ventilation must also be installed to remove residual vapours
from the finished workpieces. Defatting of the skin by organic solvents may be a
precursor of dermatitis. Many solvents are also flammable.
Cyanide
Baths containing cyanides are frequently used in electrolytic degreasing, electroplating

and cyaniding. Reaction with acid will form the volatile, potentially lethal hydrogen
cyanide (prussic acid). The lethal concentration in air is 300 to 500 ppm. Fatal
exposures may also result from skin absorption or ingestion of cyanides. Optimum
cleanliness is essential for workers using cyanide. Food should not be eaten before
washing, and should never be in the work area. Hands and clothing must be carefully
cleaned following a potential cyanide exposure.
First aid measures for cyanide poisoning include transport into the open air, removal of
contaminated clothing, copious washing of the exposed areas with water, oxygen
therapy and inhalation of amyl nitrite. LEV and skin protection are essential.
Chromium and nickel
Chromic and nickel compounds used in galvanic baths in electroplating may be

hazardous. Chromium compounds can cause burns, ulceration and eczema of the skin
and mucosa and a characteristic perforation of the nasal septum. Bronchial asthma may
occur. Nickel salts can cause obstinate allergic or toxic-irritative skin injury. There is
evidence that both chromium and nickel compounds may be carcinogenic. LEV and
skin protection are essential.
Furnaces and ovens
Special precautions are needed when working with the furnaces employed, for
example, in the heat treatment of metals where components are handled at high
temperatures and the materials used in the process may either be toxic or explosive or
both. The gaseous media (atmospheres) in the furnace may react with the metal charge
(oxidizing or reducing atmospheres) or they may be neutral and protective. Most of the
latter contain up to 50% hydrogen and 20% carbon monoxide, which, in addition to
being combustible, form highly explosive mixtures with air at elevated temperatures.
The ignition temperature varies from 450 to 750 °C, but a local spark may cause
ignition even at lower temperatures. The danger of explosion is greater when the
furnace is being started up or shut down. Since a cooling furnace tends to suck in air (a
particular danger when the fuel or power supply is interrupted), a supply of inert gas
(e.g., nitrogen or carbon dioxide) should be available for purging when the furnace is
shut down as well as when a protective atmosphere is introduced into a hot furnace.
Carbon monoxide is perhaps the greatest hazard from furnaces and ovens. Since it is
colourless and odourless, it frequently reaches toxic levels before the worker becomes
aware of it. Headache is one of the earliest symptoms of toxicity, and, therefore, a
worker developing a headache on the job should immediately be removed into fresh
air. Danger zones include recessed pockets in which the carbon monoxide may collect;
it should be remembered that brickwork is porous and may retain the gas during
normal purging and emit it when the purging is completed.
Lead furnaces may be dangerous since lead tends to vaporize quite rapidly at
temperatures above 870°C. Accordingly, an effective fume extraction system is
required. A pot breakage or failure may also be hazardous; a sufficiently large well or
pit should be provided to capture the molten metal if this occurs.
Fire and explosion
Many of the compounds used in metal coating are flammable and, under certain
circumstances, explosive. For the most part, the furnaces and drying ovens are gas
fired, and special precautions such as flame-failure devices at burners, low-pressure
cut-off valves in the supply lines and explosion relief panels in the structure of the
stoves should be installed. In electrolytic operations, hydrogen formed in the process
may collect at the surface of the bath and, if not exhausted, may reach explosive
concentrations. Furnaces should be properly ventilated and burners protected from
being clogged by dripping material.
Oil quenching is also a fire hazard, especially if the metal charge is not completely
immersed. Quenching oils should have a high flashpoint, and their temperature should
not exceed 27°C.
Compressed oxygen and fuel gas cylinders used in metallizing are fire and explosion
hazards if not stored and operated properly. See the article “Welding and thermal
cutting” in this chapter for detailed precautions.
As required by local ordinances, firefighting equipment, including alarms, should be
provided and maintained in working order, and the workers drilled in using it properly.
Heat
The use of furnaces, open flames, ovens, heated solutions and molten metals inevitably
presents the risk of excessive heat exposure, which is compounded in hot, humid
climates and, particularly, by occlusive protective garments and gear. Complete air
conditioning of a plant may not be economically feasible, but supplying cooled air in
local ventilation systems is helpful. Rest breaks in cool surroundings and adequate
fluid intake (fluids taken at the work station should be free of toxic contaminants) will
help to avert heat toxicity. Workers and supervisors should be trained in the
recognition of heat stress symptoms.
Conclusion
Surface treatment of metals involves a multiplicity of processes entailing a broad range

of potentially toxic exposures, most of which can be prevented or controlled by the
diligent application of well-recognized preventive measures.
METAL RECLAMATION
Melvin E. Cassady and Richard D. Ringenwald, Jr.
Metal reclamation is the process by which metals are produced from scrap. These
reclaimed metals are not distinguishable from the metals produced from primary
processing of an ore of the metal. However, the process is slightly different and the
exposure could be different. The engineering controls are basically the same. Metal
reclamation is very important to the world economy because of the depletion of raw
materials and the pollution of the environment created by scrap materials.
Aluminium, copper, lead and zinc comprise 95% of the production in the secondary
non-ferrous metal industry. Magnesium, mercury, nickel, precious metals, cadmium,
selenium, cobalt, tin and titanium are also reclaimed. (Iron and steel are discussed in
the chapter Iron and steel industry. See also the article “Copper, lead and zinc smelting
and refining” in this chapter.)
Control Strategies
Emission/exposure control principles
Metal reclamation involves exposures to dust, fumes, solvents, noise, heat, acid mists
and other potential hazardous materials and risks. Some process and/or material
handling modifications may be feasible to eliminate or reduce the generation of
emissions: minimizing handling, lowering pot temperatures, decreasing dross
formation and surface generation of dust, and modifying plant layout to reduce
material handling or re-entrainment of settled dust.
Exposure can be reduced in some cases if machines are selected to perform high-
exposure tasks so that employees may be removed from the area. This can also reduce
ergonomic hazards due to materials handling.
To prevent cross contamination of clean areas in the plant, it is desirable to isolate

processes generating significant emissions. A physical barrier will contain emissions
and reduce their spread. Thus, fewer people are exposed, and the number of emission
sources contributing to exposure in any one area will be reduced. This simplifies
exposure evaluations and makes the identification and control of major sources easier.
Reclaim operations are often isolated from other plant operations.
Occasionally, it is possible to enclose or isolate a specific emission source. Because

enclosures are seldom air tight, a negative draught exhaust system is often applied to
the enclosure. One of the most common ways to control emissions is to provide local
exhaust ventilation at the point of emission generation. Capturing emissions at their
source reduces the potential for emissions to disperse into the air. It also prevents
secondary employee exposure created by the re-entrainment of settled contaminants.
The capture velocity of an exhaust hood must be great enough to prevent fumes or dust
from escaping the air flow into the hood. The air flow should have enough velocity to
carry fume and dust particles into the hood and to overcome the disrupting effects of
cross drafts and other random air movements. The velocity required to accomplish this
will vary from application to application. The use of recirculation heaters or personal
cooling fans which can overcome local exhaust ventilation should be restricted.
All exhaust or dilution ventilation systems also require replacement air (known also as
“make-up” air systems). If the replacement air system is well designed and integrated
into natural and comfort ventilation systems, more effective control of exposures can
be expected. For example, replacement air outlets should be placed so clean air flows
from the outlet across the employees, towards the emission source and to the exhaust.
This technique is often used with supplied-air islands and places the employee
between clean incoming air and the emission source.
Clean areas are intended to be controlled through direct emission controls and
housekeeping. These areas exhibit low ambient contaminant levels. Employees in
contaminated areas can be protected by supplied-air service cabs, islands, stand-by
pulpits and control rooms, supplemented by personal respiratory protection.
The average daily exposure of workers can be reduced by providing clean areas such
as breakrooms and lunchrooms that are supplied with fresh filtered air. By spending
time in a relatively contaminant-free area, the employees’ time-weighted average
exposure to contaminants can be reduced. Another popular application of this principle
is the supplied-air island, where fresh filtered air is supplied to the breathing zone of
the employee at the workstation.
Sufficient space for hoods, duct work, control rooms, maintenance activities, cleaning
and equipment storage should be provided.
Wheeled-vehicles are significant sources of secondary emissions. Where wheeled-

vehicle transport is used, emissions can be reduced by paving all surfaces, keeping
surfaces free of accumulated dusty materials, reducing vehicle travel distances and
speed, and by re-directing vehicle exhaust and cooling fan discharge. Appropriate
paving material such as concrete should be selected after considering factors such as
load, use and care of surface. Coatings may be applied to some surfaces to facilitate
wash down of roadways.
All exhaust, dilution and make-up air ventilation systems must be properly maintained
in order to effectively control air contaminants. In addition to maintaining general
ventilation systems, process equipment must be maintained to eliminate spillage of
material and fugitive emissions.
Work practice programme implementation
Although standards emphasize engineering controls as a means of achieving

compliance, work practice controls are essential to a successful control programme.
Engineering controls can be defeated by poor work habits, inadequate maintenance
and poor housekeeping or personal hygiene. Employees who operate the same
equipment on different shifts can have significantly different airborne exposures
because of differences in these factors between shifts.
Work practice programmes, although often neglected, represent good managerial

practice as well as good common sense; they are cost effective but require a
responsible and cooperative attitude on the part of employees and line supervisors. The
attitude of senior management toward safety and health is reflected in the attitude of
line supervisors. Likewise, if supervisors do not enforce these programmes, employees
attitudes may suffer. Fostering good health and safety attitudes can be accomplished
through:
· a cooperative atmosphere in which employees participate in the programmes
· formal training and educational programmes
· emphasizing the plant safety and health programme. Motivating employees and
obtaining their trust is necessary in order to have an effective programme.
Work practice programmes cannot be simply “installed”. Just as with a ventilation

system, they must be maintained and continually checked to insure that they are
functioning properly. These programmes are the responsibility of management and
employees. Programmes should be established to teach, encourage and supervise
“good” (i.e., low exposure) practices.
Personal protective equipment
Safety glasses with side shields, coveralls, safety shoes and work gloves should be
routinely worn for all jobs. Those engaged in casting and melting, or in casting alloys,
should wear aprons and hand protection made of leather or other suitable materials to
protect against the splatter of molten metal.
In operations where engineering controls are not adequate to control dust or fume
emissions, appropriate respiratory protection should be worn. If noise levels are
excessive, and cannot be engineered out or noise sources cannot be isolated, hearing
protection should be worn. There should also be a hearing conservation programme,
including audiometric testing and training.
Processes
Aluminium
The secondary aluminium industry utilizes aluminium-bearing scrap to produce

metallic aluminium and aluminium alloys. The processes used in this industry include
scrap pre-treatment, remelting, alloying and casting. The raw material used by the
secondary aluminium industry includes new and old scrap, sweated pig and some
primary aluminium. New scrap consists of clippings, forging and other solids
purchased from the aircraft industry, fabricators and other manufacturing plants.
Borings and turnings are by-product of the machining of castings, rods and forging by
the aircraft and automobile industry. Drosses, skimmings and slags are obtained from
primary reduction plants, secondary smelting plants and foundries. Old scrap includes
automobile parts, household items and airplane parts. The steps involved are as
follows:
· Inspection and sorting. Purchased aluminium scrap undergoes inspection. Clean

scrap requiring no pre-treatment is transported to storage or is charged directly into the
smelting furnace. The aluminium that needs pre-treatment is manually sorted. Free
iron, stainless steel, zinc, brass and oversized materials are removed.
· Crushing and screening. Old scrap, especially casting and sheet contaminated with
iron, are inputs to this process. Sorted scrap is conveyed to a crusher or hammer mill
where the material is shredded and crushed, and the iron is torn away from the
aluminium. The crushed material is passed over vibrating screens to remove dirt and
fines.
· Baling. Specially designed baling equipment is used to compact bulky aluminium

scrap such as scrap sheet, castings and clippings.
· Shredding/classifying. Pure aluminium cable with steel reinforcement or insulation

is cut with alligator-type shears, then granulated or further reduced in hammer mills to
separate the iron core and plastic coating from the aluminium.
· Burning/drying. Borings and turning are pre-treated in order to remove cutting

oils, greases, moisture and free iron. The scrap is crushed in a hammer mill or ring
crusher, the moisture and organics are volatilized in a gas- or oil-fired rotary dryer, the
dried chips are screened to remove aluminium fines, the remaining material is
magnetically treated for iron removal, and the clean, dried borings are sorted in tote
boxes.
· Hot-dross processing. Aluminium can be removed from the hot dross discharged
from the refining furnace by batch fluxing with a salt-cryolite mixture. This process is
carried out in a mechanically rotated, refractory-lined barrel. The metal is tapped
periodically through a hole in its base.
· Dry milling. In the dry-milling process, cold aluminium-laden dross and other
residues are processed by milling, screening and concentrating to obtain a product
containing a minimum aluminium content of 60 to 70%. Ball mills, rod mills or
hammer mills can be used to reduce the oxides and non-metallics to fine powders.
Separation of dirt and other non-recoverables from the metal is achieved by screening,
air classification and/or magnetic separation.
· Roasting. Aluminium foil backed with paper, gutta-percha or insulation is an input
in this process. In the roasting process, carboneous materials associated with
aluminium foils are charged and then separated from the metal product.
· Aluminium sweating. Sweating is a pyrometallurgical process which is used to

recover aluminium from high-iron-content scrap. High-iron aluminium scrap, castings
and dross are inputs in this process. Open-flame reverberatory furnaces with sloping
hearths are generally employed. Separation is accomplished as aluminium and other
low-melting constituents melt and trickle down the hearth, through a grate and into air-
cooled moulds, collecting pots or holding wells. The product is termed “sweated pig”.
The higher-melting materials including iron, brass and oxidation products formed
during the sweating process are periodically tapped from the furnace.
· Reverberatory (chlorine) smelting-refining. Reverberatory furnaces are used to

convert clean sorted scrap, sweated pigs or, in some cases, untreated scrap into
specification alloys. The scrap is charged to the furnace by mechanical means.
Materials are added for processing by batch or continuous feed. After the scrap is
charged a flux is added to prevent contact with and subsequent oxidation of the melt
by air (cover flux). Solvent fluxes are added which react with non-metallics, such as
residues from burned coatings and dirt, to form insolubles which float to the surface as
slag. Alloying agents are then added, depending on the specifications. Demagging is
the process which reduces the magnesium content of the molten charge. When
demagging with chlorine gas, chlorine is injected through carbon tubes or lances and
reacts with magnesium and aluminium as it bubbles. In the skimming step impure
semi-solid fluxes are skimmed off the surface of the melt.
· Reverberatory (fluorine) smelting-refining. This process is similar to the

reverberatory (chlorine) smelting-refining process except that aluminium fluoride
rather than chlorine is employed.
Table 82.8 lists exposure and controls for aluminium reclamation operations.
Table 82.8 Engineering/administrative controls for aluminium, by operation
Process equipment Exposure Engineering/administrative

controls
Sorting Torch desoldering—metal fumes Local exhaust ventilation during

such as lead and cadmium desoldering; PPE—respiratory
protection when desoldering
Crushing/screening Non-specific dusts and aerosol, Local exhaust ventilation and
oil mists, metal particulates, and general area ventilation, isolation
noise of noise source; PPE—hearing
protection
Baling No known exposure No controls
Burning/drying Non-specific particulate matter Local exhaust ventilation,

which may include metals, soot, general area ventilation, heat
and condensed heavy organics. stress work/rest regimen, fluids,
Gases and vapours containing isolation of noise source; PPE—
fluorides, sulphur dioxide, hearing protection
chlorides, carbon monoxide,
hydrocarbons and aldehydes
Hot-dross processing Some fumes Local exhaust ventilation,

general area ventilation
Dry milling Dust Local exhaust ventilation,

Roasting Dust Local exhaust ventilation,

general area ventilation, heat
stress work/rest regimen, fluids,
isolation of noise source; PPE—
hearing protection
Sweating Metal fumes and particulates, Local exhaust ventilation,

non-specific gases and vapours, general area ventilation, heat
heat and noise stress work/rest regimen, fluids,
isolation of noise source; PPE—
hearing protection and
respiratory protection
Reverberatory Products of combustion, Local exhaust ventilation,

(chlorine) smelting- chlorine, hydrogen chlorides, general area ventilation, heat
refining metal chlorides, aluminium stress work/rest regimen, fluids,
chlorides, heat and noise isolation of noise source; PPE—
Reverberatory Products of combustion, Local exhaust ventilation,
(fluorine) smelting- fluorine, hydrogen flluorides, general area ventilation, heat
refining metal fluorides, aluminium stress work/rest regimen, fluids,
fluorides, heat and noise isolation of noise source; PPE—
Copper reclamation
The secondary copper industry utilizes copper-bearing scrap to produce metallic

copper and copper based alloys. The raw materials used can be classified as new scrap
produced in the fabrication of finished products or old scrap from obsolete worn out or
salvaged articles. Old scrap sources include wire, plumbing fixtures, electrical
equipment, automobiles and domestic appliances. Other materials with copper value
include slags, drosses, foundry ashes and sweepings from smelters. The following
steps are involved:
· Stripping and sorting. Scrap is sorted on the bases of its copper content and
cleanliness. Clean scrap may be manually separated for charging directly to a melting
and alloying furnace. Ferrous components can be separated magnetically. Insulation
and lead cable coverings are stripped by hand or by specially designed equipment.
· Briquetting and crushing. Clean wire, thin plate, wire screen, borings, turnings and
chips are compacted for easier handling. The equipment used includes hydraulic baling
presses, hammer mills and ball mills.
· Shredding. The separation of copper wire from insulation is accomplished by

reducing the size of the mixture. The shredded material is then sorted by air or
hydraulic classification with magnetic separation of any ferrous materials.
· Grinding and gravity separation. This process accomplishes the same function as
shredding but uses an aqueous separation medium and different input materials such as
slags, drosses, skimmings, foundry ashes, sweepings and baghouse dust.
· Drying. Borings, turnings and chips containing volatile organic impurities such as
cutting fluids, oils and greases are removed.
· Insulation burning. This process separates insulation and other coatings from
copper wire by burning these materials in furnaces. The wire scrap is charged in
batches to a primary ignition chamber or afterburner. Volatile combustion products are
then passed through a secondary combustion chamber or baghouse for collection. Non-
specific particulate matter is generated which may include smoke, clay and metal
oxides. Gases and vapours may contain oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, chlorides,
carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and aldehydes.
· Sweating. The removal of low vapour-melting components from scrap is

accomplished by heating the scrap to a controlled temperature which is just above the
melting point of the metals to be sweated out. The primary metal, copper, is generally
not the melted component.
· Ammonium carbonate leaching. Copper can be recovered from relatively clean

scrap by leaching and dissolution in a basic ammonium carbonate solution. Cupric
ions in an ammonia solution will react with metallic copper to produce cuprous ions,
which can be reoxidized to the cupric state by air oxidation. After the crude solution is
separated from the leach residue, the copper oxide is recovered by steam distillation.
· Steam distillation. Boiling the leached material from the carbonate leaching
process precipitates the copper oxide. The copper oxide is then dried.
· Hydrothermal hydrogen reduction. Ammonium carbonate solution containing

copper ions is heated under pressure in hydrogen, precipitating the copper as a powder.
The copper is filtered, washed, dried and sintered under a hydrogen atmosphere. The
powder is ground and screened.
· Sulphuric acid leaching. Scrap copper is dissolved in hot sulphuric acid to form a
copper sulphate solution for feed to the electrowinning process. After digestion, the
undissolved residue is filtered off.
· Converter smelting. Molten black copper is charged to converter, which is a pear-

shaped or cylindrical steel shell lined refractory brick. Air is blown into the molten
charges through nozzles called tuyères. The air oxidizes copper sulphide and other
metals. A flux containing silica is added to react with the iron oxides to form an iron
silicate slag. This slag is skimmed from the furnace, usually by tipping the furnace and
then there is a secondary blow and skim. The copper from this process is called blister
copper. The blister copper is generally further refined in a fire refining furnace.
· Fire refining. The blister copper from the converter is fire refined in a cylindrical
tilting furnace, a vessel like a reverberatory furnace. The blister copper is charged to
the refining vessel in an oxidizing atmosphere. The impurities are skimmed from the
surface and a reducing atmosphere is created by the addition of green logs or natural
gas. The resulting molten metal is then cast. If the copper is to be electrolytically
refined, the refined copper will be cast as an anode.
· Electrolytic refining. The anodes from the fire refining process are placed in a tank
containing sulphuric acid and a direct current. The copper from the anode is ionized
and the copper ions are deposited on a pure copper starter sheet. As the anodes
dissolve in the electrolyte the impurities settle to the bottom of the cell as a slime. This
slime can be additionally processed to recover other metal values. The cathode copper
produced is melted and cast into a variety of shapes.
Table 82.9 lists exposures and controls for copper reclamation operations.
Table 82.9 Engineering/administrative controls for copper, by operation
Process equipment Exposures Engineering/administrative

controls
Stripping and sorting Air contaminants from material Local exhaust ventilation,
handling and desoldering or general area ventilation
scrap cutting
Briquetting and crushing Non-specific dusts and aerosol, Local exhaust ventilation and
oil mists, metal particulates general area ventilation,
and noise isolation of noise source; PPE
—hearing protection and
Shredding Non-specific dusts, wire Local exhaust ventilation and

insulation material, metal general area ventilation,
particulates and noise isolation of noise source; PPE
Grinding and gravity Non-specific dusts, metal Local exhaust ventilation and
separation particulates from fluxes, slags general area ventilation,
and drosses, and noise isolation of noise source; PPE
Drying Non-specific particulate Local exhaust ventilation,

matter, which may include general area ventilation,
metals, soot and condensed work/rest regimen, fluids,
heavy organics Gases and isolation of noise source; PPE
vapours containing fluorides, —hearing protection and
sulphur dioxide, chlorides, respiratory protection
carbon monoxide,
Insulation burning Non-specific particulate matter Local exhaust ventilation,

which may include smoke, general area ventilation,
clay and metal oxides Gases work/rest regimen, fluids,
and vapours containing oxides isolation of noise source; PPE
of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, —respiratory protection
chlorides, carbon monoxide,
Sweating Metal fumes and particulates, Local exhaust ventilation,

non-specific gases, vapours general area ventilation,
and particulates work/rest regimen, fluids,
isolation of noise source; PPE
Ammonium carbonate Ammonia Local exhaust ventilation,

leaching general area ventilation; PPE
—respiratory protection
Steam distillation Ammonia Local exhaust ventilation,

general area ventilation; PPE
—glasses with side shields
Hydrothermal hydrogen Ammonia Local exhaust ventilation,

reduction general area ventilation; PPE
—respiratory protection
Sulphuric acid leaching Sulphuric acid mists Local exhaust ventilation,

Converter smelting Volatile metals, noise Local exhaust ventilation,

general area ventilation; PPE
—respiratory protection and
hearing protection
Electric crucible Particulate, sulphur and Local exhaust ventilation,
smelting nitrogen oxides, soot, carbon general area ventilation; PPE
monoxide, noise —hearing protection
Fire refining Sulphur oxides, hydrocarbons, Local exhaust ventilation,

particulates general area ventilation; PPE
—hearing protection
Electrolytic refining Sulphuric acid and metals from Local exhaust ventilation,
sludge general area ventilation
Lead reclamation
Raw materials purchased by secondary lead smelters may require processing prior to
being charged into a smelting furnace. This section discusses the most common raw
materials which are purchased by secondary lead smelters and feasible engineering
controls and work practices to limit employee exposure to lead from raw materials
processing operations. It should be noted that lead dust can generally be found
throughout lead reclamation facilities and that any vehicular air is likely to stir up lead
dust which can then be inhaled or adhere to shoes, clothing, skin and hair.
Automotive batteries
The most common raw material at a secondary lead smelter is junk automotive
batteries. Approximately 50% of the weight of a junk automotive battery will be
reclaimed as metallic lead in the smelting and refining process. Approximately 90% of
the automotive batteries manufactured today utilize a polypropylene box or case. The
polypropylene cases are reclaimed by almost all secondary lead smelters due to the
high economic value of this material. Most of these processes can generate metal
fumes, in particular lead and antimony.
In automotive battery breaking there is a potential for forming arsine or stibine due to
the presence of arsenic or antimony used as hardening agents in grid metal and the
potential for having nascent hydrogen present.
The four most common processes for breaking automotive batteries are:
1. high speed saw
2. slow speed saw

3. shear
4. whole battery crushing (Saturn crusher or shredder or hammer mill).
The first three of these processes involve cutting the top off of the battery, then
dumping the groups, or lead-bearing material. The fourth process involves crushing the
entire battery in a hammer mill and separating the components by gravity separation.
Automotive battery separation takes place after automotive batteries have been broken
in order that the lead-bearing material can be separated from the case material.
Removing the case may generate acid mists. The most widely used techniques for
accomplishing this task are:
· The manual technique. This is used by the vast majority of secondary lead smelters
and remains the most widely used technique in small to mid-sized smelters. After the
battery passes through the saw or shear, an employee manually dumps the groups or
lead-bearing material into a pile and places the case and top of the battery into another
pile or conveyance system.
· A tumbler device. Batteries are placed into a tumbler device after the tops have
been sawed/sheared off to separate the groups from the cases. Ribs inside the tumbler
dump the groups as it slowly rotates. Groups fall through the slots in the tumbler while
the cases are conveyed to the far end and are collected as they exit. Plastic and rubber
battery cases and tops are further processed after being separated from the lead bearing
material.
· A sink/float process. The sink/float process typically is combined with the hammer
mill or crushing process for battery breaking. Battery pieces, both lead bearing and
cases, are placed in a series of tanks filled with water. Lead bearing material sinks to
the bottom of the tanks and is removed by screw conveyor or drag chain while the case
material floats and is skimmed off the tank surface.
Industrial batteries which were used to power mobile electric equipment or for other
industrial uses are purchased periodically for raw material by most secondary smelters.
Many of these batteries have steel cases which require removal by cutting the case
open with a cutting torch or a hand-held gas powered saw.
Other purchased lead-bearing scrap
Secondary lead smelters purchase a variety of other scrap materials as raw materials
for the smelting process. These materials include battery manufacturing plant scrap,
drosses from lead refining, scrap metallic lead such as linotype and cable covering, and
tetraethyl lead residues. These types of materials may be charged directly into smelting
furnaces or mixed with other charge materials.
Raw material handling and transport
An essential part of the secondary lead smelting process is the handling, transportation
and storage of raw material. Materials are transported by fork-lifts, front-end loaders
or mechanical conveyors (screw, bucket elevator or belt). The primary method of
material transporting in the secondary lead industry is mobile equipment.
Some common mechanical conveyance methods which are used by secondary lead
smelters include: belt conveying systems that can be used to transport furnace feed
material from storage areas to the furnace charring area; screw conveyors for
transporting flue dust from the baghouse to an agglomeration furnace or a storage area
or bucket elevators and drag chains/lines.
Smelting
The smelting operation at a secondary lead smelter involves the reduction of lead-
bearing scrap into metallic lead in a blast furnace or reverberatory.
Blast furnaces are charged with lead-bearing material, coke (fuel) limestone and iron
(flux). These materials are fed into the furnace at the top of the furnace shaft or
through a charge door in the side of the shaft neat the top of the furnace. Some
environmental hazards associated with blast furnace operations are metal fumes and
particulates (especially lead and antimony), heat, noise and carbon monoxide. A
variety of charge material conveying mechanisms are used in the secondary lead
industry. The skip hoist is probably the most common. Other devices in use include
vibratory hoppers, belt conveyors and bucket elevators.
Blast furnace tapping operations involve removing the molten lead and slag from the
furnace into moulds or ladles. Some smelters tap metal directly into a holding kettle
which keeps the metal molten for refining. The remaining smelters cast the furnace
metal into blocks and allow the blocks to solidify.
Blast air for the combustion process enters the blast furnace through tuyères which
occasionally begin to fill with accretions and must be physically punched, usually with
a steel rod, to keep them from being obstructed. The conventional method to
accomplish this task is to remove the cover of the tuyères and insert the steel rod. After
the accretions have been punched, the cover is replaced.
Reverberatory furnaces are charged with lead-bearing raw material by a furnace
charging mechanism. Reverberatory furnaces in the secondary lead industry typically
have a sprung arch or hanging arch constructed of refractory brick. Many of the
contaminants and physical hazards associated with reverberatory furnaces are similar
to those of blast furnaces. Such mechanisms can be a hydraulic ram, a screw conveyor
or other devices similar to those described for blast furnaces.
Reverberatory furnace tapping operations are very similar to blast-furnace tapping

operations.
Refining
Lead refining in secondary lead smelters is conducted in indirect fired kettles or pots.
Metal from the smelting furnaces is typically melted in the kettle, then the content of
trace elements is adjusted to produce the desired alloy. Common products are soft
(pure) lead and various alloys of hard (antimony) lead.
Virtually all secondary lead refining operations employ manual methods for adding
alloying materials to the kettles and employ manual drossing methods. Dross is swept
to the rim of the kettle and removed by shovel or large spoon into a container.
Table 82.10 lists exposures and controls for lead reclamation operations.
Table 82.10 Engineering/administrative controls for lead, by operation

controls
Vehicles Lead dust from roads and Water washdown and keeping
splashing water containing lead areas wetted down. Operator
training, prudent work practices
and good housekeeping are key
elements in minimizing lead
emissions when operating mobile
equipment. Enclose equipment
and provide a positive pressure
filtered air system.
Conveyors Lead dust It is also preferable to equip belt

conveyor systems with self-
cleaning tail pulleys or belt wipes
if they are used to transport
furnace feed materials or flue
dusts.
Battery decasing Lead dust, acid mists Local exhaust ventilation, general
area ventilation
Charge preparation Lead dust Local exhaust ventilation, general

area ventilation
Blast furnace Metal fumes and particulates Local exhaust ventilation, general
(lead, antimony), heat and noise, area ventilation, work/rest
carbon monoxide regimen, fluids, isolation of noise
source; PPE—respiratory
protection and hearing protection
Reverberatory Metal fumes and particulates Local exhaust ventilation, general

furnace (lead, antimony), heat and noise area ventilation, work/rest
regimen, fluids, isolation of noise
source; PPE—respiratory
Refining Lead particulates and possibly Local exhaust ventilation, general

alloying metals and fluxing area ventilation; PPE—hearing
agents, noise protection
Casting Lead particulates and possibly Local exhaust ventilation, general

alloying metals area ventilation
Zinc reclamation
The secondary zinc industry utilizes new clippings, skimmings and ashes, die-cast
skimmings, galvanizers’ dross, flue dust and chemical residue as sources of zinc. Most
of the new scrap processed is zinc- and copper-based alloys from galvanizing and die-
casting pots. Included in the old scrap category are old zinc engravers’ plates, die
castings, and rod and die scrap. The processes are as follows:
· Reverberatory sweating. Sweating furnaces are used to separate zinc from other
metals by controlling the furnace temperature. Scrap die-cast products, such as
automobile grilles and licence plate frames, and zinc skins or residues are starting
materials for the process. The scrap is charged to the furnace, flux is added and the
contents melted. The high-melting residue is removed and the molten zinc flows out of
the furnace directly to subsequent processes, such as melting, refining or alloying, or
to collecting vessels. Metal contaminants include zinc, aluminium, copper, iron, lead,
cadmium, manganese and chromium. Other contaminants are fluxing agents, sulphur
oxides, chlorides and fluorides.
· Rotary sweating. In this process zinc scrap, die-cast products, residues and
skimmings are charged to a direct-fired furnace and melted. The melt is skimmed, and
zinc metal is collected in kettles situated outside the furnace. Unmeltable material, the
slag, is then removed prior to recharging. The metal from this process is sent to
distillation or alloying process. Contaminants are similar to those of reverberatory
sweating.
· Muffle sweating and kettle (pot) sweating. In these processes zinc scrap, die-
vapour-cast products, residues and skimmings are charged to the muffle furnace, the
material sweated and the sweated zinc is sent to refining or alloying processes. The
residue is removed by a shaker screen which separates the dross from the slag.
Contaminants are similar to those of reverberatory sweating.
· Crushing/screening. Zinc residues are pulverized or crushed to break down

physical bonds between metallic zinc and contaminant fluxes. The reduced material is
then separated in a screening or pneumatic classification step. Crushing can produce
zinc oxide and minor amounts of heavy metals and chlorides.
· Sodium carbonate leaching. Residues are chemically treated to leach out and
convert zinc to zinc oxide. The scrap is first crushed and washed. In this step, the zinc
is leached out of the material. The aqueous portion is treated with sodium carbonate,
causing zinc to precipitate. The precipitate is dried and calcined to yield crude zinc
oxide. The zinc oxide is then reduced to zinc metal. Various zinc salt contaminants can
be produced.
· Kettle (pot), crucible, reverberatory, electric induction melting. The scrap is

charged to the furnace and fluxes are added. The bath is agitated to form a dross that
can be skimmed from the surface. After the furnace has been skimmed the zinc metal
is poured into ladles or moulds. Zinc oxide fumes, ammonia and ammonium chloride,
hydrogen chloride and zinc chloride can be produced.
· Alloying. The function of this process is to produce zinc alloys from pre-treated
scrap zinc metal by adding to it in a refining kettle fluxes and alloying agents either in
the solidified or molten form. The contents are then mixed, the dross skimmed, and the
metal is cast into various shapes. Particulates containing zinc, alloying metals,
chlorides, non-specific gases and vapours, as well as heat, are potential exposures.
· Muffle distillation. The muffle distillation process is used to reclaim zinc from
alloys and to manufacture pure zinc ingots. The process is semi-continuous which
involves charging molten zinc from a melting pot or sweating furnace to the muffle
section and vaporizing the zinc and condensing the vaporized zinc and tapping from
the condenser to moulds. The residue is removed periodically from the muffle.
· Retort distillation/oxidation and muffle distillation/oxidation. The product of the

retort distillation/oxidation and muffle distillation/oxidation processes is zinc oxide.
The process is similar to retort distillation through the vaporization step, but, in this
process, the condenser is bypassed and combustion air is added. The vapour is
discharged through an orifice into an air stream. Spontaneous combustion occurs
inside a refractory vapour-lined chamber. The product is carried by the combustion
gases and excess air into a baghouse where the product is collected. Excess air is
present to insure complete oxidation and to cool the product. Each of these distillation
processes can lead to zinc oxide fume exposures, as well as other metal particulate and
oxides of sulphur exposure.
Table 82.11 lists exposures and controls for zinc reclamation operations.
Table 82.11 Engineering/administrative controls for zinc, by operation

controls
Reverberatory sweating Particulates containing zinc, Local exhaust ventilation,

aluminium, copper, iron, lead, general area ventilation, heat
cadmium, manganese and stress–work/rest regimen,
chromium, contaminants from fluids
fluxing agents, sulphur oxides,
chlorides and fluorides
Rotary sweating Particulates containing zinc, Local exhaust ventilation,

aluminium, copper, iron, lead, general area ventilation,
cadmium, manganese and work/rest regimen, fluids
chromium, contaminants from
Muffle sweating and Particulates containing zinc, Local exhaust ventilation,
kettle (pot) sweating aluminium, copper, iron, lead, general area ventilation,
cadmium, manganese and work/rest regimen, fluids
chromium, contaminants from
Crushing/screening Zinc oxide, minor amounts of Local exhaust ventilation,

heavy metals, chlorides general area ventilation
Sodium carbonate Zinc oxide, sodium carbonate, Local exhaust ventilation,

leaching zinc carbonate, zinc hydroxide, general area ventilation
hydrogen chloride, zinc
chloride
Kettle (pot) melting Zinc oxide fumes, ammonia, Local exhaust ventilation,
crucible, reverberatory, ammonia chloride, hydrogen general area ventilation,
electric induction chloride, zinc chloride work/rest regimen, fluids
melting
Alloying Particulates containing zinc, Local exhaust ventilation,

alloying metals, chlorides; non- general area ventilation,
specific gases and vapours; work/rest regimen, fluids
heat
Retort distillation, retort Zinc oxide fumes, other metal Local exhaust ventilation,
distillation/oxidation particulates, oxides of sulphur general area ventilation,
and muffle distillation work/rest regimen, fluids
Graphite rod resistor Zinc oxide fumes, other metal Local exhaust ventilation,
distillation particulates, oxides of sulphur general area ventilation,
work/rest regimen, fluids
Magnesium reclamation
Old scrap is obtained from sources such as scrap automobile and aircraft parts and old
and obsolete lithographic plates, as well as some sludges from primary magnesium
smelters. New scrap consists of clippings, turnings, borings, skimmings, slags, drosses
and defective articles from sheet mills and fabrication plants. The greatest danger in
handling magnesium is that of fire. Small fragments of the metal can readily be ignited
by a spark or flame.
· Hand sorting. This process is used to separate magnesium and magnesium-alloy

fractions from other metals present in the scrap. The scrap is spread out manually,
sorted on the basis of weight.
· Open pot melting. This process is used to separate magnesium from contaminants
in the sorted scrap. Scrap is added to a crucible, heated and a flux consisting of a
mixture of calcium, sodium and potassium chlorides is added. The molten magnesium
is then cast into ingots.
Table 82.12 lists exposures and controls for magnesium reclamation operations.
Table 82.12 Engineering/administrative controls for magnesium, by operation

controls
Scrap sorting Dust Water washdown
Open pot melting Fumes and dust, a high potential Local exhaust ventilation and
for fires general area ventilation and work
practices
Casting Dust and fumes, heat and a high Local exhaust ventilation, general
potential for fires area ventilation, work/rest
regimen, fluids
Mercury reclamation
The major sources for mercury are dental amalgams, scrap mercury batteries, sludges
from electrolytic processes that use mercury as a catalyst, mercury from dismantled
chlor-alkali plants and mercury-containing instruments. Mercury vapour can
contaminate each of these processes.
· Crushing. The crushing process is used to release residual mercury from metal,
plastic and glass containers. After the containers are crushed, the contaminated liquid
mercury is sent to the filtering process.
· Filtration. Insoluble impurities such as dirt are removed by passing the mercury-
vapour bearing scrap through a filter media. The filtered mercury is fed to the
oxygenation process and the solids which do not pass through the filters are sent to
retort distillation.
· Vacuum distillation. Vacuum distillation is employed to refine contaminated

mercury when the vapour pressures of the impurities are substantially lower than that
of mercury. Mercury charge is vaporized in a heating pot and the vapours are
condensed using a water-cooled condenser. Purified mercury is collected and sent to
the bottling operation. The residue remaining in the heating pot is sent to the retorting
process to recover the trace amounts of mercury that were not recovered in the vacuum
distillation process.
· Solution purification. This process removes metallic and organic contaminants by

washing the raw liquid mercury with a dilute acid. The steps involved are: leaching the
raw liquid mercury with dilute nitric acid to separate metallic impurities; agitating the
acid-mercury with compressed air to provide good mixing; decanting to separate the
mercury from the acid; washing with water to remove the residual acid; and filtering
the mercury in a medium such as activated carbon or silica gel to remove the last
traces of moisture. In addition to mercury vapour there can be exposure to solvents,
organic chemicals and acid mists.
· Oxygenation. This process refines the filtered mercury by removing metallic

impurities by oxidation with sparging air. The oxidation process involves two steps,
sparging and filtering. In the sparging step, contaminated mercury is agitated with air
in a closed vessel to oxidize the metallic contaminants. After sparging, the mercury is
filtered in a charcoal bed to remove the solid metal oxides.
· Retorting. The retorting process is used to produce pure mercury by volatilizing

the mercury found in solid mercury-bearing scrap. The steps involved in retorting are:
heating the scrap with an external heat source in a closed still pot or stack of trays to
vaporize the mercury; condensing the mercury vapour in water-cooled condensers;
collecting the condensed mercury in a collecting vessel.
Table 82.13 lists exposures and controls for mercury reclamation operations.
Table 82.13 Engineering/administrative controls for mercury, by operation
Process equipment Exposures Engineering/administrative controls

Crushing Volatile mercury Local exhaust; PPE—respiratory
protection
Filtration Volatile mercury Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

Vacuum distillation Volatile mercury Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

Solution Volatile mercury, Local exhaust ventilation, general area

purification solvents, organics and ventilation; PPE—respiratory protection
acid mists
Oxidation Volatile mercury Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

Retorting Volatile mercury Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

Nickel reclamation
The principal raw materials for nickel reclamation are nickel-, copper- and aluminium-
vapour based alloys, which can be found as old or new scrap. Old scrap comprises
alloys that are salvaged from machinery and airplane parts, while new scrap refers to
sheet scrap, turnings and solids which are by-products of the manufacture of alloy
products. The following steps are involved in nickel reclamation:
· Sorting. The scrap is inspected and manually separated from the non-metallic and
non-nickel materials. Sorting produces dust exposures.
· Degreasing. Nickel scrap is degreased by using trichloroethylene. The mixture is

filtrated or centrifuged to separate the nickel scrap. The spent solvent solution of
trichloroethylene and grease goes through a solvent recovery system. There can be
solvent exposure during degreasing.
· Smelting (electric arc or rotary reverberatory) furnace. Scrap is charged to an

electric arc furnace and a reducing agent added, usually lime. The charge is melted and
is either cast into ingots or sent directly to a reactor for additional refining. Fumes,
dust, noise and heat exposures are possible.
· Reactor refining. The molten metal is introduced into a reactor where cold-base
scrap and pig nickel are added, followed by lime and silica. Alloying materials such as
manganese, columbium or titanium are then added to produce the desired alloy
composition. Fumes, dust, noise and heat exposures are possible.
· Ingot casting. This process involves casting the molten metal from the smelting
furnace or the refining reactor into ingots. The metal is poured into moulds and
allowed to cool. The ingots are removed from the moulds. Heat and metal fume
exposures are possible.
Exposures and control measures for nickel reclamation operations are listed in table
82.14 .
Table 82.14 Engineering/administrative controls for nickel, by operation
Sorting Dust Local exhaust and solvent substitution
Degreasing Solvent Local exhaust ventilation and solvent

substitution and/or recovery, general area
ventilation
Smelting Fumes, dust, noise, heat Local exhaust ventilation, work/rest

regimen, fluids; PPE—respiratory
Refining Fumes, dust, heat, noise Local exhaust ventilation, general area
ventilation, work/rest regimen, fluids;
PPE—respiratory protection and hearing
protection
Casting Heat, metal fumes Local exhaust ventilation, general area

ventilation, work/rest regimen, fluids
Precious metals reclamation
The raw materials for the precious metal industry consist of both old and new scrap.
Old scrap includes electronic components from obsolete military and civilian
equipment and scrap from the dental industry. New scrap is generated during the
fabrication and manufacturing of precious metal products. The products are the
elemental metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Precious metal
processing includes the following steps:
· Hand sorting and shredding. Precious metal-bearing scrap is hand sorted and
crushed and shredded in a hammer mill. Hammer mills are noisy.
· Incineration process. Sorted scrap is incinerated to remove paper, plastic and

organic liquid contaminants. Organic chemicals, combustion gases and dust exposures
are possible.
· Blast-furnace smelting. Treated scrap is charged to a blast furnace, along with

coke, flux and recycled slag metal oxides. The charge is melted and slagged,
producing black copper which contains the precious metals. The hard slag that is
formed contains most of the slag impurities. Dust and noise may be present.
· Converter smelting. This process is designed to further purify the black copper by
blowing air through the melt in a converter. Slag-containing metal contaminants are
removed and recycled to the blast furnace. The copper bullion containing the precious
metals is cast into moulds.
· Electrolytic refining. Copper bullion serves as the anode of an electrolytic cell.

Pure copper thus plates out on the cathode while the precious metals fall to the bottom
of the cell and are collected as slimes. The electrolyte used is copper sulphate. Acid
mist exposures are possible.
· Chemical refining. The precious metal slime from the electrolytic refining process
is chemically treated to recover the individual metals. Cyanide-based processes are
used to recover gold and silver, which can also be recovered by dissolving them in
aqua regia solution and/or nitric acid, followed by precipitation with ferrous sulphate
or sodium chloride to recover the gold and silver, respectively. The platinum-group
metals can be recovered by dissolving them in molten lead, which is then treated with
nitric acid and leaves a residue from which the platinum-group metals can be
selectively precipitated. The precious metal precipitates are then either melted or
ignited in order to collect the gold and silver as grains and the platinum metals as
sponge. There can be acid exposures.
Exposures and controls are listed, by operation, in table 82.15 (see also “Gold
smelting and refining”).
Table 82.15 Engineering/administrative controls for precious metals, by operation
Sorting and Hammermill is a potential Noise control material; PPE—hearing

shredding noise hazard protection
Incineration Organics, combustion Local exhaust ventilation and general

gases and dust area ventilation
Blast furnace Dust, noise Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

smelting hearing protection and respiratory
protection
Electrolytic refining Acid mists Local exhaust ventilation, general area

ventilation
Chemical refining Acid Local exhaust ventilation, general area

ventilation; PPE—acid-resistant
clothing, chemical goggles and face
shield
Cadmium reclamation
Old cadmium-bearing scrap includes cadmium-plated parts from junked vehicles and
boats, household appliances, hardware and fasteners, cadmium batteries, cadmium
contacts from switches and relays and other used cadmium alloys. New scrap is
normally cadmium vapour bearing rejects and contaminated by-products from
industries which handle the metals. The reclamation processes are:
· Pre-treatment. The scrap pre-treatment step involves the vapour degreasing of

alloy scrap. Solvent vapours generated by heating recycled solvents are circulated
through a vessel containing scrap alloys. The solvent and stripped grease are then
condensed and separated with the solvent being recycled. There can be exposure to
cadmium dust and solvents.
· Smelting/refining. In the smelting/refining operation, pre-treated alloy scrap or

elemental cadmium scrap is processed to remove any impurities and produce cadmium
alloy or elemental cadmium. Products of oil and gas combustion exposures and zinc
and cadmium dust may be present.
· Retort distillation. Degreased scrap alloy is charged to a retort and heated to
produce cadmium vapours which are subsequently collected in a condenser. The
molten metal is then ready for casting. Cadmium dust exposures are possible.
· Melting/dezincing. Cadmium metal is charged to a melting pot and heated to the

molten stage. If zinc is present in the metal, fluxes and chlorinating agents are added to
remove the zinc. Among potential exposures are cadmium fumes and dust, zinc fumes
and dust, zinc chloride, chlorine, hydrogen chloride and heat.
· Casting. The casting operation forms the desired product line from the purified
cadmium alloy or cadmium metal produced in the previous step. Casting can produce
cadmium dust and fumes and heat.
Exposures in cadmium reclamation processes and the necessary controls are

summarized in table 82.16 .
Table 82.16 Engineering/administrative controls for cadmium, by operation
Scrap degreasing Solvents and cadmium dust Local exhaust and solvent
substitution
Alloy Products of oil and gas Local exhaust ventilation and

smelting/refining combustion, zinc fumes, general area ventilation; PPE—
cadmium dust and fumes respiratory protection
Retort distillation Cadmium fumes Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

Melting/dezincing Cadmium fumes and dust, Local exhaust ventilation, general

zinc fumes and dust, zinc area ventilation, work/rest regimen,
chloride, chlorine, hydrogen fluids; PPE—respiratory protection
chloride, heat stress
Casting Cadmium dust and fumes, Local exhaust ventilation, general

heat area ventilation, work/rest regimen,
fluids; PPE—respiratory protection
Selenium reclamation
Raw materials for this segment are used xerographic copying cylinders and scrap
generated during the manufacture of selenium rectifiers. Selenium dusts may be
present throughout. Distillation and retort smelting can produce combustion gases and
dust. Retort smelting is noisy. Sulphur dioxide mist and acid mist are present in
refining. Metal dusts can be produced from casting operations (see table 82.17).The
reclamation processes are as follows:
· Scrap pre-treatment. This process separates selenium by mechanical processes

such as the hammer mill or shot blasting.
· Retort smelting. This process purifies and concentrates pre-treated scrap in a retort
distillation operation by melting the scrap and separating selenium from the impurities
by distillation.
· Refining. This process achieves a purification of scrap selenium based on leaching

with a suitable solvent such as aqueous sodium sulphite. Insoluble impurities are
removed by filtration and the filtrate is treated to precipitate selenium.
· Distillation. This process produces a high vapour purity selenium. The selenium is
melted, distilled and the selenium vapours are condensed and transferred as molten
selenium to a product formation operation.
Table 82.17 Engineering/administrative controls for selenium, by operation
Scrap pretreatment Dust Local exhaust
Retort smelting Combustion gases and dust, Local exhaust ventilation and general
noise area ventilation; PPE—hearing
protection; control of burner noise
Refining SO2, acid mist Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—

chemical goggles
Distillation Dust and combustion Local exhaust ventilation, general

products area ventilation
Quenching Metal dust Local exhaust ventilation, general
area ventilation
Casting Selenium fumes Local exhaust ventilation, general

area ventilation
· Quenching. This process is used to produce purified selenium shot and powder.
The selenium melt is used in producing a shot. The shot is then dried. The steps
required to produce powder are the same, except that selenium vapour, rather than
molten selenium, is the material which is quenched.
· Casting. This process is used to produce selenium ingots or other shapes from the
molten selenium. These shapes are produced by pouring molten selenium into moulds
of the proper size and shape and cooling and solidifying the melt.
Cobalt reclamation
The sources of cobalt scrap are super alloy grindings and turnings, and obsolete or
worn engine parts and turbine blades. The processes of reclamation are:
· Hand sorting. Raw scrap is hand sorted to identify and separate the cobalt-base,
nickel-base and non-processable components. This is a dusty operation.
· Degreasing. Sorted dirty scrap is charged to a degreasing unit where vapours of

perchloroethylene are circulated. This solvent removes the grease and oil on the scrap.
The solvent-oil-grease vapour mixture is then condensed and the solvent is recovered.
Solvent exposures are possible.
· Blasting. Degreased scrap is blasted with grit to remove dirt, oxides and rust.
Dusts can be present, depending on the grit used.
· Pickling and chemical treatment process. Scrap from the blasting operation is
treated with acids to remove residual rust and oxide contaminants. Acid mists are a
possible exposure.
· Vacuum melting. Cleaned scrap is charged to a vacuum furnace and melted by

electric arc or induction furnace. There can be exposure to heavy metals.
· casting. Molten alloy is cast into ingots. Heat stress is possible.

See table 82.18 for a summary of exposures and controls for cobalt reclamation.
Table 82.18 Engineering/administrative controls for cobalt, by operation

controls
Hand sorting Dust Water washdown
Degreasing Solvents Solvent recovery, local exhaust

and solvent substitution
Blasting Dust—toxicity dependent upon Local exhaust ventilation; PPE

the grit used for physical hazard and
respiratory protection depending
on grit used
Pickling and chemical Acid mists Local exhaust ventilation,

treatment process general area ventilation; PPE—
Vacuum melting Heavy metals Local exhaust ventilation,

Casting Heat Local exhaust ventilation,

general area ventilation,
work/rest regimen, fluids
Tin reclamation
The major sources of raw materials are tin-plated steel trimmings, rejects from tin-can
manufacturing companies, rejected plating coils from the steel industry, tin drosses and
sludges, solder drosses and sludges, used bronze and bronze rejects and metal type
scrap. Tin dust and acid mists can be found in many of the processes.
· Dealuminization. In this process hot sodium hydroxide is used to leach aluminium

from tin-can scrap by contacting the scrap with hot sodium hydroxide, separating the
sodium aluminate solution from the scrap residue, pumping the sodium aluminate to a
refining operation to recover soluble tin and recovering the dealuminized tin scrap for
feed.
· Batch mixing. This process is a mechanical operation which prepares a feed
suitable for charging to the smelting furnace by mixing drosses and sludges with a
significant tin content.
· Chemical detinning. This process extracts the tin in scrap. A hot solution of
sodium hydroxide and sodium nitrite or nitrate is added to dealuminized or raw scrap.
Draining and pumping the solution to a refining/casting process are performed when
the detinning reaction is complete. The detinned scrap is then washed.
· Dross smelting. This process is used to partially purify drosses and produce crude
furnace metal by melting the charge, tapping the crude furnace metal and tapping the
mattes and slags.
· Dust leaching and filtration. This process removes the zinc and chlorine values
from flue dust by leaching with sulphuric acid to remove zinc and chlorine, filtering
the resulting mixture to separate the acid and dissolved zinc and chlorine from the
leached dust, drying the leached dust in a dryer and conveying the tin and lead rich
dust back to the batch mixing process.
· Settling and leaf filtration. This process purifies the sodium stannate solution
produced in the chemical detinning process. Impurities such as silver, mercury, copper,
cadmium, some iron, cobalt and nickel are precipitated as sulphides.
· Evapocentrifugation. The sodium stannate is concentrated from the purified

solution by evaporation, crystallization of sodium stannate and recovery of sodium
stannate is by centrifugation.
· Electrolytic refining. This process produces cathodic-pure tin from the purified
sodium stannate solution by passing the sodium stannate solution through electrolytic
cells, removing the cathodes after the tin has been deposited and stripping the tin from
the cathodes.
· Acidification and filtration. This process produces a hydrated tin oxide from the
purified sodium stannate solution. This hydrated oxide can either be processed to
produce the anhydrous oxide or smelted to produce elemental tin. The hydrated oxide
is neutralized with sulphuric acid to form the hydrated tin oxide and filtered to separate
the hydrate as filter cake.
· Fire refining. This process produces purified tin from the cathodic tin by melting
the charge, removing the impurities as slag and dross, pouring the molten metal and
casting the metallic tin.
· Smelting. This process is used to produce tin when electrolytic refining is not
feasible. This is accomplished by reducing the hydrated tin oxide with a reducing
agent, melting the tin metal formed, skimming the dross, pouring the molten tin and
casting the molten tin.
· Calcining. This process converts the hydrated tin oxides to anhydrous stannic
oxide by calcining the hydrate and removing and packaging the stannic oxides.
· Kettle refining. This process is used to purify crude furnace metal by charging a
preheated kettle with it, drying the dross to remove the impurities as slag and matte,
fluxing with sulphur to remove copper as matte, fluxing with aluminium to remove
antimony and casting molten metal into desired shapes.
See table 82.19 for a summary of exposures and controls for tin reclamation.
Table 82.19 Engineering/administrative controls for tin, by operation
Dealuminization Sodium hydroxide Local exhaust; PPE—chemical goggles

and/or face shield
Batch mixing Dust Local exhaust ventilation and general area

ventilation
Chemical detinning Caustic Local exhaust ventilation; PPE—chemical

goggles and/or face shield
Dross smelting Dust and heat Local exhaust ventilation, general area
ventilation, work/rest regimen, fluids
Dust leaching and Dust Local exhaust ventilation, general area

filtration ventilation
Settling and leaf None identified None identified

filtration
Evapocentrifugation None identified None identified

Electrolytic refining Acid mist Local exhaust ventilation and general area
ventilation; PPE—chemical goggles and/or
face shield
Acidification and Acid mists Local exhaust ventilation and general area
filtration ventilation; PPE—chemical goggles and/or
face shield
Fire refining Heat Work/rest regimen, PPE
Smelting Combustion gases, Local exhaust ventilation and general area

fumes and dust, heat ventilation, work/rest regimen, PPE
Calcining Dust, fumes, heat Local exhaust ventilation and general area
ventilation work/rest regimen, PPE
Kettle refining Dust, fumes, heat Local exhaust ventilation and general area
ventilation, work/rest regimen, PPE
Titanium reclamation
The two primary sources of titanium scrap are the home and titanium consumers.
Home scrap which is generated by the milling and manufacturing of titanium products
includes trim sheets, plank sheet, cuttings, turnings and borings. Consumer scrap
consists of recycled titanium products. The reclamation operations include:
· Degreasing. In this process sized scrap is treated with vapourized organic solvent
(e.g., trichloroethylene). Contaminant grease and oil are stripped from the scrap by the
solvent vapour. The solvent is recirculated until it can no longer has an ability to
degrease. Spent solvent can then be regenerated. The scrap can also be degreased by
steam and detergent.
· Pickling. The acid-pickling process removes oxide scale from the degreasing
operation by leaching with a solution of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids. The acid
treatment scrap is washed with water and dried.
· Electrorefining. Electrorefining is a titanium scrap pre-treatment process which

electro-refines scrap in a fused salt.
· Smelting. Pre-treated titanium scrap and alloying agents are melted in a electric-
arc vacuum furnace to form a titanium alloy. The input materials include pre-treated
titanium scrap and alloying materials such as aluminium, vanadium, molybdenum, tin,
zirconium, palladium, columbium and chromium.
· Casting. Molten titanium is poured into moulds. The titanium solidifies into a bar
called an ingot.
Controls for exposures in titanium reclamation procedures are listed in table 82.20 .
Table 82.20 Engineering/administrative controls for titanium, by operation
Solvent degreasing Solvent Local exhaust and solvent recovery
Pickling Acids Face shields, aprons, long sleeves, safety

glasses or goggles
Electrorefining None known None known
Smelting Volatile metals, noise Local exhaust ventilation and control of

noise from burners; PPE—hearing
protection
Casting Heat PPE
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN METAL FINISHING AND

INDUSTRIAL COATINGS
Stewart Forbes
Metal Finishing
The surface treatment of metals increases their durability and improves their
appearance. A single product may undergo more than one surface treatment—for
example, an auto body panel may be phosphated, primed and painted. This article
deals with the processes used for surface treatment of metals and the methods used to
reduce their environmental impact.
Operating a metal finishing business requires cooperation between company

management, employees, government and the community to effectively minimize the
environmental effect of the operations. Society is concerned with the amount and the
long-term effects of pollution entering the air, water and land environment. Effective
environmental management is established through detailed knowledge of all elements,
chemicals, metals, processes and outputs.
Pollution prevention planning shifts the environmental management philosophy from

reacting to problems to anticipating solutions focusing on chemical substitution,
process change and internal recycling, using the following planning sequence:
1. Initiate pollution prevention across all aspects of the business.
2. Identify waste streams.
3. Set priorities for action.
4. Establish root cause of the waste.
5. Identify and implement changes that reduce or eliminate the waste.
6. Measure the results.
Continuous improvement is achieved by setting new priorities for action and repeating
the sequence of actions.
Detailed process documentation will identify the waste streams and allow priorities to
be set for waste reduction opportunities. Informed decisions about potential changes
will encourage:
· easy and practical operational improvements
· process changes involving customers and suppliers
· changes to less harmful activities where possible
· reuse and recycling where change is not practical
· using landfilling of hazardous wastes only as a last resort.

Major processes and standard operating processes
Cleaning is required because all metal finishing processes require that parts to be
finished be free from organic and inorganic soils, including oils, scale, buffing and
polishing compounds. The three basic types of cleaners in use are solvents, vapour
degreasers and alkaline detergents.
Solvents and vapour degreasing cleaning methods have been almost totally replaced by
alkaline materials where the subsequent processes are wet. Solvents and vapour
degreasers are still in use where parts must be clean and dry with no further wet
processing. Solvents such as terpenes are in some instances replacing volatile solvents.
Less toxic materials such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane have been substituted for more
hazardous materials in vapour degreasing (although this solvent is being phased out as
an ozone depleter).
Alkaline cleaning cycles usually include a soak immersion followed by an anodic

electroclean, followed by a weak acid immersion. Non-etching, non-silicated cleaners
are typically used to clean aluminium. The acids are typically sulphuric, hydrochloric
and nitric.
Anodizing, an electrochemical process to thicken the oxide film on the metal surface
(frequently applied to aluminium), treats the parts with dilute chromic or sulphuric
acid solutions.
Conversion coating is used to provide a base for subsequent painting or to passivate

for protection against oxidation. With chromating, parts are immersed in a hexavalent
chrome solution with active organic and inorganic agents. For phosphating, parts are
immersed in dilute phosphoric acid with other agents. Passivating is accomplished
through immersion in nitric acid or nitric acid with sodium dichromate.
Electroless plating involves a deposition of metal without electricity. Copper or nickel

electroless deposition is used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
Electroplating involves the deposition of a thin coat of metal (zinc, nickel, copper,
chromium, cadmium, tin, brass, bronze, lead, tin-lead, gold, silver and other metals
such as platinum) on a substrate (ferrous or non-ferrous). Process baths include metals
in solution in acid, alkaline neutral and alkaline cyanide formulations (see figure 82.7).
Figure 82.7 Inputs and outputs for a typical electroplating line
Chemical milling and etching are controlled dissolution immersion processes using
chemical reagents and etchants. Aluminium is typically etched in caustic prior to
anodizing or chemically brightened in a solution which could contain nitric,
phosphoric and sulphuric acids.
Hot-dip coatings involve the application of metal to a workpiece by immersion in

molten metal (zinc or tin galvanizing of steel).
Good management practices
Important safety, health and environmental improvements can be achieved through

process improvements, such as:
· using counter-current rinsing and conductivity controls
· increasing drainage time
· using more or better wetting agents
· keeping process temperatures as high as possible to lower viscosity, thus

increasing drag-out recovery (i.e., recovery of solution left on metal)
· using air agitation in rinsing to increase rinsing efficiency
· using plastic balls in plating tanks to reduce misting
· using improved filtration on plating tanks to reduce the frequency of purification

treatment
· placing a curb around all process areas to contain spills
· using separate treatments for recoverable metals such as nickel
· installing recovery systems such as ion exchange, atmospheric evaporation,

vacuum evaporation, electrolytic recovery, reverse osmosis and electrodialysis
· complementing drag-out recovery systems with reductions in drag-in of

contaminants and improved cleaning systems
· using modern inventory controls to reduce waste and workplace hazards

· applying standard procedures (i.e., written procedures, regular operating reviews
and sound operating logs) to provide the basis for a sound environmental management
structure.
Environmental planning for specific wastes
Specific waste streams, usually spent plating solutions, can be reduced by:
· Filtration. Cartridge or diatomaceous earth filters can be used to remove the

accumulation of solids, which reduce the efficiency of the process.
· Carbon treatment can be used to remove organic contaminants (most commonly

applied in nickel plating, copper electroplating and zinc and cadmium plating).
· Purified water. The natural contaminants in water make-up and rinses (e.g.,
calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, chlorine and carbonates) can be removed by
using deionization, distillation or reverse osmosis. Improving rinse water efficiency
reduces the volume of bath sludges requiring treatment.
· Cyanide bath carbonate freezing. Lowering the bath temperature to –3 °C

crystallizes the carbonates formed in cyanide bath by the breakdown of cyanide,
excessive anode current densities and the adsorption of carbon dioxide from the air and
facilitates their removal.
· Precipitation. Removal of metal contaminants entering the bath as impurities in

anodes can be achieved through precipitation with barium cyanide, barium hydroxide,
calcium hydroxide, calcium sulphate or calcium cyanide.
· Hexavalent chrome alternatives. Hexavalent chromium can be replaced with

trivalent chromium plating solutions for decorative plating. Chrome conversion
coatings for paint pretreatments can sometimes be replaced by non-chrome conversion
coatings or no-rinse chrome chemistries.
· Non-chelated process chemistries. Instead of chelators being added to process

baths to control the concentration of free ions in the solution, non-chelated process
chemistries can be used so that it may not be necessary to keep metals in solution.
These metals can be allowed to precipitate and can be removed by continuous
filtration.
· Non-cyanide process chemicals. Waste streams containing free cyanide are

typically treated using hypochlorite or chlorine to accomplish oxidation, and complex
cyanides are commonly precipitated using ferrous sulphate. Using non-cyanide process
chemistries both eliminates a treatment step and reduces the sludge volume.
· Solvent degreasing. Hot alkaline cleaning baths can be used in place of solvent
degreasing of workpieces before processing. The effectiveness of alkaline cleaners can
be enhanced by applying electrocurrent or ultrasonics. The benefits of avoiding solvent
vapours and sludges often outweigh any additional operating costs.
· Alkaline cleaners. Having to discard alkaline cleaners when the accumulation of

oil, grease and soils from use reaches a level which impairs the cleaning efficiency of
the bath can be avoided by using skimming devices to remove free-floating oils,
settling devices or cartridge filters to remove particulates and oil-water coalescers and
by using microfiltration or ultrafiltration to remove emulsified oils.
· Drag-out reduction. Reducing the volume of drag-out from process baths serves to
reduce the amount of valuable process chemicals that contaminates the rinse water,
which in turn reduces the amount of sludge that is generated by a conventional metal
precipitation treatment process.
Several methods of reducing drag-out include:
· Process bath operating concentration. The chemical concentration should be kept

as low as possible to minimize the viscosity (for quicker draining) and the quantity of
chemicals (in the film).
· Process bath operating temperature. The viscosity of the process solution can be
reduced by increasing the bath temperature.
· Wetting agents. The surface tension of the solution can be reduced by adding
wetting agents to the process bath.
· Workpiece positioning. The workpiece should be positioned on the rack so that the
adhering film drains freely and does not get trapped in grooves or cavities.
· Withdrawal or drainage time. The faster a workpiece is removed from the process
bath, the thicker the film on the workpiece surface.
· Air knives. Blowing air at the workpiece as the workpiece rack is raised above the
process tank can improve drainage and drying.
· Spray rinses. These can be used above heated baths so that the rinse flow rate
equals the evaporation rate of the tank.
· Plating baths. Carbonates and organic contaminants should be removed to prevent
accumulation of contamination that increases the viscosity of the plating bath.
· Drainage boards. The spaces between process tanks should be covered with
drainage boards to capture process solutions and to return them to the process bath.
· Drag-out tanks. The workpieces should be placed in drag-out tanks (“static rinse”
tanks) before the standard rinsing operation.
Drag-out recovery of chemicals uses a variety of technologies. These include:
· Evaporation. Atmospheric evaporators are most common, and vacuum evaporators

offer energy savings.
· Ion exchange is used for chemical recovery of rinse water.
· Electrowinning. This is an electrolytic process whereby the dissolved metals in the

solution are reduced and deposited on the cathode. The deposited metal is then
recovered.
· Electrodialysis. This utilizes ion-permeable membranes and applied current in

order to separate ionic species from the solution.
· Reverse osmosis. This utilizes a semi-permeable membrane to produce purified

water and a concentrated ionic solution. High pressure is used to force the water
through the membrane, while most dissolved salts are retained by the membrane.
Rinse water
Most of the hazardous waste produced in a metal finishing facility comes from waste
water generated by the rinsing operations that follow cleaning and plating. By
increasing rinse efficiency, a facility can significantly reduce waste water flow.
Two basic strategies improve rinsing efficiency. First, turbulence can be generated
between the workpiece and the rinse water through spray rinses and rinse water
agitation. Movement of the rack or forced water or air are used. Second, the contact
time between the workpiece and the rinse water can be increased. Multiple rinse tanks
set countercurrent in series will reduce the amount of rinse water used.
Industrial Coatings
The term coatings includes paints, varnishes, lacquers, enamels and shellacs, putties,
wood fillers and sealers, paint and varnish removers, paint brush cleaners and allied
paint products. Liquid coatings contain pigments and additives dispersed in a liquid
binder and solvent mixture. Pigments are inorganic or organic compounds that provide
coating colour and opacity and influence coating flow and durability. Pigments often
contain heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, zinc, chromium and cobalt. The binder
increases coating adhesiveness, cohesiveness and consistency and is the primary
component that remains on the surface when coating is completed. Binders include a
variety of oils, resins, rubbers and polymers. Additives such as fillers and extenders
may be added to coatings to reduce manufacturing costs and increase coating
durability.
The types of organic solvents used in coatings include aliphatic hydrocarbons,

aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, ketones, glycol ethers and alcohols. Solvents disperse
or dissolve the binders and decrease the coating viscosity and thickness. Solvents used
in coatings formulations are hazardous because many are human carcinogens and are
flammable or explosive. Most solvents contained in a coating evaporate when the
coating cures, which generates volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. VOC
emissions are becoming increasingly regulated because of the negative effects on
human health and the environment. Environmental concerns associated with
conventional ingredients, coating application technologies and coating wastes are a
driving force for developing pollution prevention alternatives.
Most coatings are used on architectural, industrial or special products. Architectural

coatings are used in buildings and building products and for decorative and protective
services such as varnishes to protect wood. Industrial facilities incorporate coating
operations in various production processes. The automotive, metal can, farm
machinery, coil coating, wood and metal furniture and fixtures, and household
appliance industries are the major industrial coatings consumers.
Design of a coating formulation depends on the purpose of the coating application.

Coatings provide aesthetics, and corrosion and surface protection. Cost, function,
product safety, environmental safety, transfer efficiency and drying and curing speed
determine formulations.
Coating processes
There are five operations comprising most coating processes: raw materials handling
and preparation, surface preparation, coating, equipment cleaning and waste
management.
Raw material handling and preparation
Raw material handling and preparation involves inventory storage, mixing operations,
thinning and adjusting of coatings and raw material transfer through the facility.
Monitoring and handling procedures and practices are needed to minimize the
generation of wastes from spoilage, off specification and improper preparation that can
result from excessive thinning and consequent wastage. Transfer, whether manual or
through a piped system, must be scheduled to avoid spoilage.
Surface preparation
The type of surface preparation technique used depends on the surface being coated—
previous preparation, amount of soil, grease, the coating to be applied and the surface
finish required. Common preparation operations include degreasing, precoating or
phosphating and coating removal. For metal finishing purposes, degreasing involves
solvent wiping, cold cleaning or vapour degreasing with halogenated solvents, aqueous
alkaline cleaning, semi-aqueous cleaning or aliphatic hydrocarbon cleaning to remove
organic soil, dirt, oil and grease. Acid pickling, abrasive cleaning or flame cleaning are
used to remove mill scale and rust.
The most common preparation operation for metal surfaces, other than cleaning, is
phosphate coating, used to promote adhesion of organic coatings onto metal surfaces
and retard corrosion. Phosphate coatings are applied by immersing or spraying metal
surfaces with zinc, iron or manganese phosphate solution. Phosphating is a surface
finishing process similar to electroplating, consisting of a series of process chemical
and rinse baths in which parts are immersed to achieve the desired surface preparation.
See the article “Surface treatment of metals” in this chapter.
Coating removal, chemical or mechanical, is conducted on surfaces that require

recoating, repair or inspection. The most common chemical coating removal method is
solvent stripping. These solutions usually contain phenol, methylene chloride and an
organic acid to dissolve the coating from the coated surface. A final water wash to
remove the chemicals can generate large quantities of wastewater. Abrasive blasting is
the common mechanical process, a dry operation that uses compressed air to propel a
blasting medium against the surface to remove the coating.
Surface preparation operations affect the quantity of waste from the specific
preparation process. If the surface preparation is inadequate, resulting in poor coating,
then removal of the coating and recoating adds to waste generation.
Coating
The coating operation involves transferring the coating to the surface and curing the
coating on the surface. Most coating technologies fall into 1 of 5 basic categories: dip
coating, roll coating, flow coating, spray coating, and the most common technique, air-
atomized spray coating using solvent-based coatings.
Air-atomized spray coatings are usually conducted in a controlled environment

because of solvent emissions and overspray. Overspray control devices are fabric
filters or water walls, generating either used filters or wastewater from air scrubbing
systems.
Curing is performed to convert the coating binder into a hard, tough, adherent surface.
Curing mechanisms include: drying, baking or exposure to an electron beam or
infrared or ultraviolet light. Curing generates significant VOCs from solvent-based
coatings and poses a potential for explosion if the solvent concentrations rise above the
lower explosive limit. Consequently, curing operations are equipped with air pollution
control devices to prevent VOC emissions and for safety control to prevent explosions.
Environmental and health concerns, increased regulations affecting conventional

coating formulations, high solvent costs and expensive hazardous waste disposal have
created a demand for alternative coating formulations that contain less hazardous
constituents and generate less waste when applied. Alternative coating formulations
include:
· High-solid coatings, containing twice the amount of pigment and resin in the same
volume of solvent as conventional coatings. Application lowers VOC emissions
between 62 and 85% compared to conventional low-solid solvent-based coatings
because the solvent content is reduced.
· Water-based coatings using water and an organic solvent mixture as the carrier
with water used as the base. Compared to solvent-based coatings, water-based coatings
generate between 80 and 95% less VOC emissions and spent solvents than
conventional low-solid solvent-based coatings.
· Powder coatings containing no organic solvent, consisting of finely pulverized

pigment and resin particles. They are either thermoplastic (high molecular weight resin
for thick coatings) or thermosetting (low molecular weight compounds that form a thin
layer before chemically cross-linking) powders.
Equipment cleaning
Equipment cleaning is a necessary, routine maintenance operation in coating

processes. This creates significant amounts of hazardous waste, particularly if
halogenated solvents are used for cleaning. Equipment cleaning for solvent-based
coatings has traditionally been conducted manually with organic solvents to remove
coatings from process equipment. Piping requires flushing with solvent in batches until
clean. Coating equipment must be cleaned between product changes and after process
shutdowns. The procedures and practices used will determine the level of waste
generated from these activities.
Waste management
Several waste streams are generated by coating processes. Solid waste includes empty
coating containers, coating sludge from overspray and equipment cleaning, spent
filters and abrasive materials, dry coating and cleaning rags.
Liquid wastes include waste water from surface preparation, overspray control or
equipment cleaning, off-specification or excess coating or surface preparation
materials, overspray, spills and spent cleaning solutions. Onsite closed-loop recycling
is becoming more popular for spent solvents as disposal costs rise. Water-based liquids
are usually treated onsite prior to discharge to publicly owned treatment systems.
VOC emissions are generated by all conventional coating processes that use solvent-
based coatings, requiring control devices such as carbon adsorption units, condensers
or thermal catalytic oxidizers.
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Goldsmith, AH, KW Vorpahl, KA French, PT Jordan, and NB Jurinski. 1976. Health

hazards from oil, soot and metals at a hot forging operation. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J
37:217–226.
Gulf Publishing Company. 1964. Petroleum Marketing and Transportation, 1964.

Houston TX: Gulf Publishing Company.
Harten, GA. 1976. Een nieuwe, ergonomisch verbeterde draaibank [A new,

ergonomically improved lathe]. Tijdschrift voor sociale geneeskunde (Amstelveen)
54(17):575–578.
Kusiak, RA, J Springer, AC Ritchie, and J Muller. 1991. Carcinoma of the lung in
Ontario gold miners: Possible aetiological factors. Brit J Ind Med 48(12):808-817.
Mobil Oil Corporation. 1990. Handling, Storing and Dispensing Industrial Lubricants.
Mobil Technical Bulletin. Fairfax, VA: Mobil Oil Corporation.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 1975. Ventilation
Requirements for Grinding, Buffing and Polishing Operations. NIOSH Publ. No. 75-
105. Cincinnati, OH: NIOSH.
National Safety Council. 1995. Petroleum Section Safety and Health Fact Sheets,
1988-95. Itasca, IL: National Safety Council.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 1979. Prudent Practices for
Controlling Lead Exposure in the Secondary Lead Smelting Industry: A Guide for
Employers and Employees. Washington, DC: OSHA.
—. 1982. Cooperative Assessment Program Manual for the Secondary Lead Smelting
Industry. Washington, DC: OSHA.
—. 1984. Cooperative Assessment Program Manual for the Battery Manufacturing

Industry. Washington, DC: OSHA.
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Pollution Prevention Guide. Ottawa: Environment Canada, Water Technology
International, Sheridan Environmental Technology Institute.
Simonato, L, JJ Moulin, B Javeland, G Ferro, P Wild, R Winkelmann, and R Saracci.

1994. A retrospective mortality study of workers exposed to arsenic in a gold mine and
refinery in France. Am J Ind Med 25:652-633.
Part XIII - Manufacturing Industries Français

Rolling is a process of reduction of the cross-sectional area or shaping a metal piece through the deformation
caused by a pair of rotating in opposite directions metal rolls.
A scheme of rolling process is shown in the picture:
The gap between the rotating rolls is less than the thickness of the entering bar H0 therefore a friction force is
necessary in order to bite the bar and to pull it through the rolls.
A metal bar passing through the rotating rolls is squeezed, and it elongates while its cross section area decreases.
The amount of deformation “R” achieved in a flat rolling operation (thickness reduction) is determined by the

relationship:
R = 100% * (H – H0)/H0
A machine used for rolling metal is called rolling mill.
A typical rolling mill consists of a pair of rolls driven by an electric motor transmitting a torque through a gear and
pair of cardans. The rolls are equipped with bearings and mounted in a stand with a screw-down mechanism.
A force applied to the rolls in vertical direction is called roll separating force.

A rolling mill is characterized by the maximum values of its roll separating force and the torque.
The maximum amount of deformation (thickness reduction) which may be achieved in a single rolling pass is
determined by the maximum roll separating force, maximum torque, work roll diameter, friction coefficient
and mechanical strength of the rolled material and its width.
Low roll diameter results in low roll contact area and consequently in low absolute value of the roll separating force
and the torque required for achieving a certain thickness reduction.
However such rolls are susceptible to bending and causing non-uniform widthwise strip thickness distribution
(convex crown).
Complex rolling mill designs employing back-up rolls are used to diminish the bending effect:
teel strips are commonly manufactured of continuously cast slabs.
Coiled steel strips have the thickness (gauge) up to 0.2” (5 mm).
The strips are supplied in different conditions:
 Hot rolled
 Pickled
 Cold rolled
 Coated
Hot rolling
Continuously cast steel slabs are processed in a hot Rolling line:
 Heating in a gas/oil fired reheating furnace to the temperature 2200-2280ºF (1200-1250ºC).
 Removing oxide scale in a scale breaker. Iron oxides form on the slab surface as a result of high
temperature oxidation in the reheating furnace. Scale breaker utilizes high pressure water jets directed to the
slab surface.
 Rough rolling in either reversing or tandem roughing rolling mill. Rough rolling mills may have either two-
high or four-high configuration. The strip temperature decreases in the rough rolling operation to about 1830ºF
(1000ºC).
 Finishing rolling in a tandem four-high rolling mill (5-7 stands). The strip dimensions (thickness, width)
are strictly controlled in this operation.
 Cooling by water jets. The temperature is reduced to max. 1110ºF (600ºC).
 Coiling the finished strip. Hot rolled strips have a thin scale of iron oxides on their surface. Part of the
strips is used in as-rolled condition. Other part is processed in a pickling line where the oxide scale is removed.
to top
Pickling of steel strip
Hot rolled strip is treated in a pickling line:
 Uncoiling.
 Pickling in a solution of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. The acid dissolutes the oxide scale from the strip
surface according to the reaction: Fe2O3 + 6HCl = 2FeCl3 + 3H2O.
 Rinsing and passivation of the strip. At this stage the acid residuals are washed by water from the strip.
Passivation film is formed on the strip surface providing corrosion protection.
 Drying.
 Edge trimming.
 Oiling.
 Recoiling.
to top
Cold rolling of steel strip
Cold rolled steel strips are used mainly in the Deep drawing process.
The purposes of cold rolling processing are:
 Further reduction of the strip thickness;
 Improvement of the surface finish;
 Improvement of the surface flatness;
 Achievement of a required level of work hardening.
Cold rolling processing includes the following stages:
 Cold rolling in a tandem rolling mill. The rolling mill consists of 5-7 stands having four-high
configuration (two large back-up rolls and two small work rolls).
 Annealing at a temperature 1100-1300ºF (600-700ºC) in a controlled reducing atmosphere (commonly a
mixture of Hydrogen and Nitrogen) preventing oxidation of the steel surface. Annealing results
in recrystallization of the steel Grain structure and in stress relief. There are two alternatives of annealing
process: continuous annealing line and batch annealing furnace. In the continuous annealing line (see the
picture below) steel strip passes annealing furnace at a controlled speed. In the batch process steel strip coils
are stacked on top of each other in the bell type furnace. Batch annealing allows to achieve lower hardness and
higher ductility of the steel than in alternative continuous annealing.
 Temper rolling (skin pass rolling) - final cold rolling operation with low thickness reduction conducted
in order to impart to the steel required levels of hardness, evenness and surface finish. Four-high rolling mill is
used for tempering.

Most of annealed low carbon steel strips are tempered since they are too soft (HV<110) in annealed condition.
Bending and deep drawing operations of soft annealed steel may cause formation of kinks (cross breaks) and
stretcher strains, which are the result of localized stretching of the strip at low cold deformation beyond the yield
point. Light tempering of annealed strip (non-kinking temper, pinch pass) produces strip surface conditions, which
do not cause formation of cross breaks and stretcher strains. Hardness of pinch passed steel is about 115 HV. Other
temper conditions of steel strip are: eighth hard (105<HV<125), quarter hard (115<HV<130), half hard
(130<HV<160), three quarter hard (150<HV<185).
Surface finish conditions of cold rolled steel strip:
 Mirror. Superior luster mirror finish is produced by rolling between fine polished rolls. Mirror finish strips
are used mainly for electroplating.
 Bright. Bright finish is produced by rolling between polished rolls. It is the common surface finish condition
of cold rolled strip.

 Matt. Matt (dull) surface finish is produced by rolling between roughened rolls. Matt surface is suitable for
enameling and painting. Matt finish strips are also used in deep drawing due to the ability of the rough surface
to hold lubricant providing low friction between the strip and the drawing tools (punch, blank holder, die).
 Blued. Blued surface finish is produced by controlled heating and cooling of bright finish strip resulting in
formation of thin blue oxide film on the steel surface.
Strip edges conditions:
 Natural mill edges, which are result of cold rolling without any edge cutting operation. Natural mill edges
may have micro-cracks due to non-uniform work hardening.
 Slit edges (shared edges), which are produced by rotary slitter. Slit edges are square with slight sharp
burr.
 Dressed edges - slit edges, from which burr has been removed.
 Rolled edges, which are formed by edge rolling.

to top
Steel strip coating
The most popular techniques of continuous steel strip coating are hot dip galvanizing and Electroplating.
Hot dip galvanizing process
 Uncoiling.
 Cleaning. This operation commonly combines Alkaline cleaning (degreasing) and mechanical cleaning by
rotating cylindrical brushes. Oil and other contaminants are removed from the steel surface.
 Pickling. Degreased and rinsed strip enters a pickling bath where oxides and rust are dissolved by
hydrochloric acid and removed according to the reactions:

Iron oxide reaction: Fe2O3 + 6HCl = 2FeCl3 + 3H2O
Rust reaction: Fe2O3*nH2O + 6HCl = 2FeCl3 + (n+3)H2O
 Zinc coating (hot galvanizing). Clean strip passes through a bath with molten zinc (Zn).
 Wiping excessive zinc by air knives.
 Cooling. The coated strip is cooled by air and water.
 Levelling. Leveller produces smooth and flat strip surface.
 Recoiling.
Continuous electroplating process
 Uncoiling.
 Cleaning. This operation commonly combines alkaline cleaning (degreasing) and mechanical cleaning by
rotating cylindrical brushes. Oil and other contaminants are removed from the steel surface.
 Pickling. Degreased and rinsed strip enters a pickling bath where oxides and rust are dissolved by
hydrochloric acid and removed according to the reactions:

Iron oxide reaction: Fe2O3 + 6HCl = 2FeCl3 + 3H2O
Rust reaction: Fe2O3*nH2O + 6HCl = 2FeCl3 + (n+3)H2O
 Electroplating. Clean strip passes through a series of vertical electroplating baths. The strip is connected
to the DC power supply as a cathode (negative). The positively connected anodes are arranged in parallel to
the strip opposite to its surface. The bath is filled with an electrolytic solution. Electrolyte and anodes
compositions are determined by the the deposited material and the electroplating method ( Tin alloy
electroplating, Decorative chromium electroplating|chromium electroplating, zinc electroplating).
 Recoiling.
Related internal links

 Rolling
 Forging
 Extrusion
 Drawing
 Deep drawing
 Shot peening
 Laser peening
 Burnishing
 Annealing and stress relief
 Surface preparation
 Electroplating
 Plastic deformation
 Steel making
 Ladle refining
 Deoxidation of steel
 Desulfurization of steel
 Manufacturing bi-metal strips for aluminum bearings

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BEFORE THE SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE, MATHURA

SUIT UNDER SECTION 116 OF UP LAND REVENUE ACT NO. OF 2020

IN THE MATTER OF:

SATYA PAL SINGH ... Plaintiff

JAY PAL SINGH & OTHERS

(Tarun Kumar Bharadwaj)

(JAY PAL SINGH)

UMENDAR CONVENT SCHOOL (GHUKNA)

Part XIII - Manufacturing Industries Français

Chapter 82 - Metal Processing and Metal

· smelting and refining of metal ores and scrap

· casting molten metals into a given shape (foundry)

· welding and cutting sheet metal

· shaping metals on a lathe.

SMELTING AND REFINING

During pyrometallic processing, an ore, after being beneficiated (concentrated by

Roasting is an important pyrometallurgical process. Sulphating roasting is used in the

The high temperature required for the pyrometallurgical treatment of metals is

Examples of hydrometallurgical processes are leaching, precipitation, electrolytic

Electrolysis of metals in aqueous solutions is also considered to be a

Often metallurgical processes are a combination of pyro- and hydrometallurgical

Hazards and Their Prevention

Prevention of health risks and accidents in the metallurgical industry is primarily an

· The potential sources of air contaminants should be enclosed and isolated.

· Addition and handling of poisonous process chemicals should be planned so that

· Personal occupational hygiene sampling devices should be used in order to

Precautions include: adequate training, appropriate personal protective equipment

Dust and fume emissions can be controlled by enclosure, automation of processes,

Sulphuric acid is produced as a by-product of smelting operations and is used in

Pollution and Environmental Protection

COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC SMELTING AND REFINING*

Copper can be produced either pyrometallurgically or hydrometallurgically depending

Copper conversion from the ore to metal is accomplished by smelting. During

Blister copper, containing a minimum of 98.5% copper, is refined to high purity

Hazards and their prevention

Process Material input Air emissions Process wastes

Hazards and their prevention

Process Material input Air emissions Process wastes

Electrolytic processing of desulphurized calcine consists of three basic steps: leaching,

Hazards and their prevention

Process Material input Air emissions Process wastes

ALUMINIUM SMELTING AND REFINING

1. Refining. Production of alumina from bauxite by the Bayer process in which

2. Reduction. Reduction of alumina to virgin aluminium metal employing the Hall-

Experimental development suggests that in the future aluminium may be reduced to

Carbon electrode manufacture

Hazards and Their Prevention

In carbon-electrode manufacturing shops, exhaust ventilation equipment with bag

Individuals using cardiac pacemakers should be excluded from reduction operations

Other Health Effects

Process Material input Air emissions Process wastes

It presently appears that this condition is one of an increasingly important group of

GOLD SMELTING AND REFINING

Extraction of gold by means of cyanidation is based on the ability of gold to form a

Hazards and Their Prevention

Gold ore occurring in great depths is extracted by underground mining. This

Contamination of the air by hydrogen cyanide in cyanidation plants is dependent on air

Proper organization of the preparation of cyanide solutions is particularly important. If

There is evidence of exposure to metallic mercury vapour and methylation of mercury