Short Courses 2023

We invite you to join us at COM 2023 Short Courses. Courses are presented prior to the Conference at the host hotel.

These courses are set to complement the content offered at COM 2023- 62nd Annual Conference of Metallurgists. It is not mandatory to register for the conference to purchase a registration for any of the Short Courses. 

Course #1

Furnace Refractory Design and Management

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Course #2

Additive Manufacturing of Advanced Engineering Materials

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Course #3

Pressure Hydrometallurgy – Theory, Design and Safety in Operation

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Furnace Refractory Design and Management

One-day course | 6 hours

 

A journey through refractory design development – how to evaluate the best techno-economical solution for my process?

Scope: Refractories are ceramic products designed for the application in high temperature processes up to 1800°C. In our daily life’s it is considered to be just “a brick” or “a mix” for most of us but a refractory solution for a furnace consists of a complex interaction of mechanical, chemical and thermal factors and their trade-off in terms of the expected service life for a furnace. This short course provides a unique opportunity to deepen the knowledge into the refractory world. Participants are enabled to assess refractories and lining concepts with respect to their suitability for pyrometallurgical processes in the non-ferrous industry. They also become familiar with common wear mechanisms, possible failure types and strategies to mitigate them during the design process.

Speakers:

Dean Gregurek, RHI Magnesita GmbH

Jürgen Schmidl, RHI Magnesita GmbH

Dean Gregurek has been working as a Senior Mineralogist at the RHI Magnesita Technology Center Leoben, Austria since 2001.

Dean received his master of science degree from the University of Graz in 1995, his doctorate degree in Applied Mineralogy from the University of Leoben in 1999 and degree of assoc. Prof. in 2019.

His current research interests and technical expertise are focused on chemical and mineralogical studies related to interactions between refractories, molten metals and slags from pyrometallurgical furnaces.

Jürgen Schmidl works as a Technical Marketing Manager at RHI Magnesita since 2017. Jürgen holds a PhD-degree in Metallurgy from the University of Leoben, Austria. Prior to RHI Magnesita, he worked for almost ten years in the copper industry. His current research interests and technical expertise are focused on chemical and mineralogical studies related to interactions between refractories, molten metals and slags from pyrometallurgical furnaces.

Furnace Refractory Management Based on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and Continuous Monitoring

 

Scope:  As furnace lining concepts and designs have improved over the last century, the smelter management and maintenance approach has also changed significantly within this period. One of the fundamental approaches that have changed is the view of the furnace lining. In traditional thinking, the lining was viewed as a consumable with unpredictable service life, but a new and modern idea is to see the furnace lining as equipment that should be maintained. Simply burning through the lining and hoping for the best is no longer acceptable or economically and environmentally viable. To manage and understand the condition of the lining we need data; reliable data that continuously provides knowledge about the thickness and structural integrity of the lining. Throughout the campaign life of a furnace, successful refractory maintenance procedures will ultimately reduce relining costs, furnace downtime, waste disposal volume, and carbon footprint of the smelter.

Participants will learn about various techniques to inspect and monitor metallurgical process vessels, such as electric furnaces, flash furnaces, reactors, and blast furnaces. In addition, they learn about case studies, data comparisons between NDT and physical measurments, detection of chemical attacks within the lining during furnace operation, extension of furnace campaign life, and unique cases.

Speaker:

Afshin Sadri, Senior Consultant, Hatch

Afshin is a senior consultant in non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT & E) of coarse-grained materials and structures such as concrete, refractories, wood, and rocks. He has been working in applied geophysics and NDT of materials and structures since 1988. 

He has been involved in the research, development, and design of various stress and electromagnetic wave propagation NDT & E techniques and instrumentation including ultrasonic, impact-echo, miniature seismic reflection (MSR), acoustic emission (AE), and short pulse radar.

Additive Manufacturing of Advanced Engineering Materials

Two-day course | 9-14 hours

This intensive short course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of fundamentals of additive manufacturing (AM) technology, its applications in the industry, and its implications in the markets.

The course introduces AM process fundamentals, material properties, design rules, qualification methods, cost and value analysis, and industrial and consumer applications of AM. Particular emphasis will be placed on AM technologies for metals and other advanced materials (ceramics and composites), and related design principles and part performance. The AM techniques introduced in this course include, but are not limited, to selective laser melting (SLM), direct energy deposition (DED), wire arc deposition, cold spray, powder binder jetting, electroplating, fused deposition modeling (FDM) and stereolithography (SLA).

The course will also include:​

  • Group activities involving both desktop and commerial 3D printers for metals, ceramics and composites
  • Several interactive case studies of quantitative analysis on AM products
  • Virtual visits to local AM Labs and AM equipment.

Speakers:

Yu Zou, University of Toronto

Dr. Yu Zou joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Toronto (U of T) as an Assistant Professor in January 2018.

Before joining U of T in 2018, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working on laser-based metal additive manufacturing with Prof. A. John Hart. He received his Doctor of Sciences in Materials from ETH Zurich in 2016 with Prof. Ralph Spolenak. He received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from McGill University and Beihang University, respectively, all in materials science and engineering.

Dr. Zou is currently serving as the Chair of the Materials Technical Section in the Metallurgy and Materials Society of CIM.

Pressure Hydrometallurgy – Theory, Design and Safety in Operation

One-day course | 6-8 hours

The short course will cover the thermodynamic and kinetic theory of pressure hydrometallurgy, pressure hydrometallurgical flow sheets for the extraction of base and precious metals, materials of construction and corrosion, refractory linings and golden rules of pressure vessel operational safety.

Audience
The intended audience is students and professionals new to pressure hydrometallurgy who would like to gain a base understanding of the theory, design and practical operating considerations of pressure hydrometallurgy circuits. This is an introductory-level course. The expected turnout would be 15 to 25 people.

Speakers
To be announced. Stay tuned!