VNIIHT (Rosatom’s institute doing a full-cycle research and development and design and experimental projects, creating viable highly efficient technologies of uranium and nuclear pure metals manufacturing for atomic and other industries). The scientists starting to develop powders which will further be used for 3D-printing details for aviation, military, airspace and nuclear industries. Besides, in the Institute they created an innovative separator for different kinds of ores.
Separators are used in many branches of minerals industry. They are meant for sorting pieces of drag ore depending on their “richness”. The belt-type universal separator (UAS) created in VNIIHT serves for separation of base, iron, rare, noble and radioactive metals and mining chemical feedstock. One of the developers, leading research worker Gennady Kovalenko, told us about its working principles:
“The separator is part of an oil-separating module. It is a grate – a special reloading generator, forming one or two streams of pieces depending on their size. From this grate the pieces go to two belts: one for one class, the other for another. At the belt frame there are X-ray tube attached, detector blocks and pneumo or hydropneumo valves. This equipment reads information about the pieces of ore and divides them in three stages. On the first one the valve shoots away the richest parts. Less reach go to the second stage; and the poorest are for the third one”.
Fast and Accurate
The UAS main advantage is its high productivity, about 50 tons of ore per hour, which is 2-3 times higher that Russian and foreign analogs have. Another important peculiarity is accuracy in measurements. Multistage principle of separation helps find and enrich even lowly enriched pieces of ore. “Using the UAS separator we get more information about the piece we have, than we can get at other equal devices and get richer concentrate, – explains Mr. Konovalenko. – Less ore is left as a leftover”.
The VNIIHT new development is presented in three modifications: UAS-200, UAS-100 and UAS-50. The choice of a device depends on annual productivity of a deposit where it will be located (thus, UAS-200 will suit deposits with a 200 tons productivity).
Production prototypes of the separator are now ready in VNIIHT. UAS-100 is being used at the Institute’s research-technological plant; UAS-50 – at the VNIIHT test unit as part of the PCM-10 ore-separating module. “We have the drawings ready, the technology of production. If there is an order, the plant will be able to bring separators to the stage of industrial production”, – said the Institute’s leading research worker. According to the VNIIHT specialists, highly efficient UAS-series innovative separators can operate at all Russian and foreign mining and processing plants with a big deposit of low and cut-off grade ores of radioactive, rare, rare-earth, iron, base and noble metals and other solid commercial minerals. They are recommended to be installed at enterprises which have a big storage of this kind of ore and mineral deposits accumulated during many years.
“Industrial introduction of UAS separators will increase investment attractiveness of TMO processing, which will help to decrease negative influence on of ore mining and processing plants connected with them”, – they say in the Institute.
Fuel elements from a printer
Another advanced development of VNIIHT is ultradisperse and mono and multi-component powders of metals and oxides for “digital” 3D-printing. From those powders one can grow ready details for airspace machine-building, nuclear energy, radio-electronics, motor vehicle industry and special-purpose machinery. “Today the 3D printers already produce devices, however still made of plastic powders, – says the Institute’s specialist Oksana Arzhatkina. – the breakthrough at this point is connected with the usage of metallic powders. One can grow very resistant and complex details, such as agitators for aviation, details of nuclear fuel elements for nuclear industry”.
“Printing details will low the cost of production. One doesn’t need to cast an ingot of a valuable metallic alloy first and then grind out a complex unit. It’s better just to grow a needed detail from a special powder, thus saving materials considerably.
“A totally new technology that we are creating today is getting molten salt powders, – Ms. Arzhatkina adds. – This technology will let us get not only mono-component but also poly-component powders of very complex alloys for one-stage printing”.
The VNIIHT personnel are looking forward to improving and fully developing the new technology in three years. It is planned to be tested at the experimental plant of the Institute, then tested on printers and passed for further production. ПОДЗАГ
Fast and Accurate
The UAS main advantage is its high productivity, about 50 tons of ore per hour, which is 2-3 times higher that Russian and foreign analogs have. Another important peculiarity is accuracy in measurements. Multistage principle of separation helps find and enrich even lowly enriched pieces of ore. “Using the UAS separator we get more information about the piece we have, than we can get at other equal devices and get richer concentrate, – explains Mr. Konovalenko. – Less ore is left as a leftover”.
The VNIIHT new development is presented in three modifications: UAS-200, UAS-100 and UAS-50. The choice of a device depends on annual productivity of a deposit where it will be located (thus, UAS-200 will suit deposits with a 200 tons productivity).
Production prototypes of the separator are now ready in VNIIHT. UAS-100 is being used at the Institute’s research-technological plant; UAS-50 – at the VNIIHT test unit as part of the PCM-10 ore-separating module. “We have the drawings ready, the technology of production. If there is an order, the plant will be able to bring separators to the stage of industrial production”, – said the Institute’s leading research worker. According to the VNIIHT specialists, highly efficient UAS-series innovative separators can operate at all Russian and foreign mining and processing plants with a big deposit of low and cut-off grade ores of radioactive, rare, rare-earth, iron, base and noble metals and other solid commercial minerals. They are recommended to be installed at enterprises which have a big storage of this kind of ore and mineral deposits accumulated during many years.
“Industrial introduction of UAS separators will increase investment attractiveness of TMO processing, which will help to decrease negative influence on of ore mining and processing plants connected with them”, – they say in the Institute.
Fuel elements from a printer
Another advanced development of VNIIHT is ultradisperse and mono and multi-component powders of metals and oxides for “digital” 3D-printing. From those powders one can grow ready details for airspace machine-building, nuclear energy, radio-electronics, motor vehicle industry and special-purpose machinery. “Today the 3D printers already produce devices, however still made of plastic powders, – says the Institute’s specialist Oksana Arzhatkina. – the breakthrough at this point is connected with the usage of metallic powders. One can grow very resistant and complex details, such as agitators for aviation, details of nuclear fuel elements for nuclear industry”.
“Printing details will low the cost of production. One doesn’t need to cast an ingot of a valuable metallic alloy first and then grind out a complex unit. It’s better just to grow a needed detail from a special powder, thus saving materials considerably.
“A totally new technology that we are creating today is getting molten salt powders, – Ms. Arzhatkina adds. – This technology will let us get not only mono-component but also poly-component powders of very complex alloys for one-stage printing”.
The VNIIHT personnel are looking forward to improving and fully developing the new technology in three years. It is planned to be tested at the experimental plant of the Institute, then tested on printers and passed for further production.
