Abstract

Mechanical activation of solids is a part of mechanochemistry, the science with a sound theoretical foundation exhibiting a wide range of potential application. Mechanical activation itself is an innovative procedure where an improvement in technological processes can be attained via a combination of new surface area and defects formation in minerals.
Mechanical activation is of exceptional importance in extractive metallurgy and mineral processing and this area forms the topic of this book and is the result of more than twenty years of research and graduate teaching in the field.
In pyrometallurgy, the mechanical activation of minerals makes it possible to reduce their decomposition temperatures or causes such a degree of disordering that the thermal activation may be omitted entirely. The potential mitigation of environmental pollutants is becoming increasingly important in this context.
The lowering of reaction temperatures, the increase of the rate and amount of solubility, preparation of water soluble compounds, the necessity for simpler and less expensive reactors and shorter reaction times are some of the advantages of mechanical activation in hydrometallurgy. The environmental aspects of these processes are particularly attractive.
Several industrial processes are examined and their flowsheets are presented as succesful of activation. In these processes, the introduction of a mechanical activation step into the technological cycle significantly modifies the subsequent steps.
The book is designed for researchers, teachers, operators and students in the areas of extractive metallurgy, mineral processing, mineralogy, solid state chemistry and materials science.It will encourage newcomers to the mechanochemistry to do useful research and discover novel applications in this field.
Fathi Habashi, Laval University, Canada
...The author has brilliantly exposed this field in a systematic manner, fully documenting his comprehensive studies with diagrams taken from the original literature. ...The book is very well indexed. The metallurgical community should be grateful to Dr. Baláz for his effort to condense a large number of papers in relatively few pages.
Minerals Engineering 2000
Mamoru Senna, Keio University, Japan
...serves as a good introduction textbook for solid state chemistry with an ethnic flavor of mechanical activation. ...the author's deep insight penetrates through the science and technology of particulate materials with a wide variety of examples, which are well beyond the area of hydrometallurgy. ...the book also gives an overview of the possible future application of mechanochemistry toward its second gold age aiming at finer technology with a serious consciousness of industrial ecology.
Powder Technology, 2000
...This book is aimed at researchers, lecturers and students of ex tractive metallurgy, mineral processing, mineralogy, solid state chemistry and material sciences. ...It will encourage newcomers to study mechanochemical problems in order to find new applications in this area.
Aufbereitungs Technik/Mineral Processing
R.P. King
...This book is unique in that it is the only comprehensive account of the research work that has been published on this important topic. ...a valuable source of information and will be valued by researchers and engineers who need to understand how the state of the solid mineral can affect its behavior in a variety of processing contexts.
International Journal of Mineral Processing