NRRI > Development of Engineered Tiles with Radiation Absorbing Properties from Taconite Raw Materials
Last Update Mon Oct 1 12:05:00 CDT 2012
To determine the feasibility of producing architectural quality tiles with unique engineering attributes from taconite iron ore raw materials. The tiles will be produced through high temperature melting in a plasma melting system provided by MetalRecovry, sited at the Coleraine Minerals Research Laboratory (CMRL), and tile formation and annealing in other equipment at the same site, also provided by MetalRecovry.NRRI provided continued technical support and analytical services to the startup venture, Accents Elegance, as they work toward commercial production of consumer products using the taconite tailings materials and processing methods developed as part of this project.
Based on previous test work already conducted at NRRI, it has been shown that taconite rock and magnetite concentrate have radiation absorbing properties, especially for UV and microwave radiation. It is thought that the creation of high density tiles and other consolidated products will result in material having unique engineering properties. This program will determine the conditions required for making high quality materials and will determine the processing conditions that will allow enhanced radiation absorption properties to be developed.
Coal boiler fly ash and bottom ash were used as alternative fluxes for the taconite tailings. Melting of taconite tailings with the plasma furnace was continued at CMRL for research and development of both solar and non-solar tile purposes. Differing melting techniques, feed mixes, and tile shapes were researched for future commercial application. Tile slumping occurred from previously manufactured pieces. A large number of small-scale pours were also conducted to allow for greater flexibility of input parameters and speed of testing. New feed additions included granite and autocatalysts.
Start Date 04/28/2008
End Date 12/31/2012
Matthew Mlinar PI