Research and development of ausmelt technology

摘要

Ausmelt technology was invented in 1970 in CSIRO and was developed through to commercialisation with the construction of a plant for tin slag reduction in 1978 by the CSIRO team. In 1981 CSIRO decided to stop work on the development and the author left CSIRO to form the independent private company, Ausmelt Pty Ltd, to further market, develop and commercialise the technology. Research and development of the top submerged lancing high temperature reactor system and many industrial operations for which it has been, or is being developed has been done throughout this period. The antecedents of the technology and the stages of research and development carried out by CSIRO, Ausmelt and other organisations might be of interest to other scientists, enineers or organisations proposing to embark on commercial developments of this kind. Much of the research undertaken has its greatest value in understanding what goes on inside a high temperature reactor where visual observations and direct measurements are difficult, if not impossible. This is one of the areas for which Keith Brimacombe's work was much valued(1). I regarded Keith Brimacombe as a friend, from the days of our concurrent PhD's at Imperial College. I dedicate this paper to Keith's memory in recognition of his great contribution to the profession and the understanding of processes.