Platinum Thermocouple wire is used in the heating and cooling industries due to its favorable properties. A thermocouple wire refers to a wire with two junctions, joined at each end. Each of the two junctions is made from different materials and the wire is used for measuring temperature variations. The heating and cooling industries use platinum thermocouple wire for temperature sensing and regulation.

Platinum thermocouple wire is widely used because of its highly sensitive nature to temperature. The wire can measure wide variations of temperature. The Thermocouple wire’s two distinct junctions are typically used separately, in which one junction is placed where the temperature is to be determined, while the other junction is kept at a lower temperature.

There are different types of platinum thermocouple wire and each has its own merits and demerits. However, the most commonly used types of platinum thermocouple wire consist of two junctions of platinum and rhodium. The two metals are typically used in varying percentages and will offer corresponding accuracies depending on their percentages. Typically, the level of accuracy depends on the ratios used for each metal, but will generally decrease with different levels.

For instance, the low cost types of platinum thermocouple wire have poor accuracy. On the other hand, the high end, expensive platinum thermocouple wire gives ‘almost accurate results.’ Note that one major challenge for platinum thermocouple wire is accuracy. Even the high end types of the wire may not give utmost accuracy, but at least their readings are dependable.

Industrial applications of platinum thermocouple wire include usage in kilns, gas turbines, engines etc. The most widely manufactured types of thermocouple wire include the type B, R and S. Each type of platinum thermocouple wire uses varying percentages of the two metals, platinum and rhodium. Therefore, how sensitive the wire is absolutely depends on the combining ratios used by a manufacturer. In industrial applications however, the low sensitivity platinum thermocouple wire are preferred. Low sensitivity platinum thermocouple wire can be used for taking high temperature differences.

In industrial heating and cooling, the use of platinum thermocouple wire relies on the innate properties of the wire. That is, platinum thermocouple wire is capable of generating its own current. In industrial heating and cooling, the wire is used in sensing temperature differences and correcting them accordingly.  If one end of the wire has temperatures that are too high or low, it triggers a reverse action that seeks to correct the temperature difference. Electrical energy in the wire is turned into heat and then supplied to the hot side to maintain the electric potential across the wire. By so doing, the platinum thermocouple wire maintains a temperature balance in the system.
 

Tags platinum  thermocouple wire  heating  cooling 

Posted by Mike Gupton at 9:26 AM 0 Comments

Recycling strategy not necessarily a platinum pick as the junior prepares to announce a $2 million private placement to fund an expansion of its Quebec plant.

MONTREAL - For reasons that remain unclear, shares of Resources Minieres Pro-Or Inc. (TSX: V.POI, Stock Forum) took off like a rocket last week, rising to a 52-week high of 54 cents.

The jump from 15.5 cents on April 11 was so dramatic that it caught the attention of stock market surveillance staff, prompting Pro-Or to issue a statement saying that management is unaware of any material change in the company’s operations that would account for the recent market activity.

After slipping back to 29 cents on Thursday, the company has a market cap of 13 million, based on 44 million shares outstanding. The stock trades in a 52-week range of 54 cents and 11 cents.

Pro-Or’s asset include to be a patented Platinum Group Metal (PGM) recovery process that was initially developed at the University of Quebec and allows for the extraction of platinum, palladium and rhodium from recycled catalytic converters, the company said.

Catalytic converters are used in the auto sector to reduce emissions from internal combustion engines.

In an interview, Pro-Or President Pierre Gevry said the stock’s recent rise may have been due to a number of factors, including the decision to hire a new engineer to oversee the reorganization of the PGM recovery plant. It is located in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, an industrial park located near Quebec City.

“That was my answer to the stock exchange,’’ said Gevry in a telephone interview with Stockhouse.

He said investors may also be mindful of the fact that he is a founder of Exploration Orbite V.S.P.A. (TSX: V.ORT.A, Stock Forum), which has the mining rights to an aluminous clay deposit in Quebec’s Gaspe region. However he says he no longer has any involvement with Orbite.

Gevry is also President of Les Mines J.A.G. (TSX: V.JML, Stock Forum), which is engaged in exploration for gold and industrial metals as well as petroleum.

Aside from the pilot plant, Pro-Or’s other key asset is a Quebec mining property, which contains a NI 43-101 compliant chromite resource and is being explored under an option deal with Everett Resources Ltd. (TSX: V.EAR, Stock Forum), a junior company that was trading at 5.5 cents on Thursday.

Chromite ore can be used to make ferrochromium, which in turn is used to make stainless steel and other alloys.

Everett can earn a 50% stake in the 3,062-hectare Menarik property by spending $5 million on exploration over three years, including one million by August 19, 2011. It must also issue 4.5 million shares to Pro-Or over two years. The property is about 45 kilometres to the southeast of Radisson.

August 2010 Placement A Winner

Pro-Or’s recent rise has been great for people who participated in an August 2010 financing that raised $750,000 from the sale of five million class A shares at 15 cents a share and five million warrants in a private placement deal. The warrants entitle the holder to purchase class A shares at 25 cents each for one year after the financing close.

According to the company’s financial statements, Pro-Or had $143,036 in cash at the close of the three months ended September 30, 2010 when it posted a loss of $301,592. It also reported a loss of $108,672 in the same period last year.

As of September 30, 2010 regulatory filings show that there were 15.7 million warrants outstanding at an average exercise price of 44 cents a share. That includes six million that are exercisable for between 25 cents and 35 cents and expire in June and August this year.

Meanwhile, Pro-Or shareholders are facing more dilution as the company prepares to announce a $2 million financing deal that will involve the placement of 20-cent shares and attached warrants, Gevry said. “We figure that we need the money to go ahead with the plant,” Gevry said.

The fact that the company is proceeding with the private placement will be announced within the next 10 days, he said.

Prior to the stock price rally, Pro-Or was experiencing problems with its metals recovery process in the pilot plant, which is designed to produce about 50 tonnes of concentrates annually. Gevry said each tonne of concentrate should contain about $100,000 worth of metal. Pro-Or spent $130,000 buying catalytic converters last year from local suppliers, regulatory filings show.

An initial 700-kilogram shipment of platinum group metals (Rhodium, Platinum and Palladium) in concentrates was shipped to the refiner a few weeks ago, the company said in a news release on December 10. It produced 9.868 ounces of platinum, 9.465 ounces of palladium and 1.894 ounces of rhodium

Still, the resulting revenue of US$24,457.45 was lower than anticipated due to reactor and ventilator problems ,which have now been remedied, according to the company.

Gevry said he is planning to use proceeds of the private placement financing to expand the capacity of the pilot plant to about 3,000 tonnes of concentrates per year. Existing shareholders, it seems, will have to take some pain (in the form of stock market dilution) in the hope that a PGM plant proves to viable.

Shareholders must also hope that recent glitches really have been resolved.

Tags platinum  platinum group metals  PGM's  PGM 

Posted by Mike Gupton at 5:14 PM 0 Comments

The Fixing price represents the matching of orders from customers throughout the world. The Fixings make it possible for any interested party, be they supplier, consumer, dealer or investor, to trade at the price at which every current interest is satisfied.

KMG Gold Recycling posts the LPPM fixings and uses the fix prices for buying and selling platinum and palladium..

The system of Fixings is recognised as providing a valuable reference point, which is of particular benefit in volatile market conditions.

All deals are based on the published Fixing price. The Fixing price is immediately transmitted by the international news agencies and is a respected reference price used by industrialists and producers worldwide.

Above all, the Fixing procedure is simple, easy to understand and ensures the broadest possible participation in the market.

The Fixings commence at 9.45 am and 2.00 pm London time and take place on every day on which members are open for dealing in London. They are conducted by telephone. Dealing is in respect only of brands acceptable as good delivery under the London/Zurich Good Delivery list for platinum and palladium as in effect from time to time.

The Fixing members elect a chairman, who presides over the Fixing. At the commencement of each Fixing the chairman announces an opening price which is relayed to the members’ dealing rooms. This is in turn relayed to the customers of members and, on the basis of orders received, members declare as a buyer or seller. Provided both buying and selling interests are declared, members are then asked to state the amount in which they wish to trade. If the amounts of buying and selling do not balance, the same procedure is followed again at higher or lower prices until a balance is achieved. The Fixing price should be the price at which all buying and selling orders declared by members at the Fixing can be matched and it is the responsibility of the Chairman of the Fixing to determine when this occurs.

A feature of the Fixings is that customers may be kept advised of price changes throughout and may alter their instructions at any time until the price is fixed. If all orders cannot be balanced at any price the Fixing price shall be determined by the Chairman of the Fixing, at his discretion, having due regard to prevailing bids and offers. Exceptionally a pro-rata settlement may be necessary. Buying and selling orders are expressed in U.S. dollars per troy ounce.

Fixing members’ customers who sell at the Fixing receive the Fixing price without deduction of commission. The commission payable by Fixing members’ customers who purchase at the Fixing is by negotiation.

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, settlement shall be made two business days after the date of the contract and for settlement purposes Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays in London, Zurich and/or New York are to be considered non- working days. Unless otherwise agreed delivery shall be made at the vaults of the member, in London or Zurich.

Tags platinum  palladium  london fix  good delivery 

Posted by Mike Gupton at 3:09 PM 0 Comments

Source: Platinum Today 03/15/2011

Production levels in several major industries are anticipated to fall as Japanese firms close factories and plants following last week's earthquake and tsunami.

The problem will be compounded by a series of rolling black-outs as electricity providers cut power to cope with the loss a number of nuclear plants.

Japan's largest carmaker Toyota initially shut two of its factories immediately after the earthquake.

It has now said all factories, including its subsidiary vehicle manufacturers, will be closed until March 16th.

According to Dow Jones, the shutdown will result in a production loss of 40,000 vehicles.

Meanwhile, the news provider reports that Honda will stop production at all of its Japanese factories until Friday (March 18th) with the loss of around 16,600 vehicles and 2,000 motorcycles.

Nissan has also closed several of its plants with a resulting drop in output expected.

Dow Jones reveals that platinum and palladium prices fell sharply as a result of the closures, noting that these metals are widely used in the automotive industry for catalytic converters.

It is thought that the drop in car production will only have a temporary effect on metal prices.

Standard Bank analyst Marc Ground is reported by the news agency as saying to clients: "Auto production can be shifted from Japan elsewhere. . .ultimately damaged vehicles need to be replaced in the country."

Authorities may, however, be concerned about the wider effects of the disaster on industry, with Tokyo Electric Power initiating black-outs across Japan until the end of April, while there was also a fire at a Cosmo Oil refinery.

"I would say the biggest risk is power," Takuji Okubo, chief Japan economist at Societe Generale, told Reuters.

www.kmggold.com

Tags platinum  production  cars  auto industry  catalytic converters 

Posted by Mike Gupton at 7:15 PM 0 Comments

For many centuries-from the days of the Egyptians up to about 1900 A.D-the metals used in jewellery were gold and silver. Copper and zinc were added to cheapen and to strengthen it. The processes of melting and refining were simple, well known, and adequately described in the literature. A person wishing to learn the art or trade could do so either through the printed word, or by apprenticing themselves to some older artisan.

But at about the beginning of the 20th century, platinum entered the fields of jewelry-making and dentistry. By the time we entered the first World War, it had burst like a nova into first magnitude in the jewellery firmament. Its sister metals, palladium and iridium especially, came along with it. Immediately the problems of refining, separating, and remelting the scrap metal became a problem.

At first, say up to about 1915, comparatively few jewellery shops in the whole world were equipped to melt their platinum scrap, and the task of separating the platinum from the gold scrap was equally beyond their powers; a handful of professional refiners handled the entire output. Reasons for this were several; preoccupation with war was only one. The habit of secrecy among many workers was a potent reason; the institution of apprenticeship was dying out; the literature of platinum was scanty and so highly technical as to discourage the average reader. Platinum was so valuable that in many shops the proprietor did all the melting and refining himself such as it was and excluded all workmen from the room where he worked, thus increasing the superstitions and mis-information that collected around the whole subject.

A practical reason was the fact that the melting point of platinum is much higher than that of silver or gold; so high, in fact, that an oxygen flame is required for melting it. That is, a gold-melting furnace, using gas or coke with compressed air, is not hot enough to melt platinum. The fuel must be combined with oxygen which is now provided in steel cylinders in order to attain the necessary high temperature. The lack of compressed oxygen was a major factor in the non-use of platinum; its introduction at low prices was a major factor in its popularization.

Nor were these the only complications that beset the precious metal worker of the early Nineteen Hundreds. New gold alloys appeared white golds, blue golds and green golds which made refining more difficult. Electroplating became more common, adding its cyanide solutions to the duties of the refiners. Chromium and rhodium plating did their bit to complicate matters. Stamping laws that insisted upon definite percentages of metal and alloy added further to the legal, as well as his ethical responsibilities.

Indeed it has been said, with truth, that there have been more changes in precious metal recycling technology during the last thirty years, than during the previous thirty centuries.

Tags platinum  refining  recycling  dental gold  history 

Posted by Mike Gupton at 3:54 PM 0 Comments

What is Thermocouple Wire?

Platinum thermocouple wire is used as a sensor for measuring temperature, that consists of two dissimilar metals that are joined together at the sensing end. Typically platinum and rhodium. Different thermocouple types (e.g. R, S, B, etc.) use different alloys of platinum and rhodium in the wire.

The resistance to the flow of electricity in metallic materials varies with temperature. This can be used to good effect in platinum resistance detectors. Platinum is particularly stable both electrically and mechanically and is also stable with respect to time, producing a relatively linear change in resistance versus temperature.
Because the output resistance change to temperature is relatively small, it follows that lead lengths and resistances are therefore important features. In general when lead lengths are short, or can be considered as an acceptable additive content, two wire configuration is sufficient.

Thermocouples employing platinum in combination with platinum-rhodium alloys, gold, or palladium have been found to be the most reproducible of all the various types. They are resistant to oxidation in air and, because of their high melting points, can be used up to very high temperatures. The best-known member of this group is Pt10Rh/Pt* (or type S, or 10/0).

Platinum thermocouple wire can be worth as much as $50 per gram

Tags Platinum  Thermocouple wire  rhodium 

Posted by Mike Gupton at 7:06 PM 0 Comments