Experimental Investigation and Modeling of Copper Smelting Slags
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er of metallurgical plants utilize a flash smelting process (Outotec or Inco) in the extraction of copper from sulfide ores. In this continuous process fine particles of the Cu-Fe-S concentrate, SiO2 flux, and O2 (or air) are fed into a hot 1473 K to 1573 K (1200 C to
KONSTANTIN STARODUB, Ph.D. Student, ALAN DINSDALE, Lead Research Fellow, VLADIMIR CHEVERIKIN and ALEX KONDRATIEV, Senior Research Fellows, and ALEXANDRA KHVAN, Director, are with the SRC Thermochemistry of Materials, National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Leninskiy Prospect, 4, Moscow, Russia 119049. Contact e-mail: [email protected] YAROSLAVA KUMINOVA, Ph.D. Student, and VERA FILICHKINA, Head of the Department, are with the Department of Standardization and Quality Control, National University of Science and Technology MISIS. ABDUKAHHAR SAYNAZAROV, Chief Metallurgist, is with the JSC Almalyk GMK, Amir Temur St., 53, Almalyk, Tashkent Region, Republic of Uzbekistan. Manuscript submitted December 25, 2015. METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
1300 C) smelting furnace, where the sulfide particles react rapidly with oxygen, thereby converting sulfur into SO2 gas and producing molten matte and slag. The matte phase consists mostly of Cu-Fe sulfides, while the major components of the slag phase are FeO, Fe2O3, and SiO2, with small additions of other oxides like Al2O3, CaO, etc. Furthermore, the percentage of ferrous oxide in slag is much greater than that of ferric oxide, because the oxygen potential in the slag is normally very low. The copper smelting slags are usually referred to as the fayalite slags, since fayalite (Fe2SiO4) is one of the main phases crystallized on cooling. However, as found in the present paper, even at a particular smelter the slag composition can change significantly during its operation depending on the feed quality and composition and on smelting conditions. The essential goal of a matte smelting process (such as flash smelting) is to recover as much Cu from the concentrate into the molten matte as possible. The matte grades (the Cu percentage) can vary depending on the Cu content in the original ore and on the type and
operating conditions of the smelting furnace. Poor extraction of copper from the concentrate leads to significant copper losses with slag wastes (e.g., Reference 1). To reduce copper losses a detailed understanding of the matte-slag chemistry is necessary. In the present work a number of slag samples taken from different stages of an Inco flash smelting process located at Almalyk (Republic Uzbekistan) were investigated experimentally by conventional microstructure and analytical techniques and theoretically by the computational thermodynamics method to achieve better understanding of the process and to evaluate possible ways of process improvement and reduction of copper losses. Ten slag samples were taken from different steps of the Almalyk flash smelting process: at a slag deposition site, during slag tapping, and from the crust formed at the bottom of a slag ladle while being transported to a deposi
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