A new mathematical model for copper concentrate combustion in flash smelting furnaces

Abstract

A novel mathematical model for combustion of a single copper concentrate particle is presented. The model includes particle volatilization, fragmentation, smelting, and combustion phenomena. This model has been incorporated into a general computational fluid dynamics code to calculate flow field and particle trajectories needed to simulate the smelting process in flash furnaces. In this model, Lagrangian approach was used to handle solid particles and droplets of liquid fuel charged, while Eulerian framework was used to handle the gas phase flow field. The results show that the effect of particle fragmentation was remarkable in flash smelting process as compared with experimental data and should be considered in combustion modeling. Moreover, the flash smelting process simulation results show that the reaction shaft design should be optimized based on a combination of furnace dimension and type of concentrate burners.