Abstract
Experimental study on the phase equilibria between copper matte with silica-saturated iron silicate slags was conducted at 1300 °C and P_{{{text{SO}}_{ 2} }} = 0.5 atm. The high-temperature isothermal equilibration in silica crucibles under controlled flowing CO-CO2-SO2-Ar was followed by quenching in an ice–water mixture and direct phase composition analyses by an electron probe X-ray microanalyzer. The equilibrium compositions for matte and slag, as well as the distribution coefficients, were displayed as a function of matte grade. The data set obtained at P_{{{text{SO}}_{ 2} }} = 0.5 atm and the previous study at P_{{{text{SO}}_{ 2} }} = 0.1 atm by the authors enabled an investigation on the impacts of P_{{{text{SO}}_{ 2} }} as well as Al2O3 and CaO additions on phase equilibria in the multiphase copper matte smelting system. Thermodynamic calculations using MTDATA software were performed to compare the experimental results with modeling. The present results enrich the fundamental thermodynamic information for the matte/slag/tridymite/gas equilibria in the primary copper smelting process at high P_{{{text{SO}}_{ 2} }} .
Highlights
COPPER flash smelting has been the leading technology for primary copper sulfide smelting[1] because of its low energy consumption and environmental impact, reduced operational costs, and high on-line availability.[2,3] The PSO2, generated by the slag and matte formation reactions, in the horizontal settler of the flash smelting furnace (FSF) is equal to the prevailing total pressure.[4,5] Since the late 1970s, the smelting capacity of the FSF has been increased by 100 to 200 pct since technical oxygen (> 95 pct O2) was adopted into copper smelting,[2,6] resulting in increased SO2 content of the off-gas to > 50 vol pct SO2
Accurate phase equilibria information of the copper matte and slag under a high PSO2 is essential for the copper smelting process from the standpoint of resource efficiency as well as stable and optimized operation
The present study provides new fundamental information for the experimental phase equilibria of copper mattes and different silica-saturated FeOx-SiO2, FeOxSiO2-Al2O3, and FeOx-SiO2-Al2O3-CaO slags under the conditions of 1300 °C and 0.5 atm PSO2
Summary
COPPER flash smelting has been the leading technology for primary copper sulfide smelting[1] because of its low energy consumption and environmental impact, reduced operational costs, and high on-line availability.[2,3] The PSO2 , generated by the slag and matte formation reactions, in the horizontal settler of the flash smelting furnace (FSF) is equal to the prevailing total pressure.[4,5] Since the late 1970s, the smelting capacity of the FSF has been increased by 100 to 200 pct since technical oxygen (> 95 pct O2) was adopted into copper smelting,[2,6] resulting in increased SO2 content of the off-gas to > 50 vol pct SO2. Accurate phase equilibria information of the copper matte and slag under a high PSO2 is essential for the copper smelting process from the standpoint of resource efficiency as well as stable and optimized operation. The main components of the copper matte-slag equilibrium are described by the Cu-Fe-S-O-SiO2 system. Industrial iron silicate-based copper smelting slags contain alumina (Al2O3), lime (CaO), Manuscript submitted April 20, 2020.
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