Abstract
A mathematical model was developed to describe gas–liquid flow and mixing behavior in a new bottom blown oxygen copper smelting furnace, and the model validation was carried out through a water model experiment. The effects of different nozzle locations, nozzle numbers, and gas flow rates on the gas–liquid flow, gas total volume, and mixing efficiency were investigated. The results show that the gas–liquid two-phase flow and mixing time predicted by the present model agree well with the experimental data. When the nozzles are located near the center of the bath bottom, the gas total volume is larger, but the mixing efficiency is very low. With the increase of nozzle arrangement angle, the mixing time decreased. However, the excessive angle arrangement of nozzles exceeding 21° was found to be detrimental to the bubble residence time and mixing efficiency. With the increase in nozzle numbers from nine to 13, the gas total volume in the furnace increases, and the mixing efficiency does not change greatly. When the number of nozzles is further increased to 18, the mixing efficiency begins to decrease significantly. As the gas flow rate increases from 4.7 m3/h to 14.1 m3/h, the gas total volume in the furnace increases, and the mixing time is rapidly reduced from 314.5 s to 251.5 s. When the gas flow rate exceeds 18.8 m3/h, the gas total volume and mixing efficiency change little.
Highlights
Oxygen bottom blown copper smelting is a new technology where multiple oxygen nozzles are placed at the bottom of the furnace, and the oxygen-enriched air is directly injected into the blister copper layer for copper smelting to produce high-grade matte
The intense splashing often occurs in molten pool which leads to blockage of the feed port
In order to describe the mixing process in a bottom blown copper smelting furnace, the tracer transport equation is solved to predict the local distribution of tracer concentrations, and the mixing time can be obtained once the tracer concentrations of all monitoring points are within 5% deviation of the homogeneous value [10,13–15]
Summary
Oxygen bottom blown copper smelting is a new technology where multiple oxygen nozzles are placed at the bottom of the furnace, and the oxygen-enriched air is directly injected into the blister copper layer for copper smelting to produce high-grade matte. The smelting and slagging reactions of these particles with oxygen occur strongly in the injection zone In recent years, this technology has been widely used in China because it has many advantages such as good kinetic conditions, low investment, high SO2 concentration for acid plants, strong adaptability of raw materials and low energy consumption [1–5]. The intense splashing often occurs in molten pool which leads to blockage of the feed port. These problems are closely related to the phenomenon of fluid flow and mixing in the furnace, which needs to be studied deeply and systematically for efficient smelting. HHoowweevveerr,, tthhee uunnddeerrssttaannddiinngg ooff tthhee aaccttuuaall ffllooww aannddmimxiinxginbgehbaevhioarviinorthienfutrhneacefuurnndaecrediuffnedreenrt wdioffrekrienngtcowndoritkioinngs iscostnildlintiootncsomisprsethilelnsnivoet. TThhee aaiimm ooffpprreesseennttwworokrkisitsotdoedveevloeploapEaulEeur–leEru–lEerumleratmheamthaetmicaaltimcaoldmelotdoedletsocrdibeesctrhiebegatsh-eliqguaisdlfliqouwidafnlodwmainxdinmgixbienhgavbeiohravinioar ibnoattboomttobmlobwlonwcnopcopperpesrmsemlteilntgingfufrunrancaecereraeasosonnaabblylybbaasseedd oonn tthhee vveerriiffiiccaattiioonn ooff tthheewwaatteerrmmooddeel.l.TThheeimimppacatctofodf idffiefrfeernetnntonzozzlezlaerraarnrganemgeemntesn, tnso, znzolzeznleumnubmer,baenr,dagnads gflaoswflorawteroatnetohne tghaes-gliaqsu-liidqufliodwfloawndamndixminigxibneghbaevhioarviinorainboattboomttobmlowblnowconpcpoeprpsemreslmtinelgtifnugrnfuarcneaacree ainreveinstviegsattiegda,teadn,dapnrdopperorpoepreorapteinragtifnagctfoarcstoarres aprreopporosepdo.sed
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