Matte Entrainment by SO2 Bubbles in Copper Smelting Slag

Abstract

The attachment of copper matte by bubbles in slags, during the copper smelting process, plays a key role in the copper loss. This paper aims to provide an in-depth insight into the copper matte entrainment by bubbles in the copper production. The bubble size distribution and matte film thickness as well as the bubble detachment height were considered based on industrial and laboratory slag samples. The results indicated that most SO2 micro-bubbles in both slag samples were below 650 µm, which could penetrate the interface and thus transport matte into the slag phase. The matte film thickness surrounding the micro-bubbles tended to be less than 30 µm and became thinner with increasing bubble size. Furthermore, micro-bubbles larger than 350 µm could theoretically rise by 0.5 m in the slag phase even with the drag force of the matte droplets.