By October 2018, there are 35 copper smelters under operation in China, with an annual output of 9860 kt refined copper. In copper matte converting, P-S converters are still used in 20 copper smelters in China, and the annual capacity of refined copper in these smelters is 5530 kt, accounting for 54.06% of the total. In the last two decades in China, many improvements in the P-S converting have been made, including the automatic monitoring and intelligent controlling. Besides the P-S converting, other converting technologies developed later, such as, the Kennecott-Outotec flash converting, the bottom blowing converting, the Ausmelt converting, the continuous converting using a Vaniukov furnace (for slagging) plus a furnace with multiple non-submerged lances (for copper making) and the continuous converting using a furnace with multiple non-submerged lances, have also been used successively in China.
Phase relationships of the CaO–ZnO system in equilibrium with air (PnormalO2 = 0.21 atm) have been studied for the first time using the equilibration/quenching/EPMA technique in the temperature range from 1000°C to 1600°C. In this study, the mutual solubility boundaries of the CaO and ZnO phases have been determined. Both CaO and ZnO have obvious solubilities in each other. The maximum solubility of ZnO in solid CaO phase is 23.21 at.% at 1535°C, and ZnO solid phase can take up to 4.81 at.% CaO at 1535°C. The eutectic point and parts of the liquidus lines have also been determined. The eutectic point was found to be at 1535°C ± 2°C and 0.6612 mole fraction of ZnO. No compound was found in this system, and there were two primary phases: halite‐structured CaO (lime) and wurtzite‐structured ZnO (zincite). Results from this study were compared with the CaO–ZnO phase diagram calculated by MTDATA 5.10 and its MTOX 8.1 database. The difference was significant, and the thermodynamic description of the system requires a reassessment.
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