A thermodynamic model of nickel smelting and direct high-grade nickel matte smelting processes: Part I. Model development and validation

Abstract

A thermodynamic model has been developed to predict the distribution behavior of Ni, Cu, Co, Fe, S, As, Sb, and Bi in the Outokumpu flash-smelting process, the Outokumpu direct high-grade matte smelting process, and the INCO flash-smelting process. In this model, as many as 16 elements (Ni, Cu, Co, Fe, As, Sb, Bi, S, O, Al, Ca, Mg, Si, N, C, and H) are considered, and two nickel sulfide species are used to allow for modeling of sulfur-deficient mattes. The compositions of the matte, slag, and gaseous phases in equilibrium are calculated using Gibbs free energies of formation and the activity coefficients of the components derived from the experimental data. The model predictions are compared with the known industrial data from the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter (Kalgoorlie, Australia), the Outokumpu Harjavalta Nickel Smelter (Harjavalta, Finland), the INCO Metals Company (Sudbury, Canada), and from a number of experimental data. An excellent agreement is obtained. It was found that the distribution behaviors of Ni, Co, Cu, Fe, S, As, Sb, and Bi in the nickel smelting furnace depend on process parameters such as the smelting temperature, matte grade, and partial pressure of oxygen in the process.

A thermodynamic model of nickel smelting and direct high-grade nickel matte smelting processes: Part II. distribution behaviors of Ni, Cu, Co, Fe, As, Sb, and Bi

“…[1] The content increasing matte grade, but {Ni} Mt , {Cu} Mt , and {Co} Mt of Fe 3 O 4 in the slag in the four modes was also in agreement decrease with increasing matte grade. This means that the with the predicted values.…”

“…This means that the with the predicted values. [1] The operation conditions and recovery rate of valuable metals such as nickel, copper, and the compositions of the charges for these test modes were cobalt is lower in the higher-matte-grade range, especially presented in detail. [2] These are necessary for this modeling for cobalt.…”

“…The thermodynamic model developed Fe 3 O 4 in the slag vs the matte grade is shown in Figure 2. previously [1] can be used to predict the behavior of these The values of (As) g and (Sb) g decrease as the matte grade elements in the nickel smelting process.…”

The recovery of platinum group metals from low-grade concentrates to an iron alloy using silicon carbide as reductant

“…Yet again the base metal solubility in the slag is highly dependent on the type of concentrate fed to a furnace. Some authors state that increasing the temperature reduces base metal solubility in slag [13,20,21], however others claim that it has a reverse effect [22,23]. Work done by Holzheid et al [24] showed that the solubility of cobalt in silicate melts are little dependent on temperature in the 1300 ℃ to 1600 ℃ range, however it was found that nickel solubilities increased significantly with increasing temperature and also increasing pressure.…”

“…Ultimately, this will increase the levels of base metals partitioning into the slag, however this may be somewhat due to entrapment of sulphide or matte phases [23].…”