Energy Consumption in Copper Smelting: A New Asian Horse in the Race

Coursol, P.; Mackey, P. J.; Kapusta, Joël P. T.; Valencia, Nubia Cardona

doi:10.1007/s11837-015-1380-1

Cited by 41 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…As the copper concentrate becomes more and more complex, the control of arsenic is an important issue for all copper smelters [8]. The oxygen bottom blown smelting process (SKS process) is a newly developed intensifying smelting process, which has been widely applied to copper [9], lead [10,11], and antimony [12] production. Due to its strong adaptability to complex raw materials and high removal efficiency of arsenic from matte, the SKS process has proven to be an ideal method to treat the complex raw materials containing arsenic [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaction Mechanism and Distribution Behavior of Arsenic in the Bottom Blown Copper Smelting Process

Wang

Guo

Tian

et al. 2017

Metals

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Abstract:The control of arsenic, a toxic and carcinogenic element, is an important issue for all copper smelters. In this work, the reaction mechanism and distribution behavior of arsenic in the bottom blown copper smelting process (SKS process) were investigated and compared to the flash smelting process. There are obvious differences of arsenic distribution in the SKS process and flash process, resulting from the differences of oxygen potentials, volatilizations, smelting temperatures, reaction intensities, and mass transfer processes. Under stable production conditions, the distributions of arsenic among matte, slag, and gas phases are 6%, 12%, and 82%, respectively. Less arsenic is reported in the gas phase with the flash process than with the SKS process. The main arsenic species in gas phase are AsS (g), AsO (g), and As 2 (g). Arsenic exists in the slag predominantly as As 2 O 3 (l), and in matte as As (l). High matte grade is harmful to the elimination of arsenic to gas. The changing of Fe/SiO 2 has slight effects on the distributions of arsenic. In order to enhance the removal of arsenic from the SKS smelting system to the gas phase, low oxygen concentration, low ratios of oxygen/ore, and low matte grade should be chosen. In the SKS smelting process, no dust is recycled, and almost all dust is collected and further treated to eliminate arsenic and recover valuable metals by other process streams.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaction Mechanism and Distribution Behavior of Arsenic in the Bottom Blown Copper Smelting Process

Wang

Guo

Tian

et al. 2017

Metals

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“…Most copper is produced by the pyrometallurgical processes. The oxygen bottom blown copper smelting process is a newly developed intensified smelting process, which has been widely applied in copper production in China in the past 10 years [1,2]. This process was first industrially tested in the Shuikoushan (SKS) smelter in 1990 and was named originally as the "SKS process", which is now also referred to as BBS (bottom blown smelting) or BBF (bottom blown furnace).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Matte Grade on the Distribution of Minor Elements (Pb, Zn, As, Sb, and Bi) in the Bottom Blown Copper Smelting Process

Wang

Guo

Tian

et al. 2017

Metals

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Abstract:With increasing impurity contents in concentrates, the control of the minor elements is an important issue for the oxygen bottom blown copper smelting process (Shuikoushan process or SKS process). In this work, the distribution behaviors of the minor elements (such as Pb, Zn, As, Sb, and Bi) among the matte, slag, and gas phases as a function of matte grades was investigated by adjusting the ratios of oxygen/ore in the SKS process. With a matte grade around 70%, about 82% As and 70% Bi enters the gas phase, and about 70% Sb and 64% Zn reports to the slag phase, while 55% lead enters the matte phase. The tendency of changes in the distribution of the minor elements in the SKS process is different from that in the Isasmelt process and the Flash smelting process. It may be concluded from this study that the distributions of the minor elements could be optimized to reduce adverse effects in the SKS process by regulating the matte grade.

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“…Modern technologies such as the Kennecott continuous converting [4] or the SKS/BBS reactor [5] usually treat mattes with up to 75 mass% copper and higher oxygen enrichment. For example, the Kennecott flash converter allows blasting air enriched with up to 85 vol% oxygen, Fig.…”

Section: So 2 Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exergy in Copper Converting and Its Relation to SO2 Emissions

Pineda

Plascencia²

2016

J. Sustain. Metall.

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Extractive metallurgy of copper is characterized by being energy intensive and also for producing large amounts of fugitive emissions. Particularly, traditional copper converting generates toxic off-gases with up to 7 vol% of SO 2 . The mass and energy balances show that the amount of SO 2 in the process gases may be decreased by improving the energy usage. Furthermore, an exergy analysis reveals the amount of wasted energy susceptible to improve the off-gas capture and cleaning. The copper content in the matte along with the usage of oxygen-enriched air substantially improves the operating conditions in a copper converter. The latter is confirmed in new copper-refining practices.

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Energy Consumption in Copper Smelting: A New Asian Horse in the Race

Cited by 41 publications

References 7 publications

Reaction Mechanism and Distribution Behavior of Arsenic in the Bottom Blown Copper Smelting Process

Reaction Mechanism and Distribution Behavior of Arsenic in the Bottom Blown Copper Smelting Process

Effects of Matte Grade on the Distribution of Minor Elements (Pb, Zn, As, Sb, and Bi) in the Bottom Blown Copper Smelting Process

Exergy in Copper Converting and Its Relation to SO2 Emissions

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