Ausmelt / Isasmelt Matte Smelting: Part Two

Extracto:
One of the additional uses of Ausmelt technology is to allow for the recovering of copper from nonsulfide materials, particularly slags and sludges. Most of the energy for smelting is obtained from oxidizing the concentrate's Fe and S. The vertical lance consists of two pipes-the inner for supplying supplementary hydrocarbon fuel, the annulus for supplying oxygen-enriched air.

The Technology
One of the additional uses of Ausmelt technology is to allow for the recovering of copper from non-sulfide materials, particularly slags and sludges. Its ability to control air and fuel inputs means that conditions can be changed from oxidizing to reducing without transferring the material to a second furnace. This is particularly effective for smelting Cu/Ni hydrometallurgical residues. The Technology can be applied to a wide range of applications and uses. This flexibility is due to its inherent ability to be operated and controlled over a wide range of oxygen potentials, from strongly oxidizing, neutral, through to strongly reducing. Operating temperatures range from 900C (lead) to 1400C and above (ferrous applications). This flexibility is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Operating Flexibility of Ausmelt Technology The Ausmelt furnace system is based on the use of a top submerged lance to inject combustion gases and fuel into a molten slag bath. The main features of the technology are illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Features of Ausmelt Technology The technology provides a variety of benefits and features including:

Submerged injection resulting in rapid mixing and fast reaction rates High reaction intensity allowing a high level of productivity per unit area of furnace. This minimizes the heat losses and fuel requirements per unit of product The use of non-consumable lances, using controlled cooling to solidify slag on its outer surface, protecting it from attack in a highly aggressive environment The use of a range of fuels, including coal, natural gas and fuel oils. This allows those fuels most readily and economically available to be used The ability to use oxygen enriched air to raise productivity, reduce offgas volumes and increase acid gas tenors when needed The capability to easily control the degree of oxidation and reduction by adjusting the fuel to oxygen ratio in the lance, and the addition of reductant coal with the feed The use of a stationary, well-sealed reactor to minimize fugitive emissions The ability to implement installations as either new plants or in retrofit installations The ability to use simple agglomeration and feed-rate control systems Waste heat recovery, when required, using conventional equipment A plant that is simple to operate and does not require a large number of highly skilled operators The use of advanced control systems to improve process control and product quality High level control of the process chemistry to ensure that the slag produced is disposable without further treatment High level control of the process chemistry for removal of impurities such as arsenic, antimony, bismuth and halides

Summary
Ausmelt and Isasmelt smelting is done in vertically aligned cylindrical furnaces ~3.5 m diameter and 12 m high. The

smelting entails:

Dropping moist concentrate, flux and recycle materials into a molten matte/slag bath in a hot furnace Blowing oxygen-enriched air through a vertical lance into the matte/slag bath

Most of the energy for smelting is obtained from oxidizing the concentrate's Fe and S. The vertical lance consists of two pipes-the inner for supplying supplementary hydrocarbon fuel, the annulus for supplying oxygen-enriched air. The outer pipe penetrates ~0.3m into the bath. The inner pipe ends ~1 m above the bath. The oxygen-enriched blast is swirled down the lower part of the lance by helical swirl vanes. This causes rapid heat extraction from the lance into the cool blast and solidification of a protective slag coating on the lance`s outer surface. This is a unique feature of the process. The principal product of the furnace is a matte/mixture. It is tapped into a hydrocarbon fired or electric settling furnace. The products, after settling, are 60% matte and 0.7% Cu slag.