2015-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2015 Volume 5: Vanyukov Intl. Symp. / Non-ferrous & KIVCET
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Kozlov P, Tsymbulov L, Fedorov A, Shumskiy V |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2015 |
| Pages: | 310 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-28-7 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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Experimental Investigation and Modelling of Microstructure and Phase Composition of Copper Smelting Slags
Konstantin Starodub1; Alex Kondratiev1; Vladimir Cheverikin1; Alexandra Khvan1; Alan Dinsdale1; Abdukahar Saynazarov2;1NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Moscow, Russian Federation; 2JSC, Almalyk, Uzbekistan;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 195
Topic: 6
Abstract:
Effective extraction of copper from sulphide ores requires careful operation of a copper smelter, which in turn depends very much on chemistry of the feed and resulted slag and matte. For example, chemical composition of copper smelting slags has to be in a certain range to ensure that their properties are within specific limits. Disobeying these rules may lead to complications in smelting operation, poor quality of the copper products, and premature shutdown of the copper smelter.
In the present paper, the microstructure and phase composition of slags from the Almalyk copper flash smelter were investigated experimentally and then modelled to evaluate potential ways of improvement and optimisation of the copper smelting process and its products. The slag samples were taken at different stages of the copper smelting process. Experimental investigation included the XRD, XRF and SEM techniques, which were also confirmed by the traditional wet chemistry analysis. Modelling was carried out using thermochemical software package MTDATA, which enables thermodynamic and physical properties of the matte, slag and gas phases to be calculated in a wide range of temperatures, pressures and chemical compositions.
It was found that the copper content in the slags may vary significantly depending on the location of slag sampling. Analysis of microstructure and phase composition showed that major phase found in the samples is fayalite, while other phases are complex spinels, different sulphides and an amorphous phase. Thermodynamic calculations demonstrated the presence of these phases, their compositions and optimal ranges of operating conditions. Potential ways of improving the matte grade and optimising the smelting process were suggested on the basis of the calculations.
Keywords:
Copper; Slag; Thermodynamics;References:
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[3] R.H. Davies, A.T. Dinsdale, J.A. Gisby, J.A.J. Robinson, and S.M. Martin: MTDATA - thermodynamic and phase equilibrium software from the National Physical Laboratory, CALPHAD, 2002, vol. 26, pp. 229-271.
[4] The International Centre for Diffraction Data, PDF-2 Database, Release 2014, http://www.icdd.com/products/pdf2.htm.
[5] S. Vaisburd, A. Berner, D.G. Brandon, S. Kozhakhmetov, E. Kenzhaliyev, and R. Zhalelev: Slags and Mattes in Vanyukov’s Process for the Extraction of Copper, Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2003, vol. 33B, pp. 551-559.