Lecture 21 Matte smelting: Materials balance
Contents:
Problem 1
Problem 2
Problem 3
Conclusions
Problem 1
A copper ore has the following proximate analysis wt. % :
Cu S 20, FeS 56,and SiO 24.
It is smelted in a reverberatory furnace using pure limestone as a flux. The slag has 36% FeOand
21% CaO.
Calculate (per 1000 of ore) weight of limestone, slag and matte.
Solution:
In solving material balance it is importantto have understood the chemistry of matte smelting.
In this problem slag consists of 36% FeO and 21% CaO slag will have all SiO in slag
% SiO in slag 43%.
All of ore enters into slag. balance gives weight of slag . .
To find weight of limestone we have to calculate CaO.
Amount of limestone 209.3 kg.
Matt is a mixture of Cu S FeS. for all calculation purposes. There is no loss of Cu in slag. All copper of
ore enter into matte.
Thereis loss of iron in slag.
Fe in matte Total iron iron in slag
Calculation gives weight of matte .
Problem2
A copper smelter smelts the ore of the following composition given below in weight percent:
Cu 10%, Fe 30%, S 10%, SiO 33%, CaO7%, Al O 4%, H O 6%. Limestone of composition
94% CaCO and 6%SiO is one‐fifth of the weight of the ore. The coke is 12% of the ore and its
ultimate analysis is wt. % C 82, SiO 8, Al O 5, Fe 2, S 2, H O 1. During smelting 25% of the total
sulphur charged is oxidized as SO . The analysis of dry flue gas (In Volume %)
SO 0.9, CO 11.4, O 9.2, N [Link] copper is lost in slag and ignore the flue dust.
Determine (for 1000kg ore):
a) The weight of matte and its grade,
b) Weight and composition of slag,
c) Volume of gases (dry), calculated from sulphur and carbon content,
d) Cubic meter of air.
Solution: Basis is 1000kg ore.
Matte consists of Cu S FeS.
Performing S balance and Cu balance one can find S combined with Cu and then amount of FeS
Weight of matt . and its Grade is . %
Slag consists of SiO , Al O , CaO and FeO, since all Fedoes not enter into matte.
One can find weight of each component
Weight of slag is 845.2 kg.
SiO2 41.6%
Al2O3 5.5%
CaO 20.7%
FeO 32.2%
Volume of gases
On performing S and C balance
. .
,
Problem 3
The proximate analysis of copper concentrate wt. % is as follows:
Cu S 20%, FeS 49%, SiO 26%, Al O 5%. The concentrate is smelted in a furnace in presence of iron
ore and limestone. The analysis of iron ore is 81% Fe O and 19% SiO and that of limestone is
93% CaCO and 7% SiO . The grade of matte is 45% and the ratio of SiO : FeO: CaO in slag is
45: 40: 15. The oil amounts to 12%of the charge and analyzes 85% carbon and 15% hydrogen. The air
used is 10% excess than theoretical required for smelting
Calculate (per tonne of concentrate):
a) Weight of each flux and weight of slag.
b) Volume of air and % composition of gases.
As said in lecture 20, fluxes are used in matte smelting to facilitate slag formation and removal of SiO .
Let x kg iron ore y kg limestone and z kg slag.
One can perform SiO , CaO and iron balance
1) SiO in concentrate SiO in iron ore SiO in limestone SiO in slag
2) CaO in CaCO CaO in slag
3) Fe in concentrate iron in iron ore Fe in matte Fe in slag
We can form 3 equations with 3 unknown.
x 133.6 kg iron ore
y 191.5 kg limestone
x 664.0 kg slag
Volume of air:
Air used for combustion and oxidation of sulphur to SO and Fe to FeO.
Amount of oil 159 kg
Assuming complete combustion, combustion reaction
C O CO
1
H O H
2
Oxidation reactions are
Fe 0.5 O FeO
S O SO
Theoretical O required from air O for combustion O for oxidation O available from Fe O
or iron ore.
Actual air 10%of theoretical air.
It is advisable that the reader should calculate using the above balances.
Acutal amount of air 2878 m
Composition of gases
%
CO2 5.86
SO2 5.01
H2O 4.70
N2 79.50
O2 1.93
Volume of gases 2858 m
Conclusion:
in this lecture technique to solve material balance problems in matte smelting is illustrated. There could
be other procedure also which may be simpler that what presented here. The lecturer of this course
would be extremely happy if the reader innovate any new procedure to solve the problems.
