USE OF COLEMANITE IN FERRONICKEL SMELTING
Abstract
Use of colemanite in metal-slag systems aims primarily to decrease the viscosity of slag and therefore to achieve better metal-slag separation. Enhanced metal-slag separation is helpful to decrease the number of suspended metal/alloy droplets in slag, i.e. the physical losses. In the literature, successful use of colemanite was reported both in steelmaking and copper matte smelting processes. Ferronickel smelting slags contain nickel in the range of 0.1-0.2% and correspondingly, metal-slag distribution ratio values of nickel are reported even above 200. On the contrary, nickel recoveries are hard to exceed 95%. This can be mostly attributed to the physical losses of nickel due to very high slag volume in ferronickel smelters; for 1 ton of ferronickel, 10-15 tonnes of slag are generated regardless of the type of the laterite, which contains significant quantity of gangue components. The authors thought that use of colemanite could be a solution to decrease physical losses. Therefore, the use of colemanite in ferronickel smelting was investigated in the present work. Laboratory-scale smelting experiments were conducted using calcined and prereduced laterites in a vertical tube furnace under different gas atmospheres. The amount of colemanite added was in the range of 0 - 2.5% of the total charge. The experiments were also performed using ferronickel and slag samples obtained from a ferronickel smelter.
References
K. H. Obst, J. Stradtman, The Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 72 (06) (1972) 158-164.
L. Ozmen, E. Inger, Proc. Sohn International Symposium, August 27-31, 2006, San Diego, USA, 2006, p. 299-306.
M. Timucin, N. Sevinc, Y. A. Topkaya, H. Eric, "Use of colemanite in the production of iron and steel" Tech. Report, No: 84-04-07-00-13, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, 1986.
A. Seki, Y. Aso, M. Okubo, F. Sudo, K. Ishizaka, "Development of Dedusting Prevention Stabilizer for Stainless Steel Slag" Kawasaki Steel Technical Report No. 15, Kawasaki Steel, 1986, p. 16-21.
E. Keskinkilic, Plant trials in Eregli and Steel Works Co. (Unpublished), 2005.
A. Geveci, Proc. 5th Science Congress, Turkish Scientific and Research Council, Ankara, Turkey, 1975.
A. Rusen, A. Geveci, Y. A. Topkaya, B. Derin, Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, 51 (2) (2012) 157-169.
A. Rusen, "Usage of Boron Compounds in Copper Production" PhD Thesis, METU, Ankara, 2013.
Ferronickel Production from Turkish Nickel Laterite Ores, Project No: 109M068, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), 15.02.2010 - 15.11.2011, Ankara, 2012.
Optimization of Ferronickel Production from Sivrihisar Nickel Laterites and Use of Boron Compounds to Increase Nickel Recovery, METU BAP Project-03-08-2012-002, Jan. 2012 - Dec. 2013, Ankara, 2014.
S. Pournaderi, "Optimization of Ferronickel Production from Sivrihisar Nickel Laterite Ore" PhD Thesis, METU, Ankara, 2014.
E. Keskinkilic, S. Pournaderi, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, Proc. 7th International Symposium on High-Temperature Metallurgical Processing, 2016 TMS Annual Meeting, 14-18 February 2016, Nashville, USA, 2016, p. 403-410.
E. Keskinkilic, S. Pournaderi, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, Proc. 2nd International Symposium on High-Temperature Metallurgical Processing, 2011 TMS Annual Meeting, Feb. 27-March 3, 2011, San Diego, USA, 2011, p. 319-326.
E. Keskinkilic, S. Pournaderi, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 112 (10) (2012) 877-882.
E. Keskinkilic, S. Pournaderi, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, Proc. ALTA 2011 Nickel-Cobalt-Copper, Uranium & Gold Conference, May 23-27, 2011, Perth, Australia, 2011.
S. Pournaderi, E. Keskinkilic, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, 53 (1) (2014) 26-37.
E. Keskinkilic, S. Pournaderi, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, Proc. 3rd International Symposium on High Temperature Metallurgical Processing, 2012 TMS Annual Meeting, March 11-15, 2012, Orlando, USA, 2012, p. 491-498.
S. Pournaderi, E. Keskinkilic, A. Geveci, Y.A. Topkaya, The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 117 (7) (2017) 695-703.
I. Mulliqi, A. Terzigi, L. Beqiri, B. Bajraktari, I. Ibrahimi, Proc. Trends in Development of Machinery and Associated Technology, 12-18 September, 2011, Prague, Czech Republic, 2011.
K. Kinson, J. E. Dickeson, C. B. Belcher, Analytica Chimica Acta, 41 (1968) 107-112.
C. P. Broadbent, N. C. Machingawuta, Proc. Paul Quineau Symposium, Denver, USA, 1993.
S. Chen, L. Erasmus, S. C. C. Barnett, E. Jak, P. C. Hayes, Proc. International Laterite Nickel Symposium-2004, March 14-18, 2004, Charlotte, USA, 2004.
E. Jak, P. C. Hayes, Proc. The Twelfth International Ferroalloys Congress Sustainable Future, Other Ferroalloys Fundamentals, June 6-9, 2010, Helsinki, Finland, 2010, p. 631-640.
I. Halikia, K. Skartados, P. Neou-Syngouna, Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, 111 (3) (2002) C135-C142.
E. N. Zevgolis, C. Zografidis, T. Perraki, E. Delvin, J. Therm. Anal. Calorim., 100 (2010) 133-139.
L. Rodd , N. Voermann , F. Stober, B. Wasmund, S. H. Lee, K. Y. Lim, J.-H. Yoo, S.-J. Roh, J.-H. Park, Proc. The Twelfth International Ferroalloys Congress Sustainable Future, Ferronickel Smelting, June 6-9, 2010, Helsinki, Finland, 2010, p. 697-708.
Authors retain copyright of the published papers and grant to the publisher the non-exclusive right to publish the article, to be cited as its original publisher in case of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media.
The Author(s) warrant that their manuscript is their original work that has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; and that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities at the institution where the work was carried out. The Author(s) affirm that the article contains no unfounded or unlawful statements and does not violate the rights of others. The author(s) also affirm that they hold no conflict of interest that may affect the integrity of the Manuscript and the validity of the findings presented in it. The Corresponding author, as the signing author, warrants that he/she has full power to make this grant on behalf of the Author(s). Any software contained in the Supplemental Materials is free from viruses, contaminants or worms.The published articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA).
Authors are permitted to deposit publisher's version (PDF) of their work in an institutional repository, subject-based repository, author's personal website (including social networking sites, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.), and/or departmental website at any time after publication.
Upon receiving the proofs, the Author(s) agree to promptly check the proofs carefully, correct any typographical errors, and authorize the publication of the corrected proofs.
The Corresponding author agrees to inform his/her co-authors, of any of the above terms.