Suspension melting of finely divided sulphur-contg. ores

摘要

The suspension melting of finely divided, sulphur-bound, ores containing metals such as copper, nickel and lead by oxygen enrichment of process gas together with flux in a reaction chamber with cooled walls, producing at least two phases of melt. The at least 40%, oxygen enrichment raises the ore particle temperature at least 200 deg above its gas phase in order to improve the speed of reaction. Cooling elements in the walls of the reaction chamber control the insulation characteristics according to the rate of production. Also claimed is the plant consisting of (a) means for supplying ores (4,5), flux (6) and oxygen enriched process gas (7), (b) means for extracting molten phases (9,10) and gas phases (16,17,12) and (c) means for adding fuel (15).