CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF SMELTING METALLIC LEAD DIRECTLY FROM LEAD AND SULFUR CONTAINING MATERIALS

摘要

A molten bath consisting of a slag phase is maintained in an elongated horizontal reactor. The charge is fed into the reactor on one side thereof onto the molten bath in a melting zone so as to maintain an oxidation potential which causes metallic lead and slag to be formed. Reducing agent is introduced into the slag phase on the other side of the reactor in a reducing zone. To ensure that the bismuth contained in the charge is collected in the smallest possible quantity of crude lead, such an oxidation potential is maintained in the molten bath in the melting zone that the lead phase contains 0.05 to 2% by weight sulfur, the high-Bi primary lead which becomes available in that zone is separately tapped, and the low-Bi secondary lead which becomes available in the reducing zone is also separately tapped.