What happens when copper is smelted?
What happens when copper is smelted?
Because copper has a higher affinity for sulfur than oxygen, the copper in the slag (as copper oxide) is converted to copper sulfide. The copper sulfide is removed and the remaining slag is discarded. produced throughout the operation is vented to pollution control devices. One domestic smelter uses Hoboken converters.
What is produced by copper smelting?
The smelting process typically produces less than 3 tons of solid waste per ton of copper produced. Process gas streams containing sulfur dioxide are processed to produce sulfuric acid, liquid sulfur dioxide, or sulfur.
What is matte in copper smelting?
Matte smelting is the most common way of smelting copper–iron sulfur concentrates. It entails heating, oxidizing, and fluxing the concentrate at high temperatures, approximately at 1250℃. Matte smelting oxidizes most of the iron and sulfur in its input concentrates.
How does flash smelting work?
Flash smelting entails continuously blowing oxygen, air, dried particulate sulfide concentrate and silica flux into a 1300 °C furnace. The principal objective of flash smelting is to produce molten matte that is richer in Ni (and other metals) than the original concentrate.
Can copper be smelted?
Copper is produced in the U. S. primarily by pyrometallurgical smelting methods. Pyrometallurgical techniques use heat to separate copper from copper sulfide ore concentrates. A continuous process called floatation, which uses water, various flotation chemicals, and compressed air, separates the ore into fractions.
What is a copper rich ore?
These ores are a mixture of copper carbonate, sulfate, phosphate, and oxide minerals and secondary sulfide minerals, dominantly chalcocite but other minerals such as digenite can be important in some deposits. Often, the nature of the gangue is important, as clay-rich native copper ores prove difficult to liberate.
What is copper matte formula?
The chemical formula of copper matte is Cu2S+FeS. It is a combination of copper sulphide and iron sulphide. It is a phase in which extracted metal is converted into crude metal which is a final product.
What is Ruby copper?
Hint: Ruby copper is an important ore of copper. It is also known as red copper or cuprite. It is formed in the oxidised zone of copper sulphide deposits. Complete answer: Ruby copper is known as cuprous oxide.
What happens after smelting?
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy to produce a metal from its ore. Smelting uses heat and a chemical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other elements as gasses or slag and leaving just the metal behind. The reducing agent is commonly a source of carbon such as coke, charcoal, and coal.
What is difference between slag and matte?
The molten slag and matte are separated from each other in the settler. The matte being heavier in density settles at the bottom of the furnace and slag being lighter in density floats over the matte and is eventually discarded off. During the separation, selenium is distributed between slag and matte.
What do you need to know about flash smelting?
Flash smelting entails continuously blowing oxygen, air, dried particulate sulfide concentrate and silica flux into a 1300 °C furnace. The principal objective of flash smelting is to produce molten matte that is richer in Ni (and other metals) than the original concentrate.
How is ni sulfide produced in flash smelting?
It accounts for ~ 3/4 of Ni sulfide smelting [ 28 ]. Flash smelting entails continuously blowing oxygen, air, dried particulate sulfide concentrate and silica flux into a 1300 °C furnace. The principal objective of flash smelting is to produce molten matte that is richer in Ni (and other metals) than the original concentrate.
Where is sulfur dioxide produced in copper smelting?
Seventy-five percent sulfur dioxide is regularly produced by flash smelting copper concentrate, using pure oxygen, at the Sudbury, Ontario, smelter of the International Nickel Company. In this plant (the only flash smelting process in the Western Hemisphere) copper concentrate is smelted to about 45-percent matte.
What is the product of a copper smelting furnace?
The roasted product, calcine, serves as a dried and heated charge for the smelting furnace. Smelting of roasted (calcine feed) or unroasted (green feed) ore concentrate produces matte, a molten mixture of copper sulfide (Cu2S), iron sulfide (FeS), and some heavy metals.