Outokumpu flash smelting process

The Allied Chemical process uses natural gas as the reductant, which is undesirable in the face of the diminishing supplies and increasing costs of natural gas. However, there is no obvious reason why the process cannot be operated on a producer gas generated from coal, as was done earlier with other processes (10). Another process using oil or pulverized coal as the reductant has been developed by Outokumpu Oy for use in conjunction with the Outokumpu flash smelting process (17). 

Jamsa-Jounela, S-L., Kojo, I., Vapaavuori, E., Vermasvuori, M. and Haavisto, S., 2001, Fault Diagnosis System for the Outokumpu Flash Smelting Process, Proceedings of 2001 TMS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, USA, pp. 569-578. 

The Outokumpu flash smelting process for lead is an extension of the successful flash smelting technology developed by Outokumpn for copper and nickel and applied to lead concentrates. It was developed and piloted at a 5 t/h treatment rate in the late 1980s bnt has not been commercially applied. 

Outokumpu [Named after a hill in Finland, near Kuusjarvi] A flash-smelting process for sulfide ores, ft is an energy-efficient process (also called an autogenous process), using mainly the heat of combustion of the contained sulfur to sulfur dioxide, rather than ary external source of heat. Developed R Bryk and J. Ryselin at the Haijavalta works of Outokumpu Oy, Finland, in 1946. Used mainly for copper ores, but also for nickel, iron, and lead by 1988, 40 plants were using the process worldwide. 

Outlier detection, in chemometrics, 6 56-57 Outokumpu flash smelting, 16 146 Outokumpu lead smelting process, 14 745 Outokumpu Oy process, selenium recovery via, 22 83... 

Weenink, E M, de Puy, E R and Duyvesteyn, W P C, 1990. Computer modelling of mass and energy balances for the Outokumpu lead flash smelting process, in Proceedings Lead-Zinc 90, The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Symposium, Anaheim, pp 597-606. 

The nickel smelting industry has drawn public attention to emissions of sulfur dioxide, which are detrimental to the environment. The Finnish company Outokumpu has developed a nickel flash smelting process, totally without converters. There were several economic motives for this, but the main reasons were to reduce sulfur emissions and to improve the working conditions. 

The Outokumpu flash smelting technology is well-known and has been widely applied in the processing of copper and nickel sulphide concentrates since the 1970s. There are now over 30 plants using this technology on a cotiunercial scale in the copper and nickel industries. Initial pilot tests with... 

The smelting of copper concentrates at Outokumpu Harjavalta plant is carried out in a flash smelting furnace. The copper smelting process is very sensitive to variations in the furnace feed. In custom smelters, like in Harjavalta, tens of different concentrates are treated. It has become clear that the variations in the feed mixture composition cause undesirable fluctuations in the matte percent, i.e. the copper content in tapped matte, which is closely related to the oxidation grade in the flash smelting furnace. Stochastic modelling has been applied successfully to similar blending processes (Westerlund et al. 1980). Thus, it was well motivated to analyse the dynamic behaviour of the feed mixture preparation process (Korpi 2000). 

The Direct Outokumpu Nickel (DON) process makes converting unnecessary, which is an important improvement environmentally. Now there is only one low, constant and highly concentrated flow of SO -rich gas from the flash smelting furnace, instead of the greatly fluctuating flow of converter gas of the conventional process. 

For a clear description of the history and technology of the process, see Krogerus, The Outokumpu process Flash smelting of lead concentrates in ELDC Proceedings (1990). 

The Outokumpu smelter operates in very much the same way as the Kiveet process. However, it consists of two separate furnaces, one for smelting and the other for electric slag cleaning. Between them is a short launder, through which directly reduced lead bullion and lead oxide slag flow continuously. The lead bullion can be separately tapped from the flash furnace, if required. 

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