Laterite nickel ore smelting process

China's nickel ore types are mainly divided into copper sulfide nickel ore and laterite nickel ore. The nickel content of laterite nickel ore is lower than that of nickel sulfide ore. In the past, it was not taken seriously. However, with the depletion of recoverable nickel sulfide ore resources and the rising demand for nickel demand, enterprises began to turn their attention to laterite nickel ore. some steel companies plan to import large quantities of Indonesia laterite nickel ore to processing to reduce production costs. With the continuous development of laterite nickel ore resources, the nickel ore smelting process of laterite has attracted more and more attention.

In general, we currently divide the smelting process of laterite nickel ore into three categories, namely, the fire process, the wet process, and the fire-wet process. The following China Minerals Commercial Network experts will explain the process of each smelting process for you.

1, fire process

The pyrometallurgical process of laterite nickel ore can also be divided into three categories: nickel-iron process, nickel-sulfur process and reduction roasting-magnetic separation.

(1) ferronickel process

Nickel-iron is a product that treats nickel laterite ore by fire method. The process is: firstly crush the ore to 50-150mm, calcinate in rotary kiln, produce calcined at 700 °C, add it to the furnace, and then add 10-30mm volatile coal, after 1000 ℃ smelting reduction, the crude output of nickel-iron alloy, and then after blowing output of finished nickel-iron alloy.

(2) Nickel-sulfur process

The process is to add sulphur in the 1500-1600 ° C smelting process of the ferronickel process, produce low nickel sulphur, and then produce high nickel sulphur by converter blowing. The factories that produce high-nickel sulphur are: France Nickel, Indonesia's Sulawesi. Solo Arco smelter.

(3) reduction roasting-magnetic separation method

The method utilizes fly ash as a reducing agent to strongly reduce solid phase nickel oxide and cobalt oxide at a high temperature of 450 ° C, so that nickel and cobalt in the calcine are 100% metallic, and then nickel and cobalt are recovered by wet magnetic separation.

2, wet process

The wet smelting process of laterite nickel ore can be divided into: reduction roasting-ammonia leaching process and atmospheric pressure acid leaching process, in addition to pressurized acid leaching process, microwave heating-FeCl3 chlorination method, bioleaching process and the like.

(1) Reduction roasting-ammonia leaching process

The law was invented by Professor Caron and was first received in Cuba. The process is as follows: the red earth is reduced at a temperature of 700 ° C and calcined into nickel and cobalt alloy, and then subjected to multi-stage countercurrent ammonia leaching. Metals such as nickel and cobalt enter the leachate. The leachate is precipitated by vulcanization, and the mother liquor is precipitated and then iron is removed and ammonia is evaporated to produce basic sulfuric acid. After calcination, it is converted into nickel oxide, and nickel powder can also be produced by reduction.

(2) Atmospheric pressure acid leaching process

This method is currently a hot trend in the study of laterite ore processing. The process is as follows: grinding and classifying the nickel laterite ore, firstly reacting the ground slurry with the washing liquid and sulfuric acid under a heating condition, leaching the nickel in the ore into the solution, and then using the calcium carbonate. The neutralization treatment is carried out, and the solid-liquid separation is carried out by filtration, and the leaching solution is obtained by using CaO or Na2S as a precipitating agent to carry out nickel precipitation.

3, fire method - wet method combined process

The fire-wet process combined with the factory, currently only the Japanese metallurgical company's Dajiangshan smelter. The main process is as follows: the raw ore is finely mixed with pulverized coal, the ore is dried and the high temperature is reduced and calcined, the ore is calcined and finely ground, and the slurry is separated by ore to obtain a nickel-iron alloy product.

It is believed that with the increasing scarcity of nickel sulphide resources, the expansion of nickel production will mainly rely on laterite nickel ore. The smelting process of laterite nickel ore will also become the key to the rapid development of the nickel industry.

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