FLASH FURNACE

SMELTING
• This can be done by either using the Outokumpu Process or the Inco Process.
• Flash smelting accounts for over 50% of Cu matte smelting. It entails blowing
oxygen, air, dried Cu-Fe-S concentrate, silica flux and recycle materials into a
1250°C hearth furnace.
• Once in the hot furnace, the sulphide mineral particles of the concentrate (e.g.
CuFeS2) react rapidly with the O2 of the blast. This results in controlled oxidation
of the concentrate’s Fe and S, a large evolution of heat and melting of the solids.
• The process is continuous. When extensive oxygen-enrichment of the blast is
practiced, it is nearly autothermal. It is perfectly matched to smelting the fine
particulate concentrates
( approx. 100 µm) produced by froth flotation.

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The products of flash smelting are:
(a) molten Cu-Fe-S matte, ~ 65% Cu, considerably richer in Cu than the input
concentrate,
(b) molten iron-silicate slag containing, 1 or 2% Cu
(c) hot dust-laden off gas containing, 30 to 70 volume% SO2.

The goals of flash smelting are to produce:

(a) constant composition, constant temperature molten matte for feeding to
converters.
(b) slag which, when treated for Cu recovery, contains only a tiny fraction of
the Cu input to the flash furnace
(c) offgas strong enough in SO2 for its efficient capture as sulphuric acid.

- There are two types of flash smelting i.e. the Outokumpu process and the
Inco process
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OUTOKUMPU FLASH
FURNACE

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• Fig. 5.1 shows a 2000-design Outokumpu flash furnace. It is 18 m long, 6 m wide and
2 m high (all dimensions inside the refractories). It has a 4.5 m diameter, 6 m high
reaction shaft and a 5 m diameter, 8 m high off gas uptake. It has one concentrate
burner and smelts about 1000 tonnes of concentrate per day. It has 5 matte tapholes
and 4 slag tapholes.
• Outokumpu flash furnaces vary considerably in size and shape. They all, however,
have the following five main features:
(a) concentrate burners (usually 1, but up to 4) which combine dry particulate feed
with O2-bearing blast and blow them downward into the furnace
(b) a reaction shaft where most of the reaction between O2 and Cu-Fe-S feed particles
takes place
(c) a settler where molten matte and slag droplets collect and form separate layers
(d) water-cooled copper block tap holes for removing molten matte and slag
(e) an uptake for removing hot SO2-bearing off gas.

Identify the materials used in furnace construction.

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Concentrate burner

• Dry concentrate and O2-rich blast are combined in the furnace reaction shaft
by blowing them through a concentrate burner. Dry flux, recycle dust and
crushed reverts are also added through the burner.

• A typical burner consists of:

(a) an annulus through which O2-rich blast is blown into the reaction shaft
(b) a central pipe through which concentrate falls into the reaction shaft
(c) a distributor cone at the burner tip, which blows air horizontally through
the descending solid feed.

• Special attention is paid to uniform distribution of blast and solid feed

throughout the reaction shaft. It is achieved by introducing blast and solids
vertically and uniformly into quadrants around the burner and by blowing the
solids outwards with central jet distributor air. 7
Supplementary hydrocarbon fuel burners

• All Outokumpu flash furnaces are equipped with hydrocarbon fuel burners
atop the reaction shaft and through the settler walls and roof. Shaft-top
burners keep the process in thermal balance. Settler burners eliminate cool
zones in the furnace. They are also used to adjust slag temperature.

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Matte and Slag tap holes

• Matte and slag are tapped through single-hole water-cooled copper ‘chill blocks’
imbedded in the furnace walls. The holes are typically 60-80 mm diameter. They are
plugged with moist fireclay which is solidified by the heat of the furnace when the
clay is pushed into the hole. They are opened by chipping out the clay and by melting
it out with steel oxygen lances.
• Matte is tapped via copper or refractory-lined steel launders into cast steel ladles for
transport to converting.
• Slag is tapped down water-cooled copper launders into:
(a) an electric settling furnace for Cu settling and recovery
(b) ladles for truck haulage to Cu recovery by slow cooling, grinding and flotation.
• Both withdrawals are only partial. Reservoirs of matte and slag, -0.5 m deep each are
maintained in the furnace.
• Tapping of matte is continuously rotated around its tap holes. This washes out solid
build-ups on the furnace floor by providing matte flow over the entire hearth.

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Solids feed dryer

• Flash smelting's concentrate and flux are always dried to ensure even flow
through the concentrate burner. Steam and rotary dryers are used . The water
contents of moist and dry feed are typically 8 and 0.2 mass% H 2O.

Bin and feed system

• Dried feed is blown up from the dryer by a pneumatic lift system. It is caught in
acrylic bags and dropped into bins above the flash furnace reaction shaft. It is
fed from these bins onto drag or screw conveyors for delivery to the concentrate
burner.
• Bin design is critical for controlled feeding of the flash furnace. Fine dry flash
furnace feed tends to ‘hang up’ on the bin walls or ‘flood’ into the concentrate
burner. This is avoided by ‘mass flow’ bins (Marinelli and Carson, 1992) that are
steep enough and smooth enough to give even flow throughout the bin.
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Oxygen plant
• The principal oxygen plant in an Outokumpu flash smelter is usually a
liquefaction/ distillation unit, 200-1000 tonnes oxygen per day. It delivers
90-98 mass% O2 industrial oxygen gas (2 atmospheres gage) to the flash
furnace. Oxygen-enriched blast is prepared by mixing industrial oxygen and
air as they flow to the concentrate burner. The oxygen is added through a
diffuser (holed pipe) protruding into the air duct. The diffuser is located ~6
duct diameters ahead of the concentrate burner to ensure good mixing.

• The rates at which oxygen and air flow into the concentrate burner are
important flash furnace control parameters. They are measured by orifice or
mass flow flowmeters and are adjusted by butterfly valves.

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Furnace Operation

• Operation of an Outokumpu flash furnace is begun by heating the furnace to its operating
temperature with hydrocarbon burners or hot air blowers. The heating is carried out
gently and evenly over a week or two to prevent uneven expansion and spalling of the
refractories.
• This is followed by blowing oxygen, air, dried concentrate, flux and particulate recycle
materials as a well-dispersed mixture into a hot reaction shaft. Smelting reactions are
extremely fast under these conditions. Outokumpu flash furnaces smelt up to 3000
tonnes of new concentrate per day.
• Modem Outokumpu flash furnaces operate with high oxygen blast and very little
hydrocarbon fuel. Most of the energy for heating and melting comes from Fe and S
oxidation. This operation also gives strong SO2 off gas from which SO2 can be captured
efficiently as sulphuric acid.
• Outokumpu flash furnaces are operated under automatic control to give constant
temperature, constant composition products at a rapid rate and with minimum energy
consumption. Matte and slag compositions are controlled by adjusting the following
ratios:

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• Product temperatures are controlled by adjusting (i) the N2/O2 ratio of the input
blast and (ii) hydrocarbon fuel combustion rate.
• Wide adoption of Outokumpu flash smelting is due to its efficient capture of SO 2,
its rapid production rate and its small energy requirement. Its only limitation is its
inability to smelt scrap.

Outokumpu flash furnaces:

(a) smelt up to 3000 tonnes per day of new concentrate
(b) produce ~ 65% Cu matte
(c) use 50-80% O2 blast, often slightly heated
(d) burn hydrocarbon fuel to some extent.
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Steady-state operation

Steady-state operation of a flash furnace entails:

(a) feeding solids and blast at a constant rate
(b) drawing SO2-rich gas from the gas uptake at a constant rate
(c) tapping matte from the furnace on a scheduled basis or as-needed by the
(d) tapping slag from the furnace on a scheduled basis or when it reaches a
converters prescribed level in the furnace.

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Impurity Behaviour

• Flash furnace concentrates inevitably contain impurities from their original

ore. They must be separated from Cu during smelting and refining. Table
5.2 shows that this is partially accomplished during flash smelting, i.e.
portions of the impurities report to slag and off gas while almost all the Cu
reports to matte.
• Important exceptions to this are gold, silver and platinum group metals.
They accompany Cu through to electro refining where they are recovered as
by products. Most Ni also follows Cu.

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INCO FLASH FURNACE

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• Inco flash smelting blows industrial oxygen, dried Cu-Fe-S concentrate, SiO2
flux and recycle materials horizontally into a hot (~1250°C) furnace. Once in
the furnace, the oxygen reacts with the concentrate by reactions discussed
earlier to give:
(a) molten matte, 55 to 60 mass% Cu
(b) molten slag, 1 to 2 mass% Cu
(c) offgas, 60 to 75 volume% SO2.

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• The matte is tapped into ladles and sent to converting. The slag is tapped into
ladles and sent to stockpile, with or without Cu-from-slag removal. The offgas is
water-quenched, cleaned of dust and sent to a sulphuric acid plant.
• The Inco flash furnace is also used to recover Cu from molten recycle converter
slag. The slag is poured into the furnace via a steel chute and water-cooled door.
• The Inco flash furnace uses industrial oxygen (no air) blast to smelt Cu-Fe-S
concentrates. It produces high Cu mattes. It introduces dry feed and industrial
oxygen through four horizontal burners and removes SO2 off gas through a central
gas uptake. The off gas is water-quenched and sent to a sulphuric acid plant to
capture its SO2.
• Very little nitrogen enters the Inco furnace so its blast and off gas handling systems
are small. Also, the off gas is strong in SO2, 60-75 volume%, ideal for SO2 capture.
• The process’s slag can contain less than 1% Cu so it can be discarded without Cu-
recovery treatment. This gives it a cost advantage over most other modern
smelting techniques. Also, converter slag can be recycled through the furnace for
Cu recovery. This procedure upsets, however, an otherwise steady process.

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Operation
• Inco flash smelting begins by heating the furnace to its operating
temperature over several days. Natural gas combustion or externally
heated hot air are used. Concentrate smelting is then begun, achieving full
smelting rate in about 8 hours.

Steady operation and control

• Smelting consists of steadily blowing industrial oxygen and dry feed into the
furnace while continuously removing off gas and intermittently tapping
matte and slag. The goals of the smelting are to:
(a) smelt dry concentrate at a specified rate ~1800 tonnes/day
(b) produce matte of specified composition ~ 60% Cu
(c) produce slag of specified composition and temperature ~ 34% SiO2,
1250°C.

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• The furnace operator uses four main adjustable parameters to achieve
these goals:
(a) dry feed rate
(b) dry feed composition
(c) industrial oxygen input rate
(d) natural gas combustion rate.

• Coke may also be added to the furnace, to supplement or replace natural

gas.

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