Simulation of a primary smel ting reactor in copper smel ting process

Abstract

The present research is focused on the study of the effect of operating parameters on the performance of a primary smelting reactor (PSR) in a copper smelting process. The model of the PSR is developed by using METSIM program. Reactor parameters, i.e., heat loss, phase distributions of white metal, slag and gas, and the extent of reactions, are estimated based on actual plant data. The model prediction is validated with plant data and a good agreement is observed. The developed model is used for investigation the effect of various parameters such as feed rates of copper concentrate, oxygen, air, silica flux and revert, on the performance of the PSR in terms of the percentage of copper in white metal and slag, the percentage of magnetite and silica in slag and the temperature of the PSR. In addition, the influence of the variation of chemical contents in copper concentrate on the reactor performance is also investigated.