9.5.1 Ore Concentration
The most common feed for lead production is sulfidic lead concentrate; which contains an average of 50-60% lead (occasionally as high as 70-80% or as low as 30%). Oxide lead con¬centrates are of secondary importance^
Lead ores in deposits are usually inter- grown with other minerals and with host rock. These crude ores are. not smeltable and must first be beneficiated into concentrates of much
higher lead content but with minimum loss of lead.
Ore beneficiation normally includes crush¬ing, dense-medium separation, grinding, froth flotation, and drying of concentrate. Lead flo¬tation is usually the first step in the separation of lead-zinc and lead-zinc-copper ores.
9.5.2 Smelting
The major process for the production of pri- maiy lead from a sulfide concentrate is the sin¬ter oxidation-blast furnace reduction route. Older processes involving direct oxidation of lead sulfide to lead or the roast reaction be¬tween lead sulfide and the oxidation products lead oxide and lead sulfate are now of little importance. In the last two decades new oxy¬gen metallurgy processes featuring sulfide ox¬idation in a flash flame or by oxygen injection into a slag bath, followed by reduction of the lead oxide slag, have advanced to industrial application.
In the Imperial Smelting Furnace process, lead is produced simultaneously with zinc. This process will not be considered here, for details see Chapter 10.
• Blast furnace reduction of the sinter prod¬uct.
The objective of sintering lead concentrates is to remove as much sulfur as possible from the galena and the accompanying iron, zinc, and copper sulfides, while producing lump ag¬glomerate of adequate strength combined with porosity for subsequent reduction in the blast furnace. The sulfur dioxide content of the sin¬tering gases is often recovered and used in sul¬furic acid production. The chemistry of the roast sintering process is complex because it involves many oxygen- and sulfur-containing lead compounds.
The Pb-S-O System. The Pb-S-0 system was investigated comprehensively by Kellogg and Basu [7] whose results were later confirmed by many investigators. Willis provides an excellent summary of the physical chemistry of the oxidation of lead sulfide [8], Lead in sinter occurs mainly as lead monoxide or lead silicate. The temperature of the sinter charge must be high enough to attain the area of PbO predominance (i.e., > 950 °C, see Fig¬ure 9.1).
Oxidation starts with the formation of lead sulfate, which is the stable reaction product at the oxygen and sulfur dioxide partial pressures and temperatures commonly used in sintering. Lead sulfate then reacts further with lead sul¬fide
decomposing to increasingly basic sul¬fates and ultimately to lead monoxide. Lead in dust carried out by the sintering gas is totally sulfated.
The composition of the sinter is important as regards its behavior in the blast furnace. The lead monoxide and lead silicate which ac¬count for most of the lead content are readily fusible and reducible. The integrity of the sin¬ter thus depends on the presence and quantity of other constituents, typically silicates of zinc, iron, and calcium, and ferrites. These substances are much more refractory than the lead compounds and provide a framework that keeps the sinter lump from disintegrating after the lead compounds have been removed.
Sinter Roasting Techniques. The develop¬ment of sinter roasting goes back to work by Huntington and Heberlein (1896), who pro¬posed that lead ores mixed with limestone chips be roasted in a converter with an air blast (blast resisting). Implementation of this idea became the basis of the modem sintering tech¬nique, which combines roasting with agglom¬eration of the charge in the sintering step.
A continuous sintering machine with a sin¬tering bell was devised in 1905-1908 by Dwight and Lloyd. At about the same time, von Schlippenbach introduced the circular sintering machine.
A distinction is made between downdraft sinter masting, where the air required for roasting is drawn downwards through the sin¬ter mixture, and updraft sintering, in which the air is blown upwards through the bed. Updraft sintering is preferred because it produces lower gas volumes of higher sulfur dioxide content that are suitable for sulfuric acid pro¬duction.
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