A Radiometric Technique for Monitoring the Desulfurization Process of Blister Copper

Abstract

In this paper, a novel optical technique for following the progress of the blister copper desulfurization process is presented. The technique is based on the changes observed in the continuous spectrum of the visible–near-infrared (VIS–NIR) radiation that the blister melt emits while the chemical reactions of the sulfur elimination process are taking place. Specifically, the proposed technique uses an optical probe composed of an optical fiber, a collimating lens, and a quartz tube, which is immersed in the melt. This optical probe provides a field of view of the blowing zone where the desulfurization reaction occurs. The experimental results show that the melt VIS–NIR total irradiance evolves inversely to the SO2 concentration reported by a gas analyzer based on differential optical absorption spectroscopy. Furthermore, the blister copper spectral emissivity as well as the total emissivity observed throughout the process show strong correlation with the sulfur content during desulfurization reaction.

Mineralogical Analysis of Solid Sample Flame Emission Spectra by Machine Learning

“…Recent work on sensing systems for pyrometallurgical processes has focused on the development of sensors based on fiber optic probes to monitor the flame within the flash furnace. [2][3][4][5][6] The intensity of the flame emission, its temperature from blackbody radiation, and some atomic and molecular information can be obtained from these probes by applying, for example, principal component analysis (PCA) to the spectral datasets. 7 Unfortunately, iron and copper concentrations cannot be quantified from the respective atomic emission lines due to insufficient thermal energy of the flame in a flash furnace.…”

Burner system for solid sample flame emission spectroscopy

“…2 Sensing systems for pyrometallurgical processes used fiber optic probes to monitor the flame within the flash furnace. [3][4][5][6][7] For example, in a recent study, the intensity of the flame emission, its temperature from blackbody radiation 1 , and some atomic and molecular information were obtained using air-cooled fiber-optic probes by applying principal component analysis (PCA) to the spectral datasets. 1 Here, we demonstrate a sample analysis system based on the flame emission of a solid sample introduced directly into a high-temperature acetylene-nitrous oxide flame.…”