Transient CFD Modeling of Matte Settling Behavior and Coalescence in an Industrial Copper Flash Smelting Furnace Settler

Flash Smelting Settler Design Modifications to Reduce Copper Losses Using Numerical Methods

“…The authors explained that lowering the slag viscosity by one-third reduced the copper losses by 37%. Similarly, average copper losses were 0.98% when they included the coalescence phenomenon in their numerical simulations, which were close to matte losses in an industrial scale FS settler [9]. In their work, Cheng et al revealed that entrained matte droplets in the slag phase are also associated with gas bubbles that cause the matte droplets to remain suspended.…”

“…When the slag phase is continuously tapped out of the settler, it forces the incoming slag/matte mixture immediately across to the opposite end of the settler towards the slag outlet and, therefore, copper matte losses are higher than normal [1]. These phenomena were confirmed by Schmidt et al [9].…”

“…This study is an extension of previous studies conducted on the FS settler [1,5,6,9] to observe the impact of applying different settler design modifications in the reduction in copper droplet losses, especially for small droplet sizes ≤100 µm, which are most at risk of staying suspended in the slag phase and being lost in tapping. Additionally, this work aimed to find ways to make the FS process more sustainable by reducing copper losses and making the settling part of the process continuous, whereby continuous streams of Processes 2022, 10, 784 3 of 15 matte and slag can be extracted through their respective tap holes from the settler without external interruptions.…”

“…Numerical studies have been conducted regarding copper matte settling and losses in slag and how to minimize these losses [1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The transient behavior of copper droplets' settling and losses in slag were numerically studied with the presence of the gas phase using coalescence and varying slag viscosity by Schmidt, Montenegro, and Wehinger [9]. The authors explained that lowering the slag viscosity by one-third reduced the copper losses by 37%.…”

Young Scientists – Juniorprofessor Gregor D. Wehinger stellt sich vor

“…8 zeigt den Aufbau und ausgewählte Ergebnisse der CFD-Simulationen. EMP-CFD-Simulationen wurden auch in einer kürzlich veröffentlichten Studie erfolgreich angewendet, um das Absetzverhalten und die Koaleszenz von Kupferstein in einem industriellen Schwebeschmelzverfahren der Aurubis AG für die Kupferherstellung vorherzusagen [28]. Kupferverluste in der Schlacke im Schwebeschmelzofen sind mit wirtschaftlichen Einbußen verknüpft.…”