Questions about copper smelting?
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In our company’s continuous smelting furnaces used for smelting, to convert one batch of copper into secondary matte, slag needs to be added three times in general. The slag had high fluidity on the first attempt, good fluidity on the second attempt, and very poor fluidity on the third attempt. In other words, the Fe3O4 content in the slag from the third time is very high. Question: The slag from the third time was foamy in nature; it started to fill the slag bag, but after 10 minutes, the slag liquid drained away and the bag wasn’t fully filled – it was a bit like when cooking porridge at home. What’s going on here? Guys, please help!
I’m sorry, I can’t be of much help
It is likely because the viscosity of the slag is high; the air introduced fails to escape from the melt in time, causing bubbles to form in the slag. Only after the slag has been left in the container for some time does the gas within it escape, resulting in a decrease in volume. I’m not sure if this will be helpful to you?
I still feel that the above explanation isn’t clear enough. An experienced colleague in our company told me that if the third layer of slag isn’t completely removed, then during the air blowing process, the slag will expand, just like when cooking porridge; as a result, this slag will enter the flue and block it.
The formation of foamy slag is mainly due to the problem with Fe3O4: its high melting point makes it too sticky, preventing bubbles from forming, thus hindering the creation of foamy slag. The porridge has become too thick. You took the porridge off the heat, and the foam disappeared because no new gas was being produced.