Method for treating laterite-nickel ore

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for treating laterite-nickel ore. The method comprises the following steps of: (1) pretreating the laterite-nickel ore to obtain laterite-nickel ore particles; (2) mixing the laterite-nickel ore particles with a reducing agent to obtain a mixed material; (3) pre-reducing the mixed material to obtain roasted ore; (4) smelting the roasted ore, sulfide ore, a smeltingsolvent, combustible and oxygen-enriched air to obtain first low-nickel matte and smelting slag; and (5) blowing and slagging the first low-nickel matte and a blowing solvent to obtain high-nickel matte and blowing slag. The method is high in efficiency, low in energy consumption and high in metal recovery rate when used for treating the laterite-nickel ore.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of laterite nickel ore processing, in particular, the invention relates to a method for processing laterite nickel ore. Background technique [0002] The global reserves of nickel resources are abundant. Statistics from the United States Geological Survey in 2017 show that the world's proven land-based basic reserves of nickel are about 79 million tons (calculated as metallic nickel), and the total nickel resources are about 140 million tons. They are concentrated in Australia, Brazil, New Caledonia, Russia, Cuba, Indonesia, South Africa, Philippines, China and Canada. Among these nickel ore resources, nickel sulfide ore accounts for about 40%, and the remaining about 60% is laterite nickel ore. However, at present, 70% of nickel production in the world comes from nickel sulfide ore, and only 30% of nickel is produced from in laterite nickel ore. With the continuous consumption of explored nickel sulfide o...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0016] The biggest disadvantage of the rotary kiln pre-reduction-electric furnace smelting process is the high power consumption during electric furnace smelting, which leads to high total energy consumption and production costs of the process

The main reason is that the amount of slag in the smelting of laterite nickel ore is large, and the smelting temperature required for the slag is high. In order to ensure the separation of molten iron and slag, the slag temperature generally needs to be maintained above 1550°C, or even above 1600°C, which leads to a huge power consumption of the electric furnace.

Therefore, the use of RKEF to smelt ferronickel products has strict requirements on the power supply of the smelter, especially in areas where electricity is scarce, and it is difficult to carry out production work on the utilization of laterite nickel ore resources.

[0017] In summary, the pyrometallurgy process of lateritic nickel ore is developing rapidly, but it also exposes problems such as large fluctuations in raw materials, poor process applicability, long production process, high energy consumption, heavy environmental pollution, and high dependence on power facilities in areas rich in mineral resources. It has become a hidden danger restricting the development of the nickel metallurgical industry. It is urgent to develop a low-cost, high-efficiency, and green smelting process to process the abundant reserves of laterite nickel ore resources to meet the needs of various industries for nickel products.

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