Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace
The matte/slag tidal zone in a platinum smelting furnace is subject to severe process conditions which can often lead to premature failure of the lining. The MgO-FeO-Si02 slag is aggressive to refractory bricks, whilst the Ni-Cu-Fe-S matte is aggressive to water-cooled copper cooling elements, and c...
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| Format: | Conference Paper |
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Wiley
2012
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| Online Access: | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118364765.ch6/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29673 |
| _version_ | 1848752867947577344 |
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| author | Eksteen, Jacques McDougall, I. |
| author2 | Jerome Downey |
| author_facet | Jerome Downey Eksteen, Jacques McDougall, I. |
| author_sort | Eksteen, Jacques |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The matte/slag tidal zone in a platinum smelting furnace is subject to severe process conditions which can often lead to premature failure of the lining. The MgO-FeO-Si02 slag is aggressive to refractory bricks, whilst the Ni-Cu-Fe-S matte is aggressive to water-cooled copper cooling elements, and can penetrate and sulphidize refractory bricks, particularly at the high matte temperatures often experienced in the PGM industry. A novel approach to the lining design was taken at Lonmin's new 10MW Furnace 2. An indirectly-cooled graphite ring was applied in the matte/slag tidal zone, with refractory bricks on the hot face. Thermal Finite Element modelling was conducted to determine the optimal lining design in this region of the furnace. The resistance of two graphite grades to damage by slag and matte was evaluated experimentally. The graphite lining is not wet by the matte, and is resistant to slag attack at operating temperatures. In comparison to water-cooled copper in various configurations, cooled graphite shows promise as an indirect refractory cooling system in the tidal zone area of furnaces. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:15:27Z |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-29673 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:15:27Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-296732023-02-07T08:01:18Z Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace Eksteen, Jacques McDougall, I. Jerome Downey Thomas P. Battle Jesse F. White graphite refractory lining submerged arc furnace copper cooling elements PGM smelting The matte/slag tidal zone in a platinum smelting furnace is subject to severe process conditions which can often lead to premature failure of the lining. The MgO-FeO-Si02 slag is aggressive to refractory bricks, whilst the Ni-Cu-Fe-S matte is aggressive to water-cooled copper cooling elements, and can penetrate and sulphidize refractory bricks, particularly at the high matte temperatures often experienced in the PGM industry. A novel approach to the lining design was taken at Lonmin's new 10MW Furnace 2. An indirectly-cooled graphite ring was applied in the matte/slag tidal zone, with refractory bricks on the hot face. Thermal Finite Element modelling was conducted to determine the optimal lining design in this region of the furnace. The resistance of two graphite grades to damage by slag and matte was evaluated experimentally. The graphite lining is not wet by the matte, and is resistant to slag attack at operating temperatures. In comparison to water-cooled copper in various configurations, cooled graphite shows promise as an indirect refractory cooling system in the tidal zone area of furnaces. 2012 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29673 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118364765.ch6/pdf Wiley restricted |
| spellingShingle | graphite refractory lining submerged arc furnace copper cooling elements PGM smelting Eksteen, Jacques McDougall, I. Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| title | Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| title_full | Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| title_fullStr | Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| title_short | Sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| title_sort | sidewall design to improve lining life in a platinum smelting furnace |
| topic | graphite refractory lining submerged arc furnace copper cooling elements PGM smelting |
| url | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118364765.ch6/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29673 |