How to produce ferronickel?
Usually, primary ferronickel is obtained by first calcining the iron- and nickel-bearing laterite ore in a kiln and then smelting the calcined ore in an electric furnace. The nickel content of marketable ferroalloy typically ranges from 19% to 38%.
What is ferronickel used for?
Used in the production of stainless steel and nickel alloy steels. Ferronickel is primarily used in the manufacture of Austenitic stainless steels (known as 200 and 300 series). These are non-magnetic and contain between 8.5%-25% nickel, enhancing their corrosion resistance.
What is nickel matte?
Nickel requires higher smelting temperatures (in the range of 1,350 °C [2,460 °F]) in order to produce an artificial nickel-iron sulfide known as matte, which contains 25 to 45 percent nickel. The slag is drawn off, leaving a matte of 70 to 75 percent nickel.
What is RKEF?
Rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) smelting is currently the world-wide mainstreaming process for ferronickel production from nickeliferous laterite ore, in spite of the high power consumption.
What is ferronickel slag?
Ferronickel slag is an industrial by-product obtained after nickel ore and bituminous coal are melted at high temperatures and thereafter separated from ferronickel. Generally, the ferronickel slag is used as a substitute material for foundry sand, abrasive, and serpentine [1].
How do you refine a nickel?
Through further refining a 95% pure nickel can be obtained by using the fluid bed roasting technique. The use of electric cells allows for a better refining process. The electrical cells equipped with inert cathodes removes the final impurities from the nickel, resulting in a high quality nickel.
Is ferronickel magnetic?
It is a shiny metallic solid material and can be obtained from the carbothermic reduction of serpentinic minerals, such as serpentine, limonite, or garnierite. It enables the production of products with special electronic, magnetic and catalytic properties.
How matte is formed?
matte, crude mixture of molten sulfides formed as an intermediate product of the smelting of sulfide ores of metals, especially copper, nickel, and lead. Smelting of lead sulfide ores produces a liquid layer of copper sulfide matte that can be decanted, along with slag and speiss, from the lead bullion. …
Why is it called nickel pig iron?
Another factor in China was that many small older iron blast furnaces were available to be transitioned to smelting calcined laterites. The production of pig iron (high-carbon material) from these blast furnaces led to the development of the term “nickel pig iron”.
How is nickel pig iron?
Nickel pig iron is made of low-grade nickel ore, coking coal, and a mixture of gravel and sand as an aggregate. Impurities are then removed via smelting and sintering processes and the resulting nickel pig iron contains four to 13 percent pure nickel.
Which is the most important route in Ferronickel production?
The most important production route is the RKEF (rotary kiln -electric furnace) process [ 1, 2, 3]. For this route lateritic ore is screened, crushed and blended to produce a consistent process plant feed with defined ratios of iron and nickel as well as Si02 and MgO.
What is the yield of nickel in ferronickel?
The combined nickel yield into ferronickel is 88% to 93%. Among alternative technologies of ferronickel smelting and refining, blowing molten iron and nickel ore mixture with reducing gas ( Krasheninnikov and Leontiev, 2001) might be mentioned.
Which is the best way to make ferronickel?
INTRODUCTION Production of ferro-nickel by pyrometallurgical process is still the most widely utilized method for the processing of nickel lateritic ores. The Ni-content of lateritic ore is normally low and in the range of 0.8 3 – %. The most important production route is the RKEF (rotary kiln -electric furnace) process [ 1, 2, 3].
Where does the carbon in ferronickel come from?
The ferronickel from others contains up to 2.4% C. These concentrations are purposefully obtained by controlling the amount of carbon in the calcine feed to the smelting furnace. A high-carbon product tends to be produced by smelters that smelt calcine that is rich in nickel and low in iron ( Warner et al., 2006 ).