Using Oxygen-Enriched Blast During the Operation of Shaft Furnaces of the Mednogorsk Copper–Sulfur Combine LLC

Abstract

The practice of shaft smelting of copper-bearing charge using oxygen-enriched air at the Mednogorsk Copper–Sulfur Combine is considered. After increasing the rate of oxygen enrichment of the blast air from 30 to 36%, the output increased by 20.1% and the copper content was 33.0–35.3% in the matte and 0.5% Cu in the waste slag. The material and heat balances are presented. The effect of increasing the rate of oxygen enrichment on the furnace productivity, solid fuel consumption, composition and amount of smelting products is shown.