METHOD OF PROCESSING COPPER SULFIDE CONCENTRATE Russian patent published in 1998 - IPC

FIELD: nonferrous metallurgy. SUBSTANCE: method includes melting charge in flash-smelting furnace using the heat of exothermic reactions, separating smelt into matte and slag, converting base product into blister copper and slag, and subsequent three-step depletion of slags in electric-arc furnaces using carbon reducing agent. Heat deficiency in the flash smelting process is avoided by addition into flash-smelting furnace and burning in it of a stream of gas-vapor products of thermal destruction of low-grade solid fuel (e.g., brown coal, peat, or slate coal). The latter, in the form of a stream of dust suspended in gas carrier, is heated to 500-800 C to destroy solid fuel into gas-vapor products (gas, moisture, tar vapors, semicoke), after which gas-vapor products are separated from semicoke and burned in flash-smelting furnace, and semicoke is used as reducing agent in electric-arc furnaces to deplete slag. EFFECT: reduced power consumption and enabled use of low-grade fuels. 2 cl