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US 8,801,830 B2Granted
Continuous fire reduction of liquid copper
AssigneesUniversidad De Chile, Empresa Nacional de Mineria
InventorsGabriel Angel Riveros Urzua, Ricardo Ponce Herrera, Daniel Smith Cruzat, Andrzej Warczok, Torstein Arfin Utigard, Tanai Marin Alvarado
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Abstract
This invention refers to a pyrometallurgical method for the continuous reduction of oxidized copper through combustion gases in countercurrent to the continuous gravitational flow of liquid copper that disperses through a packed bed reactor with ceramic grains.
Claims7
A pyrometallurgical method for continuous reduction of oxygen contained in oxidized copper, comprising:
- a. Continuous loading of oxidized liquid copper into a packed bed reactor;
- b. Injection of a liquid or gaseous reducing mixture into the packed bed reactor;
- c. Reduction of oxygen contained in the oxidized liquid copper with hot reducing gases generated by incomplete combustion of the reducing mixture, to obtain reduced copper and dispersing the oxidized liquid copper through gravitational flow from ceramic grains to other grains with neutral chemical means;
- d. Continuous evacuation of educed copper from the packed bed reactor;
- e. Injection of air over the packed bed reactor for post-combustion of hot reducing gases released from the packed bed reactor;
- f. Evacuation of post-combustion .gases from the sacked bed reactor;
- and reduction with hot reducing gases released in countercurrent from the partial combustion of natural gas, propane, diesel oil or bunker oil.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.