Flash Smelting Furnace Lance Spiral Flow Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flash smelting furnaces face inefficiencies in mixing raw materials and reaction gases, leading to incomplete reactions and increased fuel costs, with existing methods not effectively promoting equal reaction progress or reducing metal loss.
Innovation Solution
A raw material supply apparatus with a lance at the upper portion of the shaft blows a gas to create a spiral flow, enhancing mixing of raw materials and reaction gases, using an oxygen-enriched dispersing gas with adjustable flow rates and angles to promote early and equalized reactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fuel is burned in the shaft to increase raw material temperature, then reaction completion is improved, but fuel cost increases and environmental problems worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the raw materials themselves as the fuel source for heating, rather than introducing external fossil fuels. The sulfur in the concentrate oxidizes to provide the necessary heat for the roasting reaction, making the system self-sufficient and eliminating external fuel costs
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the harmful sulfur content in the concentrate, which would normally require expensive fuel to roast, into a beneficial self-heating mechanism. The sulfur oxidation provides the necessary heat for the reaction, turning a liability into an asset and eliminating the need for external fuel
2Reliability
If conventional raw material supply methods are used, then device complexity is low, but mixing of raw material and reaction gas is insufficient leading to incomplete reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a curved or spiral trajectory for the raw material stream as it falls through the shaft. This curvature increases the residence time and mixing contact between the concentrate particles and the oxygen-containing gas, ensuring more complete reactions without requiring complex mechanical mixing devices
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes pneumatic principles by controlling the flow dynamics of gases and the interaction between gas streams and falling particles. The main blast and auxiliary gas flows are carefully controlled to create optimal mixing conditions through fluid dynamics rather than mechanical means
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The spiral flow design ensures complete and equalized reactions in the flash smelting furnace, reducing metal loss, lowering fuel costs, and minimizing environmental impact by eliminating the need for fossil fuels, while maintaining efficient copper production and reducing refractory brick loss.
Implementation Method 1
blowing a gas for dispersing raw material and contributing to a reaction, from a lance at an upper portion of a shaft so that the gas forms a spiral flow. The spiral flow is generated in the shaft. The spiral flow promotes mixing of the raw material and the gas.
Data Source
AI summary
An operation method of a flash smelting furnace includes blowing a gas for dispersing raw material and contributing to a reaction, from a lance at an upper portion of a shaft so that the gas forms a spiral flow. A raw material supply apparatus includes a supply portion supplying raw material and a gas for dispersing the raw material and contributing to a reaction into a flash smelting furnace, wherein the supply portion has a lance provided at an upper portion of a shaft that blows the gas so that the gas forms a spiral flow.