A Comparison Study of the Oxygen-Rich Side Blow Furnace and the Oxygen-Rich Bottom Blow Furnace for Liquid High Lead Slag Reduction

This work investigates the characteristics of the oxygen-rich side blow furnace (OSBF) and the oxygen-rich bottom blow furnace (OBBF) as the reductive smelting reactor for molten high lead slag. The slags were collected from different sampling points of these furnaces during a regular high lead slag reduction process and analyzed. It is disclosed that lead content of the melt in the OSBF shows dramatic fluctuations, while melt from different sampling points of the furnace behave similarly, exhibiting the characteristics of batch reactor. An obvious axial lead content gradient is detected in the OBBF, showing the characteristics of a plug flow reactor. The industrial performances of these furnaces are also compared. The results indicate that 1.38% higher lead recovery can be achieved by using the OSBF instead of the OBBF. Unit energy consumptions of the OBBF-OSBF and OBBF-OBBF processes can be reduced to 230 kgce/t (crude lead), which is 70 kgce/t (crude lead) less than that of the tradition Shuikoushan (SKS) process.