Kinetics of the reactions in the smelting furnace of the Mitsubishi process

In this paper, the authors present the results of theoretical calculations on the rates at which copper concentrate particles and silica particles dissolve in the matte in the smelting furnace of Mitsubishiprocess. Those calculations indicate that the concentrate particles dissolve rapidly in matte, in less than 1 ms, whereas silica particles dissolve at a much slower rate, and they dissolve mainly in the bulk matte in the smelting furnace. Some advantages of bath smelting over flash smelting are given. For more information, contact Zenjiro Asaki, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Central Research Institute, 1-297 Kitabukuro-cho, Omiya, Saimtama, 330-8508, Japan.