THE BEHAVIOR OF SULFUR IN INDUSTRIAL PYROMETALLURGICAL SLAGS

Dissolution of sulfur in industrial slags, even at such a low level as 1 mass% S or so, increases the solubility of certain valuable metals by an order of magnitude, The phenomenon is accounted for in terms of Flood-Forland-Grjotheim's model for dianionic salt solutions, whereas its rigorous analysis requires the digaseous Gibbs-Duhem integration. In the research described here, the distribution of sulfur among gas, slag, and metallic iron phases in the bath smelting of iron ore was co mputer-simulated based on a two-sites model coupled with sulfide capac ity data. The solubilities of Ag, Cu, Co, and Ni in industrial slags a re reviewed by applying the sulfidic-oxidic dissolution model to coppe r-matte smelting, nickel-slag cleaning (Falconbridge, Canada), and the imperial smelting process for zinc and lead (Hachinohe, Japan).