THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF SEGREGATION ROASTING PROCESS FOR OXIDIZED COPPER AND NICKEL ORES

Segregation roasting process for oxidised copper and nickel ores, resp ectively, has been investigated using thermodynamic analysis which res ults in a system of simultaneous nonlinear algebraic equations. A nume rical method on Powell's hybrid method has been developed to solve the se sets of equations. The feasibility of the process for copper and ni ckel is assessed from the analysis of solution of the equations. Quali tatively, segregation roasting process is quite favourable in the case of copper while there are certain constraints which must be overcome before it can be adapted for nickel. The effects of process parameters like, temperature, amounts of chlorides, reductant and moisture, etc. on the process efficiency have been discussed.