Hydrated Lime Roasting of Precious Metal Ores with A Cyclone Reactor

The roasting of pyrite with a cyclone reactor have been studied in terms of investigating the reaction behavior of pyrite. The development of a fundamental model for pyrite oxidation and lime sulfation in a vertical cyclone reactor. The model assumes a chemical control shrinking core behavior for the pyrite and a fluid film control shrinking core behavior for the lime. The oxygen and sulphur dioxide concentrations and the energy balance for the gas, pyrite and lime particles are solved. The model was solved and characterized numerically. Experiments have been performed to study the influence of reaction parameters such as reactor temperatures, pyrite particle sizes, air flow rates, feeding rates, and mixing ratio of pyrite and lime. The oxidation and sulfation products were characterized chemically and physically.