In nature, nickel is mainly present in the form of nickel sulfide ore and nickel oxide ore. Due to the difference in oxygen and sulfophilicity of the elements, in the presence of sulfur in the molten magma, nickel preferentially forms sulfide minerals and is enriched to form sulfide deposits. Nickel sulfide ore pyrite such as nickel, nickel-iron purple sulfur nickel is present in free form nickel sulfide, a considerable portion of isomorphous occurs in pyrrhotite. Part of the nickel oxide ore is formed by weathering, leaching and alteration of nickel sulfide ore. The nickel is mainly in the form of nickel limonite (iron oxide which is rarely crystallized or not crystallized). Nickel laterite ore ultrabasic by long-term weathering iron-containing magnesium silicate minerals produced, the nickel leaching from the upper layer in the lower layer and then precipitated during weathering, NiO replaces the corresponding lattice silicate and iron oxide MgO and FeO. Because nickel has the characteristics of corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, high temperature resistance, high strength and good ductility, it is widely used, especially in stainless steel and heat-resistant steel. The current consumption of nickel in steel and non-ferrous metals 65% to 70% of the total consumption of the smelting industry; followed by light industry, including bicycles, medical utensils, supplies plating, of the total consumption of 12 %~15%; again in the machinery manufacturing, chemical, petroleum and power industries, these industries need to use nickel to make a variety of machines and containers, accounting for about 10% to 12% of total consumption. Rechargeable batteries, nickel foam, nickel-plated steel strips, active nickel hydroxide and other products used in high-tech fields are also in high demand for nickel. Since the mid-1980s, nickel has been used in a wide range of applications, and stainless steel has been the main driver of nickel consumption. The demand for nickel continues to be driven by the growth in stainless steel production, especially in Western Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. In recent years, nickel has been applied and developed in the steel industry, magnetic materials industry, military, non-ferrous metals, precious metals, special alloys, hydrogen storage materials, special nickel powders, new nickel-coated composite materials, batteries, medical hygiene and nickel sulfate. Introduce attention. As an important strategic metal, nickel has good mechanical strength, ductility and chemical stability. It is an indispensable metal for industrial and development of modern human civilization and plays an extremely important role in the development of the national economy. I. Overview and utilization status of nickel resources in the world Nickel is a relatively rich metal element. It is second only to silicon, oxygen, iron and magnesium in the earth. It is the fifth place. The core contains the highest nickel and is a natural nickel-iron alloy. Since the geochemical characteristics of nickel, a nickel iron present in the first iron-magnesium aluminum silicate forsterite acid magma formed, the general rule is different from the nickel-containing rock and iron oxide, magnesium oxide and other basic nickel containing high gangue Acidic gangues such as silica and alumina are low in nickel. At present, the nickel resources available for human development and utilization are limited to two kinds of nickel sulfide ore and nickel oxide ore in the land, of which about 30% are sulfide minerals and 70% are laterite nickel ore. According to the US Geological Survey, as of 2004, the proven total world nickel reserves were 62 million tons, and the reserve base was 140 million tons. The world's terrestrial resources have a nickel content of about 130 million tons, of which 60% belong to laterite-type nickel deposits. The main and associated minerals are mainly iron and cobalt , mainly distributed in Cuba, New Caledo near the equator. Virginia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, Colombia and Dominica and other countries; 40% belong to the magmatic copper-nickel sulfide deposits, were associated minerals mainly copper, cobalt, gold, silver and platinum group elements, mainly in Canada, Russia, Australia, China, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Further manganese nodules and manganese crusts deep ocean seafloor also contains a large amount of nickel resources of associated minerals as copper, cobalt and manganese, a huge number. Nickel sulphide ore generally contains about 1% nickel, and the concentrate grade after beneficiation can reach 6% to 12%, and the associated valuable metals (copper and cobalt) can reach 6% to 15%; in addition, it often contains certain Amount of precious metal. There is also a fuel component in the form of iron sulfide in the concentrate. The calorific value is between 2 091 and 4 182 MJ/t, and the smelting energy consumption is low. Therefore, the economic value of nickel sulphide ore is relatively high. The laterite ore contains 1% to 3% of nickel, which cannot be enriched by beneficiation. Only the lump ore with low weathering and low grade can be discarded by screening. The laterite ore is only associated with a small amount of cobalt, no sulfur, no calorific value, but the ore reserves are large, and it is found on the surface, easy to harvest, and can be used in the open air. Due to the good quality of nickel sulphide resources and mature technology, about 60% of nickel production is now derived from nickel sulphide ore. However, nickel sulphide mines have been exploited for a long time, and there has been no major breakthrough in new resource exploration in the past 20 years. The reserves have fallen sharply. . If the annual output of nickel is 1.2 million tons, it is equivalent to 2 years of mining a nickel deposit in Fuyik Bay, Canada (the only large deposit discovered in the past 20 years, the 5th largest nickel sulfide deposit in the world), and the Jinchuan in 5 years. Nickel ore (the world's third largest nickel sulfide mine). As a result, the global nickel sulphide mine has experienced a resource crisis, and several traditional nickel sulphide mines (Sudbury, Canada, Norilsk, Russia, Cumborda, Australia, Jinchuan, China, Ritenburg, South Africa) The mining depth is deepening, the difficulty of mining is increasing, and the difficulty of selecting and smelting is also increasing. To this end, the global nickel industry is focusing on the development of resource-rich laterite nickel ore. The proportion of mining and smelting utilization of laterite nickel ore resources has accounted for more than 40% of the world's nickel production, and it is on the rise. It can be expected that the increase in future nickel production in the world will be mainly due to the development of lateritic nickel resources. Due to the sharp reduction of nickel sulphide resources in China, nickel sulphide reserves are low and the grades are low and difficult to extract. Compared with some countries with large reserves of nickel oxide ore and high grades, the non-ferrous metals enterprises in China are actively on a global scale. Developed laterite nickel ore resources. Baosteel Group and Jinchuan Group jointly invested 1 billion US dollars for the development of nickel mineral resources in Nonok Island, Philippines; China Minmetals Co., Ltd. cooperated with Cuba to build a production plant with an annual output of 22 500 t nickel in Moa; China Metallurgical Construction Group and Jilin Nickel Corporation is cooperating to develop the Ramu Nickel Mine in Papua New Guinea (the mine has an average nickel grade of about 1% and an estimated total investment of US$670 million); China Jinbao Mining Co., Ltd. has signed a Myanmar Mozambique with the Myanmar Ministry of Mines Cooperative exploration and feasibility study agreement for nickel ore; China Nonferrous Metals Group's Dagongshan laterite nickel mine in Myanmar handles 1.32 million tons of dry ore annually, and the smelter produces 85,000 tons of nickel and iron containing 26% of nickel per year, with a geological reserve of 43 million. t, of which the economic reserves are 2,239.6 million tons, with an average nickel content of 1.96%. For limonite type laterite nickel ore with low nickel content, low iron content and low silicon magnesium, it is preferred to adopt a wet leaching process from the viewpoint of energy saving and consumption reduction; and for silicon containing high nickel, low iron and high silicon and magnesium Magnesium laterite nickel ore, the most effective treatment method is to use the reduction smelting process to produce ferronickel process. Nickel-iron is used as a nickel alloy raw material for smelting stainless steel, alloy steel and alloy cast iron, which can reduce the consumption of metallic nickel, increase the source of nickel, and the cost is lower than that of electrolytic nickel, so that both the production unit and the user obtain good economic benefits. Has a strong price competitive advantage. If the wet process is used to separate the nickel and iron in the laterite ore and then fuse in the process of steelmaking, it will obviously cause waste of energy and resources, which is not enough in the long run. How to use the laterite nickel ore more directly and reasonably is particularly important. Second, the advantages and prospects of the development and utilization of laterite nickel ore resources At present, the nickel produced by the world's nickel industry is mainly derived from nickel sulfide ore resources, accounting for about 60% of the total output. The rest comes from laterite nickel ore. However, with the reduction of high-quality (high-nickel-containing) high-volume nickel sulfide ore resources, the improvement of environmental requirements, the advancement of laterite nickel ore extraction technology, and the price of nickel, the amount of nickel produced from laterite nickel ore will Increasing. The main advantages of the development and utilization of laterite nickel are: (1) The laterite-type nickel ore is rich in resources, and there are about 41 million tons of nickel metal in the world, and the exploration cost is low. (2) It can be open-pit mining and the mining cost is extremely low. (3) The process of smelting and smelting has gradually matured. (d) The development of stainless steel production, the demand for sintered nickel oxide, ferronickel or general purpose nickel, which are mainly produced by nickel oxide ore. (5) The world's lateritic nickel resources are mainly distributed in the near equatorial region, and most of them are close to the coast, which is convenient for outbound transportation. Judging from the resource characteristics of laterite nickel ore, the development focus of the development of the world nickel industry will gradually shift from nickel sulfide ore to laterite nickel ore. Since laterite nickel ore is generally associated with various valuable metals such as cobalt, iron and chromium , the necessity of comprehensive utilization is obvious. For China, although the proportion of red earth nickel ore resources in China is small, with the gradual depletion of nickel sulfide resources, the nickel market needs to grow continuously, and it is imperative to participate in the development of overseas laterite nickel ore. In recent years, the implementation of a large number of laterite nickel mines imported from Myanmar, Cuba, Indonesia and the nickel-cobalt production project with the Philippines and Papua New Guinea has further demonstrated that the development of laterite nickel ore has become an important part of the utilization of nickel resources in China. The development and utilization prospects of laterite nickel ore in the world are very broad. Third, domestic and foreign laterite nickel ore processing technology and progress The nickel oxide deposit is a loose clay -like ore composed of nickel, peridotite and large-scale long-term weathering leaching in the tropical or subtropical zone. It is composed of hydrous oxides such as iron, aluminum and silicon. Due to the oxidation of iron, the ore is red, so it is called laterite. The recoverable part of laterite nickel ore generally consists of three layers: a limonite layer, a transition layer and a humus layer. (1) Fire process The process of treating laterite nickel ore by fire method is divided into reduction smelting production of ferronickel process and reduction smelting smelting to produce nickel bismuth according to the different products produced. 1. Reduction of smelting production of ferronickel The world's most used laterite nickel ore fire treatment process is reduction smelting to produce ferronickel for the production of stainless steel. Nickel oxide is easily reduced by C, CO, Si. When a certain reduction condition is controlled at a higher temperature, nickel oxide can be completely reduced to metal, iron is partially reduced, and nickel is melted into nickel-iron alloy, and unreduced silicon, The magnesium oxide is slag together with another portion of the iron oxide. There are several methods for reducing smelting to produce ferronickel: (1) Rotary kiln-electric furnace reduction smelting process. Rotary kiln-electric furnace reduction smelting process (RKEF) is a fire smelting process commonly used in laterite nickel ore smelting plants. The technology is reliable and mature. The main processes of the process include drying, calcination-pre-reduction, electric furnace smelting and refining. Since the ore contains a large amount of attached water and crystal water, the preparation of the charge before smelting is mainly dehydration and drying. Generally, the adhered water is removed in the drying kiln, and the pre-reduction is performed at a higher temperature in a long rotary kiln. Further removing the crystallization water, part of the nickel and iron oxides are pre-reduced, and the charge is preheated to save energy for the next electric furnace smelting. The temperature of the kiln charge is 650-900 ° C, and is directly sent to the silo above the electric furnace. The ferronickel is reduced by smelting in a cross-flow electric arc furnace, and is used as a raw material for smelting stainless steel after refining. The process is suitable for low-iron high-nickel laterite nickel ore, and the obtained nickel-iron product has a nickel grade of generally 10% to 15%, an iron grade of 60% to 80%, and a nickel recovery of more than 90%. The rotary kiln-electric furnace smelting process is suitable for treating various types of nickel oxide ore. The molten pool can reach higher temperature and the temperature is easy to control. It is suitable for the treatment of refractory silicon-magnesium-nickel ore. There is no strict requirement for the furnace charge; Less valence metal; easy to control production, easy to operate, easy to mechanize and automate. Therefore, in recent years, rotary kiln-electric furnace smelting ferronickel technology has developed rapidly. At present, at least 14 factories use this method to treat nickel oxide ore. The annual output of ferronickel (including nickel) is about 250,000 tons. (2) Shaft furnace-electric furnace process. Eagle Bridge's Koniambo smelter in New Caledonia uses the Dominican Eagle Bridge shaft furnace-electric furnace process. The process draws on the technology of decomposition outside the cement kiln, and after the material is ground, it is subjected to flash drying, flash calcination, pre-reduction in a fluidized furnace, and then smelting the calcined material in a DC arc furnace, and refining in the LF furnace. It has the advantages of less fixed investment, low operating cost, short material residence time, high product quality, low smoke rate and low power consumption. (3) Blast furnace smelting process. The smelting furnace is made by preheating and drying the nickel oxide ore in a rotary kiln, and then adding it to the blast furnace together with the coke block to produce crude ferronickel, and then refining to produce ferronickel. Blast furnace smelting is one of the earliest methods of nickel smelting. It is environmentally unfriendly, has poor adaptability to ore, has strict requirements on magnesium content, and cannot handle powder ore. There are also strict restrictions on furnace charge. This method has been gradually phased out as production scale expands, smelting technology advances, steel mills demand for nickel-based raw materials, and environmental protection requirements increase. (4) The production of ferronickel by movable open hearth furnace. In addition to the above methods of application, Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. of Japan has newly developed a process for producing ferronickel using a movable open hearth furnace. The process includes: 1 mixing step. The ore containing nickel oxide and iron oxide is formulated with a carbonaceous reducing agent to prepare a mixture. 2 reduction steps. The reducing mixture is heated in a moving open hearth to prepare a reducing mixture. 3 melting step. The reduced mixture is melted in a furnace to prepare ferronickel. The process can efficiently and efficiently produce a nickel-iron product with a high nickel content at a low cost, and the amount of dust is small, preventing the accumulation of dust on the wall of the furnace to produce a bond, so that the content of the slag at the time of feeding can be adjusted. 2. Reduction of smelting to produce nickel bismuth The process of reducing the smelting and smelting treatment of nickel oxide ore to produce nickel bismuth was first applied in the 1920s and 1930s, when blast furnace smelting was used. This process has the same disadvantages as the process of smelting reduction smelting to produce ferronickel. Therefore, the newly built large-scale factory uses electric furnace to smelt laterite nickel ore to produce nickel bismuth. The amount of nickel produced by nickel oxide ore in the world is about 120,000 tons. The nickel niobium production process is to add a vulcanizing agent during the smelting process of producing the ferronickel process, produce low nickel niobium, and then produce high nickel niobium by converter blowing. The composition of the nickel ruthenium can be adjusted by the amount of the reducing agent (coke powder) and the vulcanizing agent added. Alternative vulcanizing agents are pyrite (FeS2), gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O), sulfur and sulfur-containing nickel. At present, Chaoyang Haotian Group of China adopts this process to produce low nickel niobium, and the obtained nickel grade of low nickel niobium product is 5% to 8%, and the recovery rate of nickel metal is more than 90%. The process of producing nickel bismuth by reducing smelting and smelting nickel oxide ore, the product of which has high flexibility of nickel bismuth: nickel oxide after desulfurization by calcination can be directly reduced and smelted to produce universal nickel for stainless steel industry; The raw material for refining nickel by atmospheric pressure dialing method produces nickel pill and nickel powder; since the high nickel niobium does not contain copper, it can also be directly cast into an anode plate to supply nickel cathode for electrolysis refining. In short, it can be further processed to produce various forms of nickel products and to recover cobalt therefrom. (2) Wet process For laterite nickel ore with high nickel content and low copper and cobalt, ferronickel is produced by electric furnace reduction smelting method. However, when treating laterite nickel ore with higher copper and cobalt, it is better to adopt wet process. In order to facilitate the comprehensive recovery of various valuable metals and reduce energy consumption. Leaching is a commonly used wet treatment method. According to the level of magnesium oxide in the ore, two methods of atmospheric pressure ammonia leaching and high pressure acid leaching are used. The ore containing high magnesium oxide needs to be ammonia leaching, because acid leaching consumes a large amount of acid to neutralize the alkaline gangue in the ore, and the operation cost is high, which is not economically feasible. The ore containing low magnesium oxide can be leached with sulfuric acid. In order to accelerate the entire dissolution process, the leaching operation is usually carried out under high temperature and high pressure. 30g Cream Jar,Pump And Spray Bottle,Pump Mist Spray Bottle,Plastic Pump Spray Bottles Guangzhou Harvest Plastic Products Co., Ltd , https://www.fsharvestp.com