KR20160033875A - Thermal reduction appratus and method for metal production - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a heat reduction apparatus which continuously reduces metal into heat and collects waste heat from a reduction chamber to use the waste heat. The heat reduction apparatus comprises: a preheating part which preheats a material to be reduced; a reduction part which is connected to the preheating part and allows a thermal reduction reaction of the material to be reduced to occur ; a cooling part which is connected to the reduction part and discharges the material to be reduced to the outside; a first gate valve which is installed between the preheating part and the reduction part; a second gate valve which is installed between the reduction part and the cooling part; and a condenser which is connected to the reduction part and condenses metal gas, wherein the preheating part comprises: a first preheating part which primarily preheats the material to be reduced; and a second preheating part which is connected between the first preheating part and the reduction part and secondarily preheats the material to be reduced passing through the first preheating part.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a thermal reduction apparatus and a thermal reduction method for metal,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a metal thermal reduction apparatus and a thermal reduction method.

In general, metal smelting methods can be divided into dry smelting, wet smelting, electrolytic smelting, and chlorine smelting. Iron and most nonferrous metals obtain pure metals through dry smelting.

Typical non-ferrous metal smelting processes heat the sintered metal in briquette form to high temperature in atmospheric or vacuum atmosphere to thermally reduce the pure metal.

For example, in order to smelten a magnesium metal by a thermal reduction method, a single light mixed with a calcined dolomite and a reducing agent such as ferro silicon is charged into a metal cylindrical cylinder and heated to a high temperature. When the pressure in the retort is maintained at the same time as the heating, the magnesium oxide is reduced by the silicon and magnesium vapor is generated.

The magnesium vapor moves to the condensation tube which is charged to one side of the retort by the vacuum pump, and the magnesium vapor starts to condense from the inner wall surface of the condensation tube by the thermophoresis (temperature), and magnesium accumulates gradually toward the center direction .

After the generation and condensation of the magnesium vapor is completed, the condensation tube in which the magnesium is condensed is separated from the litter to recover the magnesium.

However, such a batch-type manufacturing apparatus has limitations such as limitation of daily productivity due to reduction of a certain time period, generation of heat loss due to discontinuous charging and discharging, and difficulty in automation of a continuous process, .

Accordingly, there is provided a thermal reduction device and a thermal reduction method for successively thermally reducing metal.

The present invention also provides a thermal reduction apparatus and a thermal reduction method that can recover and utilize waste heat of a reduction chamber.

The heat reducing apparatus of this embodiment includes a preheating unit for preheating the object to be reduced, a reducing unit connected to the preheating unit and causing a thermal reduction reaction of the reduced material, a reducing unit connected to the reducing unit, A first gate valve disposed between the preheating unit and the reducing unit, a second gate valve disposed between the reducing unit and the cooling unit, and a condenser connected to the reducing unit to condense the metal gas, The preheating unit may include a first preheating unit in which the reductant is first preheated, and a second preheater that is connected between the first preheating unit and the reducing unit to secondarily preheat the object to be reducted through the first preheating unit.

The thermal reduction apparatus may further include a transfer device for transferring the reduced material from the preheating section to the discharge section.

The preheater may further include a third gate valve disposed between the first preheater and the second preheater.

The preheating unit may be configured to preheat the reductant by supplying waste heat of the reductant unit to the first preheating unit.

The preheater may further include a pipe connected between the reducing unit and the first preheating unit to supply waste heat of the reducing chamber to the first preheating unit, and an on-off valve for opening and closing the pipe.

The primary preheating unit may be configured to heat the object to be reduced to 300 to 400 캜.

The secondary preheating unit may be configured to heat the reduced material to 700 to 800 ° C.

The reducing unit may include a first blocking layer disposed inside and a second blocking layer disposed inside the reducing unit so as to be spaced apart from the first blocking layer.

The preheating unit and the reducing unit may further include at least one temperature control device.

The preheating portion, the reducing portion, and the cooling portion may include at least one vacuum device.

Wherein the reducing portion has a first space inside the first gate valve and the first blocking film, a second space between the first blocking film and the second blocking film, and a third space between the second blocking film and the second gate valve, The condenser may be connected to the second space.

The temperature of the second space may be set to be higher than the temperature of the first space and the third space.

The second space may be set at 1100 ° C to 1300 ° C.

The first space and the third space may be set at 800 ° C to 1000 ° C.

The first barrier layer and the second barrier layer may be made of graphite.

The object to be reduced can be a sintered body in which the magnesium mono-ray is fired together with the reducing agent.

The heat reduction method of the present embodiment includes a step of preheating a material to be reduced, a step of transferring the preheated material to a reducing section, a step of performing a thermal reduction reaction of the material to be reduced in the reducing section, A step of condensing the generated metal vapor to recover the metal, a step of transferring the reduced material subjected to the thermal reduction reaction to the cooling part, and a step of cooling and discharging the reduced material, wherein the preheating step Preheating the water first, and secondary preheating the first preheated reductant.

The preheating step may further include supplying the waste heat of the reducing part to the primary preheating part in which the reducing part is firstly preheated, so that the reductant is firstly preheated using the waste heat of the reducing part.

The preheating step may further include a step of transferring the reductant from the first preheater to the second preheater for second preheating.

In the thermal reduction method, the reduction target can be continuously supplied to continuously perform the above process.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the reduced material can be continuously supplied to the reducing section to thermally reduce the metal continuously.

In addition, when heating is performed from the outside by using the retort, there is a problem that the retort is damaged by heat. However, the thermal reduction apparatus according to the present embodiment heats the reductant in the inside, and therefore the lifetime of the thermal reduction apparatus is increased.

In addition, by collecting the waste heat of the reduction chamber and preheating the reduction target, energy consumption can be reduced and productivity can be improved.

1 is a configuration diagram of a thermal reduction apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIGS. 2 to 8 are structural views sequentially showing the operating states of the thermal reduction apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular forms as used herein include plural forms as long as the phrases do not expressly express the opposite meaning thereto. Means that a particular feature, region, integer, step, operation, element and / or component is specified, and that other specific features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / And the like.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

1 is a configuration diagram of a thermal reduction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the apparatus for reducing heat according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a preheating unit 10 for preheating a material to be reduced 1, a preheating unit 10 connected to the preheating unit, A first gate valve (40) connected between the preheating unit and the reducing unit, a reducing unit (30) connected to the reducing unit (20), a cooling unit (30) connected to the reducing unit, A second gate valve 41 installed between the cooling units, and a condenser 60 connected to the reducing unit and condensing the metal gas.

The preheating unit 10 includes a first preheating unit 11 for preheating the object to be reduced first, a second preheating unit 11 connected between the first preheating unit and the reducing unit, 2 preheating section 12. The pre- Further, a third gate valve 42 is further provided between the first preheating section 11 and the second preheating section.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the preheating unit is divided into two, the preheated material is first preheated, and then transferred to the reducing unit through the second preheating. Thus, the preheating efficiency can be increased and the metal reduction ratio in the reducing unit can be maximized.

The first preheating unit 11 includes a first preheating body 13 having a first opening to receive the reducing material and a second opening facing the first opening to allow the preheated preheated material to exit, A first door 14 coupled to the first opening so as to be openable and closable, and a vacuum device 70 installed through one surface of the primary preheating body 13. The second opening may be opened or closed by the third gate valve 42.

In the present embodiment, the primary preheating unit may be a structure for preheating the object to be reduced using the waste heat of the reducing unit. To this end, piping is connected between the reducing unit and the primary preheating unit to supply the waste heat of the reducing chamber to the primary preheating unit. On one side of the pipe, an on-off valve for selectively opening and closing the pipe is installed as required. Accordingly, when the open / close valve is opened, high heat of the reducing furnace is supplied to the first preheating unit through the pipe. Therefore, the waste heat generated in the reducing unit can be recovered, and the reductant in the first preheating unit can be used for preheating. In this way, in the present embodiment, by using the waste heat of the reduction unit without installing a separate temperature control unit in the first preheating unit, the preheated material is firstly preheated, thereby minimizing energy consumption and lowering the production cost of the metal do.

In the present embodiment, the primary preheating unit heats the reductant to 300-400 ° C, and the secondary preheater heats the reductant to 700-800 ° C. Water and water are removed from the reductant through the preheating section.

The secondary preheater 12 has a structure corresponding to the primary preheater 11. The secondary preheating unit 12 includes a third preheating body having a third opening to receive the preheated raw material and a fourth preheating body formed to face the third opening, A vacuum device 70 installed through one side of the secondary preheating body 15 and a temperature regulating device 80 installed in the secondary preheating body 15 to preheat the reductant, . The temperature control device for preheating the reductant in the secondary preheating part may be, for example, a heater. The third opening may be opened and closed by the third gate valve 42. The fourth opening may be opened or closed by the first gate valve (40).

Also, the preheating unit 10 may be provided with a vacuum device through one surface of the body of the primary preheating unit and the body of the secondary preheating unit to maintain the vacuum state. The vacuum device may be, for example, a vacuum pump.

Precisely between the second preheating section 12 and the reducing section 20 and between the reducing section 20 and the cooling section 30 and between the first preheating section 11 and the second preheating section 11, The first gate valve 40 to the third gate valve 42 are provided between the first and second portions 12, respectively. The first gate valve to the third gate valve all have the same structure. Hereinafter, the first gate valve will be described as an example. The first gate valve 40 may include a gate valve body 43, a first separator 44 coupled to the interior of the gate valve body, and a second separator 45.

The gate valve 40 may include an inert gas injection unit 90 formed through one surface of the gate valve body 43. The inert gas may be argon.

In addition, the gate valve 40 may include a vacuum device 70 provided on a side of the gate valve body 43 and provided with a vacuum device. The vacuum device may be a vacuum pump.

After the preheating of the reductant is completed, the first gate valve (40) between the second preheater (12) of the preheater and the reductant (20) is opened and the reductant is charged into the reductant (20).

The reducing unit 20 includes a reducing unit body 21 including a fifth opening for receiving the reducing material and a sixth opening for opposing the reduced material formed at a position opposite to the fifth opening, And a second blocking layer 52 spaced apart from the first blocking layer 51. The first blocking layer 51 may include a first blocking layer 51,

In addition, the reducing unit may be provided with a temperature control unit 80 on the body of the reducing unit to heat the object 1 to be reduced. The temperature regulating device 80 may be a heater.

The reducing unit body is divided into three regions by a first blocking film and a second blocking film. The reducing unit body includes a first space 201 between the first gate valve and the first blocking film, a second space 202 between the first blocking film and the second blocking film, and a second space 202 between the first blocking film and the second blocking film, And a third space 203 between them.

The temperature of the second space may be set to be higher than the temperature of the first space and the third space.

The first barrier layer and the second barrier layer may be made of graphite.

In addition, the first barrier film and the second barrier film can be raised and lowered by a pneumatic cylinder.

In the present embodiment, the condenser 60 may be installed through the reduction unit body 21 in the second space. In addition, a vacuum device 70 may be connected to the condenser. The vacuum device may be a vacuum pump.

The first space and the third space may include an inert gas injection unit 90 formed through the reduction unit body. The inert gas may be argon.

Further, the condenser 60 may further be installed through the reduction unit body 21 in the first space and the third space. Further, a vacuum device 70 connected to the condenser may be installed.

The cooling section (30) includes a cooling section body (31) having an eighth opening opposed to a seventh opening and a seventh opening through which a material to be reduced flows through the reducing section flows, and an eighth opening through which the reduced material is discharged, A second door 32 that is openably and closably coupled to the opening of the cooling unit, and at least one vacuum device installed through one side of the cooling unit body.

Further, the apparatus of this embodiment may include a transfer device 100 for transferring the material to be reduced. The conveying device may be, for example, a conveyor or a pusher.

The transfer device 100 continuously and sequentially transfers the reductant from the preheating portion to the cooling portion. Thus, the present apparatus is capable of continuously recovering metals by subjecting a plurality of objects to be subjected to continuous thermal reduction.

Hereinafter, a heat reduction process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Figs. 2 to 8 sequentially show a process of reducing the reduced material by the thermal reduction apparatus of the present embodiment. The following description will be made on the assumption that the magnesium mono-light is fired together with the reducing agent as the above-mentioned reduced material as an example. The present embodiment is not limited to this, and can be applied to reduction of various metals.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the reductant is charged into the primary preheating unit, the first door 12 is closed and the reductant is firstly preheated. When the pipe is opened by driving the valve for opening and closing the pipe connecting the reducing part and the first preheating part, the high temperature of the reducing part is supplied to the first preheating part. The primary preheating section 11 is heated and maintained in the set temperature range by the high temperature of the reducing section supplied to the primary preheating section body. The primary preheating is maintained at a temperature of 300 - 400 ° C to preheat the reductant. The primary preheating section maintains the vacuum state by the vacuum device during the primary preheating of the reductant.

When the primary preheating is completed, as shown in FIG. 3, the third gate valve 42 between the primary preheating section and the secondary preheating section is opened, and the reductant is moved to the secondary preheating section 12.

In the third gate valve body, an inert gas is injected through the inert gas injection unit 90 to maintain an inert gas atmosphere. And is held in vacuum by the vacuum device 70. [ Therefore, it is possible to prevent the preheated reduced material from reacting with air.

When the reductant is charged into the second preheating portion, the third gate valve is closed, and the reductant is secondarily preheated. The secondary preheating portion is maintained at a temperature of 700 to 800 ° C to secondarily preheat the reductant. The secondary preheating process may proceed for about one hour under the above temperature conditions. The secondary preheating section maintains the vacuum state by the vacuum device during the second preheating of the reductant.

As described above, the preheated product is preheated by dividing the preheated raw material into the first and second raw materials. In addition, by using the waste heat of the reducing portion at the first preheating, the preheating efficiency can be increased while using less energy. After the first and second preheating process, the reductant is removed from water and crystal water.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the preheated material is completed, the first gate valve 40 between the preheating unit and the reducing unit is opened, and the reduced material is charged into the reducing unit 20.

The reductant (1) is charged into the first space (201) of the reducing part in the preheating part. At this time, the first blocking film is in a closed state. The metal vapor is prevented from flowing into the first space from the second space inside the reducing unit body by the first blocking film and the heat transfer from the second space to the first space is blocked.

Also, the first space 201 is maintained at a temperature higher than the temperature of the preheating section 10 and lower than the temperature of the second space 202. The temperature range at this time may be 800 ° C to 1000 ° C. Further, the first space is maintained in a vacuum state.

5, when charging the reductant into the first space, the first gate valve 40 between the preheating unit and the reducing unit is closed and the first blocking film 51 is opened, Is loaded into the second space 202. At this time, the second barrier film is in a closed state to block outflow of metal vapor and heat transfer.

When the reductant completely enters the second space, the first blocking film is closed. When the inert gas is injected into the first space through the inert gas injection unit 90 and the vacuum apparatus installed in the first space is operated, the metal gas leaking from the second space to the first space is introduced into the first space Move to the installed condenser. So that the metal vapor flowing out of the second space can be trapped through the condenser installed in the first space.

In the second space, the reductant is reduced to the form of a metal gas, and the reduced metal gas condenses in the condenser (60). The second space may be maintained in a vacuum state, and the temperature range of the second space may be maintained at 1100 ° C to 1300 ° C.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the reduction of the reduced material is completed, the reduced material is charged into the third space 203 while the second blocking film is opened. At this time, the gate valve provided between the reducing section and the cooling section is in a closed state.

When the reductant is completely moved to the third space, the second blocking film is closed. At this time, the inert gas is injected into the third space through the inert gas injection unit. When the vacuum apparatus installed in the third space is operated, the metal gas flowing out of the second space moves to the condenser installed in the third space. Thus, the metal vapor discharged from the two spaces can be collected in the condenser provided in the third space.

The third space 203 is maintained at a temperature higher than the temperature of the cooling section 30 and lower than the temperature of the second space 202. The temperature range at this time may be 800 ° C to 1000 ° C. Further, the third space is maintained in a vacuum state.

7, when the charging of the material to be reducted is completed in the third space 203, the second gate valve 41 provided between the reducing part and the cooling part is opened, (30). At this time, the second door is closed.

At this time, the inside of the gate valve body 43 is injected with the inert gas through the inert gas injecting part 90 so that the inert gas atmosphere can be maintained.

When cooling of the reduced material is completed, as shown in FIG. 8, the cooling unit is converted to normal pressure, and then the second door is opened to discharge the reduced material. The cooling of the reductant in the cooling section can be performed by an air cooling method.

In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the present invention has been described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 8. However, as shown in FIG. 1, one or more objects to be reducted are continuously charged and discharged, have.

While the illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, various modifications and alternative embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art. Such variations and other embodiments will be considered and included in the appended claims, all without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

10: preheating part 11: first preheating part
12: second preheater 13: primary preheater body
14: first door 15: secondary preheating body
20: Reduction unit 21: Reduction unit body
201: first space 202: second space
203: third space 30: cooling section
31: cooling unit body 32: second door
40: first gate valve 41: second gate valve
42: third gate valve 43: gate valve body
44: first separator 45: second separator
51: first blocking film 52: second blocking film
60: condenser 70: vacuum device
80: Temperature control device 90: Inert gas injection part
100: Feeding device

Claims (20)

A preheating unit preheated by the preheated material, a reducing unit connected to the preheating unit and causing a thermally reducing reaction of the reduced material, a cooling unit connected to the reducing unit and flowing the reduced material to be discharged to the outside, A second gate valve disposed between the reducing unit and the cooling unit; and a condenser connected to the reducing unit and condensing the metal gas,
The preheating unit may include a first preheater for preheating the object to be reheated, and a second preheating unit connected between the first preheating unit and the reducing unit to secondarily preheat the object to be reducted through the first preheating unit Thermal reduction device. The method according to claim 1,
And a transfer device for transferring the reduced material from the preheating part to the discharge part. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the preheater further comprises a third gate valve installed between the first preheater and the second preheater. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the primary preheating unit heats the reduced material to 300 to 400 캜. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the secondary preheating unit heats the reductant to 700 to 800 ° C. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Wherein the preheating unit supplies the waste heat of the reducing unit to the first preheating unit to preheat the reductant. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the preheating unit further comprises a pipe connected between the reducing unit and the first preheating unit to supply waste heat of the reducing chamber to the first preheating unit, and an on-off valve for opening and closing the pipe. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the reducing unit includes a first blocking film disposed inside and a second blocking film disposed inside the reducing unit so as to be spaced apart from the first blocking film. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the secondary preheating part and the reducing part further comprise at least one temperature adjusting device. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the preheating portion, the reducing portion, and the cooling portion further comprise at least one vacuum device. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the reducing portion has a first space inside the first gate valve and the first blocking film, a second space between the first blocking film and the second blocking film, and a third space between the second blocking film and the second gate valve, And the condenser is connected to the second space. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the first barrier layer and the second barrier layer are made of graphite. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the object to be reduced is a sintering furnace in which the magnesium monochromate is fired together with a reducing agent. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the temperature of the second space is set to be higher than the temperature of the first space and the third space. 15. The method of claim 14,
And the second space is set at 1100 ° C to 1300 ° C. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the first space and the third space are set at 800 ° C to 1000 ° C. A step of preheating the material to be preheated, a step of transferring the preheated reduced material to a reducing section, a step of subjecting the reduced material to a thermal reduction reaction in the reducing section, a step of condensing the metal vapor generated through the thermal reduction reaction in the reducing section, , Transferring the reduced material subjected to the thermal reduction reaction to the cooling section, cooling and discharging the reduced material,
Wherein the preheating step of the reducing material includes a first preheating step of subjecting the reductant to a second preheating step of preheating the first preheated reductant. 18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the waste heat of the reducing unit is supplied to the primary preheating unit in which the reducing unit first preheats the waste heat in the preheating step so that the reduced material is first preheated using the waste heat of the reducing unit. 19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein the preheating step further comprises the step of transferring the reductant from the first preheating unit to the second preheating unit for second preheating after the first preheating. 20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19,
Wherein the thermal reduction method continuously supplies the reduced material to continuously perform the process.

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