Designing a Noranda Reactor for the Southern Copper Smelter RU. Innis, WR. Kallio, and P.G. Cooper These Norden Sout cra Copa to int onietion ened ‘Grane wes ntheenstng tan Sicrgirenttowlthe option doom 1 abut il he cy of teen, Novo reas Cone nd Und Stes apareom the acters, erecta pion Ce creatine than oP frm rag cla ed nc por rato fire ite The mechani eign of te ced el tok fn aroma the expo a bth sing ntaltonresting nc ‘tnt se previ pr Figue 1. Tho gonoral arangomort of the Souter Coppa act 20 BACKGROUND “Technologies forredevelopmentofthecustom copper smelter operat bySouthern ‘Copper (formerly ER&S) in Port Kembla, Ausra, ere selected in 1987! The all feaslity study, completo nthat year, wasanalyed during 188 and thecommer- ‘al options were optimized. In Nevombor 1885, the parent company, CRA Limited, approved the redevelopment at a capacity of 80,000 tonnes per Year cf copper "The redevelopment project was Based pon replacement ofthe oxatingcmking unite witha Noranda reactor capebieof producing hig grade matte*To minimize ‘pla cost, the reactor as designed to beretrafited nar extension of Uh existing ‘otverter ae, wich paced lnitaens on the vessel design. Tuough engineer Sd licensing agreements, Norands provided Southern Copper withthe reactor esign, wining, and tchial assistance 1G Enginesing alle the engineering Sctlons of the ngrement Detailed design was completed in January 198 and the Contract forcorstucion wos signe in April 196. The eater was conurssioned in eaay 191 PROCESS REQUIREMENTS Process Description “The Noranda process* utes refrctory-tned cylindrical reaction vessel smelt a wide ange of voppercontalning material The reactor for Southem Copper was Sesigned to teat concentrates, scrap residues, and reverts. These materials gether wwithflasenedcca are fed into the vessel Iaugh anoperingin the endplate y high Speed belt linger. The fee is sete inte reactr bath which s maintained in & Iighlyturbalent state by oxygor-enriched air introduced through 27 operating hs "The emehing producte—70% copper matte and low-alicaslag—ceparate in the quiescent zonofthereactor Matelspentdically tapped thoughatapholeinttesige Fike recor and sagis immed frm teend of re reacor opposite the feed end. ‘Of gas eaves the reactor tivough a watercocted food to an Braparabve coding, tower and thn to an electrostatic procptsoe, Dust colacted sn the garhanaling Syst be partly ory recy other: Theconnusfow og rg et ici ac lant "The requiement to fx sulfur rom the primary smelling ait was a majo con sderaionin theseectionof iistechnology and coniinmsestor te sedan capa ost wasa design issue, To achieve th, cre was taken lo ensure a ughO, strength in the offgas by maximiring oxygen enrichment of tuyere air within previously rover lim, Anaconsequete, he racion intensity inthe bath was deagned tbe JOM © December 1992similar to that of existing reactors. ‘The existing 52 m x 21.3 m Noranda reactors at the Home smelter in Queboc, Canada, and at Kennecott’s Garfield smelter in Utai operate at 1,600 to 1800 t/d of E concentrate At 830t/¢, the Southern Copper reactor is required to operate at about halfthat capacity. Considering that a similar smelting intensity isrequired, the vessel vas scaled down to4.5m x 175m as shownin Figare 1. : ‘A further consoquonce ofthe scas-down and high intensity isthe roquirement for Dieaniae' considerably fewertayeres, Aiterconsidering thenced for adequate bathagitation.the ‘umber of tuyeres selected was 37, with 27 operating under design condition. Slag Cleaning | < t Following the decision to use an electric furnace for slagcleaning,!it was necessary 5 to design the reactor to produce slag that could be laundered from the slag notch to the electric furnace. The Norenda process produces a highly oxidized slag (20-25% FeQ,) that may not be sufficiently fluid at normal operating temperatures. To accommodate this possbility, the design has incorporated a number oftechniques to enhance fluidity. Slag chemistry is optimized by usinga very high-grade, fine silica flux tominimize the introduction of viscous components (eg,, alumina) and 10 promote fayalite. © formation. Lime-containing sludgesfrom the twowatertreatment plantsareretumed Figure 2. The design ol the slag endplate ard te the reactor, improving fluidity. Additional ime flux may be added to adjust slag eator support, chemistry if necessary. ‘The existing reactors operate athe lowest practicable temperature (1170-1 200°C) to minimize fuel consumption and maximize refractory fe. In Southern Copper's ‘case, anoperating temperature of 1 250°C wasselected 28 acompromiseberween slag Auidity and refractory erosion. To provide operating fledblity,aslag-end burner has ‘been included for localized heating ofthe slag i fluidity falls Campaign Lite ‘A major design criterion was the requirement for annwal shutdowns during the ‘summer months. Allowing fora generous 35-day shutdown period, the reactor mist ‘operatefor330 days at 85% utilization. Campaign lifeis determined by refractory wear around the moutt and along the tuyere line. Considering the intensity of the prozess and the scale-down factors, particular altention was paid inthe design to improve the ‘mouth area. Tuyere spacing Was increased from 199 m™mto I8Omun tolmprove ruyere- Tine refractory life REACTOR DESIGN ‘Shell Plate and Expansion Allowances ‘The mud steel for theshell plate was specified for good creep performance and low hurdenability. Low hardesobility is important to avoid loss of ducility in the zone affected by weld heat during cither fabrication 0° Field repairs. Longitudinal rcumierential bending stresses in the shell plate due to gravity Jcading are low (around 45 MPa). Shell stress levels are kept below the level where noticeable creep willoccurby controlling shel-temperature variations using external air cooling fans and by providing the correct amount of expansion allowance in the refractory lining, ‘Careful placement of the radial and longitudinal refractory expansion allowance ‘was specified in order toavoid brick crushing and overstressing ofthestee shell; avoid Overstressing the endplates by limiting the brick pressure against the endplates, ‘minimize brick movements at the tuyore line and matte taphole; and generate sufficient friction forcesby radial expansion ofthe brick against the inside of the shell to form “brick anchorage zones” within -3 m of each endplate, The longitudinal interbrick pressure increases with distance from the endplate until the typical longi tudinal interbrick pressure is reached. ‘Shell Temperature Controt Externalair cooling ofthe shell has extended the campaign life ofthe Horne reactor. Studies how thataninsulating layer frozen slag canbe formed againstthesteel shell, by external cooling. Thus, frozen sag can patch small areasof dislodged brick in some parts ofthe veseel ‘To provide adequate waming of unusual brick wear, shell temperaturesare moni: tored daily. Dust build-up onthe top ofthe vessel isavoided because evena 5mm deep layer of dust will aise shell temperatures by 170°C in stil ar Endplates ‘The endplates are held against longitudinal expansion ofthe refractory ner by 12 ‘sets of endplate springs [tis important to maintain spring loads at one-half to two- thirds the spring solid load to avoid overstressing the endplates, ‘The Home reactor was designed with one-piece endplates; during its fist cam- paign, these cracked and bowed outward, necessitating the addition of stiffening beats. To improve the Southern Copper endplate design, finite-element stressanaly- 1992 December ¢ JOM 31