Metallgesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft

Heinrich Traulsen

Ulrich Heinrich Sander

Karl-Heinz Dorr

Peter Fischer

Werner Schwartz

Alfons Schulte

The moist ores are dried in direct contact with hot dry tail gas from a contact process plant for producing sulfuric acid. The dried ores are roasted, the SO.sub.2 -containing gases produced by the roasting are processed in the contact process plant to produce sulfuric acid, and the tail gases from the contact process plant are heated up with surplus heat from the contact process plant. These heated tail gases are used to dry the moist ores.

Process of drying sulfide ores in direct contact with hot drying gases

An improved continuous process for the conversion of a non-ferrous metal sulfide to form (A) a slag phase and (B) a non-ferrous metal phase of greater non-ferrous metal than the unconverted non-ferrous metal sulfide, by heating the non-ferrous metal sulfide in the form of a molten bath in a horizontal reactor provided with an oxidizing zone to which an oxidizing gas is added wherein in the oxidizing zone oxidation conditions predominate and a reducing zone to which a reducing gas is added and wherein in said reducing zone reducing conditions predominate is described. In the process, the slag is withdrawn from one end of the horizontal reactor while the non-ferrous metal phase is withdrawn from the other. In accordance with the invention, the gas atmosphere which develops in the horizontal reactor passes in counter-current flow to the flow of the slag phase and exhaust gas is withdrawn from the reactor at the same end of the reactor as is withdrawn the non-ferrous metal phase.

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Schwalbach, Germany

Heinrich Traulsen