Continuous process of smelting metallic lead directly from lead- and

Abstract

A slag phase and lead phase are conducted in a counter-current to each other in an elongated horizontal reactor, in which a gas atmosphere is conducted in a counter-current to the slag phase. To maintain the molten bath at a constant temperature and to permit an operation at the lowest possible temperatures whereby an undercooling of the melt is prevented, the temperature of the molten bath in the reducing zone is maintained constant by a controlled supply of additional heat, the temperature of the molten bath in the oxidizing zone is maintained constant by a control of the ratio of oxidizable sulfur to oxygen in such a manner that in case of a temperature rise the ratio of sulfur to oxygen is increased in order to decrease the lead oxide content of the slag and in case of a temperature drop of the ratio of sulfur to oxygen is decreased in order to increase the lead oxide content of the slag and the increase and decrease of the ratio of sulfur to oxygen are controlled allowing for the fact that the heat content of the gases entering the oxidizing zone from the reducing zone is changed with the lead oxide content of the slag.