Oxygen in Smelting Furnace  [ Return towards  Applications  ]

High oxygen levels ranging from 25% oxygen in Peirce-Smith and Hoboken converters up to 98% in flash smelting furnace are used for primary smelting. By reducing the nitrogen content of the off-gas, the heat losses are reduced while the reaction temperature and reaction rate are increased.

Reduced volumes and higher sulfur dioxide concentration facilitate off-gases treatment in the sulfuric acid plant.

For this application, low-purity oxygen is usually adequate and large and rapid fluctuations of gas consumption are encountered when coupled with the converter's oxygen requirements.

With your interests in mind, AIR LIQUIDE has developed innovative schemes for oxygen plants called "OXIAL" and the "Internal Bascule" system adapted to discontinuous gas consumption profiles :

The new OXIAL plant design based on a cryogenic process, allows direct production of oxygen at 95% purity under medium pressure without an oxygen compressor
The "Internal Bascule" system is based on a balancing system between liquid and gaseous oxygen is able to handle fast changing regimes and allows working conditions to be optimised at low operating costs

This AIR LIQUIDE patented design has been especially successful in the copper industry.