About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Fundamentals of Sustainable Metallurgy and Processing of Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Reaction mechanism and kinetic analysis on deoxidation of molten copper by methane gas bubbling |
| Author(s) |
So-Yeong Lee, Jungshin Kang, Ho-Sang Sohn |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
So-Yeong Lee |
| Abstract Scope |
Deoxidation of blister copper during fire refining stage in the flash smelting process is commonly performed using natural gas. The main component of natural gas, methane (CH4), decomposes into carbon and hydrogen gas at high temperatures, and these products react with dissolved oxygen in the melt. In this study, the deoxidation kinetics of molten copper was investigated using a CH4 – Ar gas mixture at 1423 – 1523 K. The effects of total gas flow rate, CH4 partial pressure, and reaction temperature on the deoxidation rate were analyzed. The deoxidation reaction comprises the mass transfer of CH4 and oxygen through the boundary layers, decomposition of CH4 at the reaction interface, and the deoxidation reaction with reducing agents. Based on the analysis of the experimental results using first-order rate equations, the decomposition of CH4 was identified as the rate-controlling step, with an apparent activation energy of 183.1 kJ/mol. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Copper / Nickel / Cobalt, Pyrometallurgy, |