1.

HINDUSTAN ZINC LIMITED:

Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) is India’s leading zinc producer. A vertically integrated Mining &
Smelting company, HZL, is currently gearing up to becoming a global lowest-cost producer. As a
part of Vedanta Resources, a London listed metals and mining major with Aluminium. Copper
and Zinc operations in UK. India and Australia. HZL takes advantage of its mineral resources
and related core competencies and believes it has growth opportunities for increasing products
and improving returns.

The Key features of the company are as:

• The only integrated Zinc producer in India
• Refined Zinc production capacity 411,000 tpa
• Refined Lead production capacity 85,000 tpa
• Ore treatment capacity 5.85 Mtpa

1.1 INTRODUCTION:
Hindustan Zinc Limited was incorporated as a Government of India Enterprise under the
ministry of Steel & Mines, Department of Mines, on January 10, 1966, after take-over of
erstwhile Metal Corporation of India Limited, interalia, to own, manage& develop mining &
smelting capacities for the important strategic zinc & Lead metals in the country with an
operative lead smelter at Tundoo, Dhanbad & Mines at Zawar, Udaipur.
Phasewise development of mines, commissioning of Smelters at Debari & Vishakhapatnam,
capacity of HZL to produce lead & zinc reached to 79,000 MT of zinc & 30,000 MT of lead by
1990

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 HINDUSTAN ZINC LIMITED

1.2 VISION:
Be a world-class zinc company, creating value, leveraging mineral resources and related core
competencies.

1.3 MISSION:

• Be a lowest cost Zinc Producer on a global scale, maintaining market leadership

• Produce half Million Tonnes/Year of Zinc by 2005
• Be innovative, customer oriented and eco-friendly, maximizing stake-holder value
• The only integrated Zinc producer in India
• Refined Zinc production capacity 230,000 tpa
• Refined Lead production capacity 35,000 tpa
• Ore treatment capacity 4.6 Mtpa

Continuous operational improvements, meticulous planning, constant innovation, extensive

R&D, technological upgradation and so much more - HZL has come a long way and grown into
a multi-unit and multi-product company.

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1.4 HISTORY:

Hindustan Zinc Ltd, was created from the erstwhile metal Corporation of India (MCI) on 10th
January 1966 as a Public Sector Undertaking. In April 2002, the Government of India.
disinvested its majority stake in HZL, and it became a part of the fast growing Sterlite group,
Since then HZL as been growing from strength to strength

HZL produces Zinc, Lead and other by-products including Sulphuric Acid, Silver and Cadmium.
HZL achieved an all-time high with a record output of 2,61,226 tonnes Zinc and 6,14,938 tonnes
of record production of Zinc concentrate during 2003-04.

Today HZL is India’s leading base metal producer.

HZL is a vertically intergrated Mining & Smelting company, gearing up to:

• Harnessing mining resources to help India achieve self-sufficiency in Zinc.

• Become a global leader in Zinc.
• Create value for all entities whether it is Customers, Investors or Employees.

Constant innovation, meticulous attention to detail, extensive investments in R&D and

technology are the hallmarks of HZL making it a multi-unit and multi-product company.

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HZL Milestones at a glance:

2002-03 Sterlite acquires 26% and management control in HZL from the Government of
India in privatization. A further 20% is bought from market through open offer
and 18.92% from Government of India under call option.

1991 Chanderiya Pyrometallurgical lead-zinc smelter and Rampura Agucha mine begin
production.

1983 Rajpura Dariba Mine starts production.

1977 Vizag zinc smelter and second set of Zawar mine facilities commissioned.

1971 First expansion of Zawar mine commissioned.

1968 Debari smelter commissioned.

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2.1 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF ZINC:

Atomic number 30
Atomic mass 65.37 g.mol -1
Electronegativity according to Pauling 1.6
Density 7.11 g.cm-3 at 20°C
Melting point 420 °C
Boiling point 907 °C
Vanderwaals radius 0.138 nm
Ionic radius 0.074 nm (+2)
Isotopes 10
Electronic shell [ Ar ] 3d10 4s2
Energy of first ionisation 904.5 kJ.mol -1
Energy of second ionisation 1723 kJ.mol -1
Standard potential - 0.763 V
Discovered Andreas Marggraf in 1746

Zinc is a lustrous bluish-white metal. It is found in group IIb of the periodic table. It is brittle and
crystalline at ordinary temperatures, but it becomes ductile and malleable when heated between
110°C and 150°C. It is a fairly reactive metal that will combine with oxygen and other non-
metals, and will react with dilute acids to release hydrogen.

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2.2 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF LEAD:

Atomic number 82
Atomic mass 207.2 g.mol -1
Electronegativity according to Pauling 1.8
Density 11.34 g.cm-3 at 20°C
Melting point 327 °C
Boiling point 1755 °C
Vanderwaals radius 0.154 nm
Ionic radius 0.132 nm (+2) ; 0.084 nm (+4)
Isotopes 13
Electronic shell [ Xe ] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p2
Energy of first ionisation 715.4 kJ.mol -1
Energy of second ionisation 1450.0 kJ.mol -1
Energy of third ionisation 3080.7 kJ.mol -1
Energy of fourth ionisation 4082.3 kJ.mol -1
Energy of fifth ionisation 6608 kJ.mol -1
Discovered by The ancients

Lead is a bluish-white lustrous metal. It is very soft, highly malleable, ductile, and a relatively
poor conductor of electricity. It is very resistant to corrosion but tarnishes upon exposure to air.
Lead isotopes are the end products of each of the three series of naturally occurring radioactive
elements.

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3.1 USES OF ZINC:

Zinc is the fourth most common metal in use, trailing only iron, aluminium, and copper in annual
production

• Zinc is used to galvanize steel to prevent corrosion

• Zinc is used to Parkerize steel to prevent rust and corrosion

• Zinc is used in alloys such as brass, nickelled silver, typewriter metal, various soldering
formulas and German silver

• Zinc is the primary metal used in making American cents since 1982

• Zinc is used in die casting notably in the automobile industry

• Zinc is used as part of the containers of batteries. The most widespread such use is as the
anode in alkaline batteries

• Zinc is used as the anode or fuel of the zinc-air battery/fuel cell providing the basis of the
theorised zinc economy

• Zinc is used as a sacrificial anode on boats and ships that use cathodic protection to
prevent corrosion of metals that are exposed to sea water

• Zinc is used in contemporary pipe organ building as a substitute for the classic lead/tin
alloy in pipes sounding the lowest (pedal) tones, as it is tonally almost indistinguishable
from lead/tin at those pitches, and has the added advantages of being much more
economical and lighter in weight. Even the best organ builders use zinc in this capacity.

• Zinc oxide is used as a white pigment in watercolours or paints, and as an activator in the
rubber industry. As an over-the-counter ointment, it is applied as a thin coating on the
exposed skin of the face or nose to prevent dehydration of the area of skin. It can protect
against sunburn in the summer and windburn in the winter. Applied thinly to a baby's

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 diaper area (perineum) with each diaper change, it can protect against rash. As
determined in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study, it is part of an effective treatment for
age-related macular degeneration in some cases

• Zinc chloride is used as a deodorant and can also be used as a wood preservative

• Zinc sulfide is used in luminescent pigments such as on the hands of clocks and other
items that glow in the dark.

• Zinc methyl (Zn(CH3)2) is used in a number of organic syntheses.

• Zinc stearate is a lubricative plastic additive.

• Lotions made of calamine, a mix of Zn-(hydroxy-)carbonates and silicates, are used to

treat skin rash.

• Zinc metal is included in most single tablet over-the-counter daily vitamin and mineral
supplements. It is believed to possess anti-oxidant properties, which protect against
premature aging of the skin and muscles of the body. In larger amounts, taken as zinc
alone in other proprietaries, it is believed by some to speed up the healing process after
an injury. Preparations include zinc acetate and zinc gluconate.

• Zinc gluconate glycine and zinc acetate are also used in throat lozenges or tablets to
reduce the duration and the severity of cold symptoms.

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3.2 USES OF LEAD:

The following uses for lead are gathered from a number of sources as well as from anecdotal
comments. I'd be delighted to receive corrections as well as additional referenced uses (please
use the feedback mechanism to add uses).

• the metal and the dioxide are used in storage batteries

• cable covering, plumbing, ammunition
• manufacture of PbEt4 - an antiknock compound in petrol. Environmental concern with
lead poisoning, (and cheaper unleaded petrol prices) is slowly resulting in less use of lead
in petrol
• the metal is very effective as a sound absorber
• a radiation shield around X-ray equipment and nuclear reactors
• used extensively in paints, although recently the use of lead in paints has been drastically
curtailed to eliminate or reduce health hazards
• the oxide is used in producing fine "crystal glass" and "flint glass" with a high refractive
index for achromatic lenses
• solder
• used by the Romans for plumbing (the decline of the Roman empire is attributed to lead
in the water supply!)
• used to contain corrosive liquids
• alloying
• cable covering
• ammunition
• shield against X-rays
• oxide used to produce crystal glass
• insecticides

4. UNITS:

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4.1 Mines in Operation:

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4.1.1. Zawar Group of Mines:
Zawar group of mines (Mochia, Balaria, Zawar Mala & Baroi) is situated in the Girwa Tehsil of
Udaipur District of Rajasthan at a distance of about 35 kms from Udaipur, amidst a valley of
Arawali hills.

4.1.2. Rajpura-Dariba Mines:

The multi=-metal Rajpura-Dariba Mines, which is located about 85km away from Udaipur (Raj.)
has demonstrated ore reserve of about 16.4 million tones having metal content of about 6.9%
zinc & 2.2% lead.

4.1.3. Maton Rock Phosphate Mine (Udaipur):

Maton mine has been developed to meet rock-phosphate requirements for the super-phosphate &
phosphoric acid plant at Debari.

4.4.4. Rampura Agucha Mining Complex:

The prestigious Rampura Agucha Open Cast Mining Complex is Asia’s richest & largest lead –
zinc deposit.. It is situated in Tehsil Hurda, District Bhilwara in Raj.
The discovery of a world class diposie of 60.6 million tones at Rampura Agucha, containing
15.4% metal has dramatically altered the prospect of not only reducing the cost of production of
zinc and lead, but also the expansion of HZL’s production capacity resilting in increasing the
demand satisfaction upto 82% for zinc and 61% for lead.

4.1.5. Sargipali Mine (Orissa)

4.1.6. Agnigundala Lead Mine (Guntur, A.P.)

4.2 Smelters in Operation :

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 1. Debari Zinc Smelter, Distt. Udaipur (Raj.)
2. Vizag Zinc-Lead Smelter (A.P)
3. Tundoo Lead Smelter (Dhanbad), Bihar
4. Chanderiya Lead-Zinc Smelter

5. CHANDERIYA LEAD ZINC SMELTER

Date of commencent 17.11.88

Date of completion 16.05.91

Situated in Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan, the Chanderiya Lead-Zinc smelter is around 8 kms
north of Chittorgarh town on the state highway.
This gigantic super smelter is integrated with Ramura Agucha Mines at a cost of Rs. 617 crore.
The Chanderiya Smelter treating Lead-zinc concentrates is based on the Imperial Smelting
Process route adopting blast furnace technology for simultaneous production of lead and zinc
metal. The Indian installation is the 14th furnace being in U.K., Australia, Zambia, Japan,
Germany, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland and China.

5.1 PRODUCTION:

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New facilities have been built at Chanderiya which will take total zinc output to some 400,000
tpa. This is being accompanied by a new 50,000 tpa lead smelter, giving lead capacity of 85,000
tpa, which is due for commissioning by March 2006.

The output at Rampura Agucha lead-zinc mine has been expanded to 3.3 mtpa, and eventually
3.75 mtpa, to feed the new smelting capacity.

A 154 mw coal fired power plan has been competed which will provide power for both the new
and existing facilities. The expansion projects were commissioned ahead of schedule in May
2005 and the total cost was 15% below the estimated budget of $425m

5.2 PRODUCTION CAPACITIES

PRODUCTS CAPACITY ( TPA)

REFINED ZINC 70000

REFINED LEAD 35000
SULPHURIC ACID 176000
SILVER 74
COPPER CATHODE/SULPHATE 2100
CADMIUM 375

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5.3 AIMS OF AN INDUSTRY

a) To produce goods
b) To have continuous production
c) To produce goods at low cost
d) To produce goods of higher quality
e) Have long life of equipment
f) Social heritage
g) Economic growth

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6. SINTER PLANT

HZL’s CLZS zinc and lead production begins with zinc and lead concentrates wherein zinc and
lead are present as sulphides is imported from its own captive mines in India. Concentrates is
received in trucks and stored inn a Raw Material House. From the Raw Material House, it is
transported to Bins in Sinter Plant by a well controlled belt conveyor system, where along with
certain other necessary ingredients like fluxes, secondary materials and water it is mixed in a
prefixed proportion and fed to sintering machine. Sintering serves the dual purpose of converting
the sulphides into oxides and agglomerates the product into porous, high strength lumps called
sinter.
In the sintering process the sulphides of lead and zinc react with oxygen of air to form SO2 gas:
2 ZnS + 3 O2 → 2ZnO + 2 SO2
2 PbS + 3 O2 → 2 PbO + 2 SO2

The sinter plant has following main sections:

1. Raw Material Handling Plant (RMH)
2. Charge Proportioning and Conditioning System
3. Sinter Machine
4. Sinter and Return Fines Handling (Crusher Plant)
5. Gas Cleaning (Acid Plant)
6. Slurry Handling

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6.1 RAW MATERIAL STOCK YARD AND UNLOADING STATION:

Concentrate and fluxes are delivered by truck and unloaded into the unloading hoppers. The raw
material is transported to a tripper belt conveyer which distributes the raw material to individual
boxes of the raw material stockyard.
Storage capacity of the stockyard is as follows:

 Zinc concentrate-Rampura agucha mines-6250 tonnes.

 Zinc concentrate-Ambamata mines-1600 tonnes.

 Zinc concentrate-Rajpura dariba mines-1600 tonnes.
 Bulk concentrate-Ambamata-3500 tonnes.
 Lead concentrate-Rampura agucha mines-2500 tonnes.
 Lead concentrate-Rajpura dariba mines-2500tonnes.
 Lead concentrate-Zewar mines-2500 tonnes.
 Lime stones flux-450tonnes.
 Iron flux-700 tonnes.

On an average the composition of the raw material from mines from mines is as follows;
The composition of Zinc concentrate is Zn 50-55%, S 30-32%, Pb 2-5%
The composition of Lead concentrate is Pb 40-55%, S 16-18%, Zn 1.-2%.

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6.2 CHARGE PROPORTIONATE AND CONDITIONING SYSTEM

The material is then carried to the charge proportionate and conditioning system by a series of
conveyer system (tray conveyer).
The raw materials, when it is oversized, is passed through a disintegrator. There are 15 storage
bins of capacity 50 cu. Metre as: 6 for Zn cone.; 3 for Pb cone.; 1 for bulk cone.; 1 for iron flux;
2 for lime stones and 2 for return fines which are of 25 cu. Metre capacity. All bins are equipped
with vibrators and shock cannons to prevent blockage. Moisture addition is done in a controlled
way at mixing and conditioning drums, so as to get a moisture content of 6% in the feed to the
sinter machine. All the various sources of inputs are controlled through weigh feeders located at
the bottom of the proportioning bins.

6.3 SINTER MACHINE:

The updraft sinter machine has an area of 120 sq. mts. And 109 pallets each measuring 3m x 1m
in size. There are 444 grate bars in a pallet.
The ore concentrate is reduces to size of 6mm by the hammer mill. After reducing the size, the
ore concentrate is sent to the bins. In the bins the ore concentrate and the return fines are added
in the ratio 3:1.
Above the sinter machine, the main and the ignition layer bins are located. The ignition layer
thickness is generally adjusted to give 30 mm height and the total layer max. height is 400 mm.
The ignition layer is fired by 2 burners operating on light diesel oil (LDO), to get about 1000.C
hood temp. After proper burning of the ignition layer the main layer is made and air is blown
from down through the pump and then the main layer is burnt.
1. Ignition Layer (10% to 15%)
2. Main Layer (85% to 90%)

Here the main reaction are

ZnS + O2 => ZnO + SO2
PbS + O2 => PbO + SO2
The SO2 is sent to the gas cleaning plant.

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The big lump of PbO and ZnO is not suitable for the ISF plant. So it is necessary to reduce the
size of the lump. For this purpose sinter breaker is located after the sinter machine, this breaker
reduce the size of the lump upto 200mm. But this size too is not suitable so they are then sent to
the spike roll crusher. These crusher reduce the size of lump to 65 to 130mm. These are then sent
to the classifier which separate the lump size from 65-130mm from the rest. Then the suitable
part is sent to the ISF Plant if it is in working condition otherwise it is sent to the storage yard by
tray conveyer system.
The lump of size below 65mm at temp 600-800.C is sent to the corrugated roll crusher, This
crusher reduce the size to 35mm, then it is sent to the smooth roll crusher to reduce its size to 6-8
mm which is used as fines in sinter plant. These fines have high temp. so they are sent to the
cooling drum. After passing through 7
The drum the temp of the fines is reduced to 90.C and then they are sent to the return fines bin.
Anywhere where dust is formed, dust sucker are located. These dust sucker suck the dust and
sent it to the bag filter. Bag filter collect the dust. The ignition gases are drawn by the ignition
waste gas fan through wind box and conveyed to recirculating gas plant. Dust and spillage are
removed in a solid separator from the sinter hood. The rich SO2 gas is drawn and sent to the wet
gas cleaning plant through HGP (hot gas precipitator) with the help of booster blower. Beside the
ignition fan, 4 fresh air fans and 1 recirculating fan is also there to supply fresh air and to
recirculate air to 17 wind boxes of the sinter machine. There are 5 cyclones for dust removal of
the ventilation air and recirculating gases in order to avoid any dust build up in the ducts and also
to avoid wear of fans.

The composition of the sinter product is:

Zn 40-44%
Pb 18-20%
FeO 10-10.5%
S less than 1%
CaO 4.5-5%
SiO2 3.5-4%
Ratio of CaO:SiO2 1.2

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The composition of sinter fines is:

Zn 42.50%
Pb19.50%
FeO 10.3%
S 2.14%
CaO 4.6%
SiO2 3.7%

The specifications of the plant are as follows:

Effective updrafts are of the sinter machine : 120M2

Width of the pallet : 3.0m
Capacity (Dry basis) Sinter material : 4600 tons per day
Specific Sulphur burning rate : 1.6tons per square meter per
day
Sinter Production : 1080 tons per day
Sulphur content of mixture : <1%
SO2 content of the gases : >5%
Moisture Content : <7%
Bulk density of the crude charge : 2.5 tons per cubic meter (Average)

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20
7. GAS CLEANING PLANT

Basic purpose of the plant is to clearfy the gas Sulphur Dioxide to use it further in the Acid plant
to manufacture the Sulphuric acid. The gas coming out of the sinter plant is mainly Sulphur
Dioxide. This gas is allowed to pass through the ESP (Electrostatic Precipitator). High electric
field is applied to charge the solid powdered substance coming with the gas. Due to that all the
powdered impurities get settle down at the bottom of the precipitator. Continuous cleaning of the
ESP is required to stop blockage.

Gas coming out of the Hot gas Precipitator is has a sufficiently high temperature (300 C) is now
passed through the washing tower. While passing through the washing tower the gas get cooled
down as well as it settles down all the solid impurities present in the gas having a sufficiently
large size. Still the temperature of the gas is about 60 to 65 C which need to be get dow.

This task of bringing the temperature of the gases to the normal atmospheric temperature is done
by coolers. There are six coolers installed in the plant who used to cool the gases with the
continuous flow of the water.

Now the gas is allowed to pass through the fluorine separator to wash out any traces of fluorine
coming with the gases. A wet gas precipitator is used in the plant to settle down any last traces of
impurities in the gases. Here lead electrodes are used to charge the impurities in the gases. The
gases coming out of the plant are now at 330C and is ready to fed it to Acid plant.

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22
7.1 IMPORTANT DATA AND PARAMETERS:

1. Fresh inputs to sinter machine

Zinc concentrates 18.2 T/H

Lead concentrates 7.2 T/H
Bulk concentrates 6.5 T/H
Limestone+ Lime 4.1 T/H
Iron Flux 0.2 T/H

2. Output from Sinter Machine

SO2 gas 6% 1500 m3/min

Cadmium dust from HGP 2.81 T/H
Sinter to ISF 45.61 T/H

7.2 OTHER RELEVANT DATAS AND PARAMETERS

3. Return fines from ISF 11.3 T/H

4. Moisture in feed to sinter machine 5-6%
5. Sulphide sulphur in feed to 5-6%
Sinter Machine

6. L.S.H.S. consumption per hour for 200 kg/hr

two burners
7. Ignition hood temperature 1000 deg. Centigrade
8. Ignition layer thickness 30-50 mm
9. Main layer thickness 360-400mm

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10. Sinter machine speed 0.19-2.00 m/min
11. Sinter machine hearth area 120 m2
12. Crude charge return fines ratio 1:3 to 1:5
13. Concentrate size 100% less than 1mm
14. Maximum moisture in concentrate 7%
15. Flux size 100% < 5mm, 80% <2mm
16. Sinter sent to ISF, size +65mm-130mm
17. Sinter sent to ISF, quantity 45T/H
18. Sinter return from ISF 11 T/H
19. Zinc concentrate required per 0.6-0.7T
Ton of sinter consumed in ISF
20. Lead concentrate required per 0.25-0.3 T
Ton of sinter consumed in ISF
21. Limestone required per 0.1 T
ton of sinter consumed in ISF
22. Iron Flux required per 0.3 T
ton of sinter consumed in ISF
23. Rattler Index of product sinter 60-80
24. Maximum size of return fines < 6 mm
25. L.S.H.S. required per 5.5-6 kg
Ton of sinter consumed in ISF
26. LDO required per 3-3.5 kg
ton of sinter consumed in ISF

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8. SULFURIC ACID PLANT

The acid plant used for manufacturing the Sulphuric acid is a traditional plant based on contact
process for manufacturing the sulphuric acid. In the plant we have used following instruments in
some fixed numbers as:

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8.1 ABSORPTION TOWERS (3):

1. In the gas coming from the gas cleaning plant contains a significant amount of water
which is to be removed before it is allowed to enter to the catalyst chamber because water
may destroy the catalyst. For that we must dehydrate it using a dehydrating agent. And
the dehydrating agent frequently available in the plant is the Sulphuric acid itself. We
pass the concentrated acid through the tower to absorb the water vapors in the gas. After
passing through the tower the acid become dilute which is mixed with the concentrated
acid coming from the other two absorption towers to maintain the concentration.

2. The second absorption column is used to convert the SO3 into Sulphuric acid. A spray of
the some dilute sulphuric acid made from the top of the column and we are getting the
concentrated acid from the bottom of the plant.

3. The third absorption column is used to convert the remaining SO 3 into the Sulpuric
acidusing the same method. The acid coming out of the last tower is approximately 98%
pure. This acid is mixed with the acid coming from the other two towers to maintain the
concentration. The amount of acid of each concentration getting mixed with one another
is controlled from the control room

8.2 REACTORS (1):

The reactor used in the sulphuric acid plant is contain a known weight of the catalyst Venedium
PentaOxide. The Sulphur Dioxide entering into the reactor get converted into the Sulphur
Trioxide. The temperature at which the reaction is fastest is 450-6200C. So temperature from the
control room is maintained between these limits. As the reaction is exothermic the temperature is
maintained automatically inside the reaction vessel around the desired value. This is
accomplished by taking out some amount of gas out of the column after each catalyst bed. When
the gas is brought out first two times it is just cooled using the heat exchangers. But when gas is

26
brought out after next two catalyst beds it is first through the heat exchangers and then through
the absorption columns.

8.3 HEAT EXCHANGER (6):

In plant we have total 5 heat exchangers which are being used to cool the gases coming from the
reactor (On tube side). These heat exchangers are arranged in such a way that proper usage of the
heat generated in the plant can be done.

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28
8.4 SPECIFICATIONS:
Parameters Content
Total Acidity (as 98.00% min
H2SO4)
Residue on ignition 0.050% max
Iron Content (as Fe) 0.005% max
Lead Content (as Pb) 0.002% max
Arsenic content (as As) 0.003% max
Bulk density 1.840

8.5 END USES:

Sulphuric Acid is the bulk commodity chemical used by almost all the industries. It is the basic
building molecule for chemical industry; used for different applications. The major consuming
end use segments are:

• Fertilizer (Phosphatic Fertilzers: DAP & SSP)

• Detergent
• Dyes & Dyes Intermediates
• Organic & Inorganic Chemicals
• Textiles
• Petrochemicals
• Refineries
• Pharmaceuticals
• Explosives
• Pulp & Paper
• Rayon
• Alum Manufacturing
• Sugar Refining
• Metal Pickling

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 • Electrolysis

9. IMPERIAL SMELTING FURNACE PLANT

9.1 INTRODUCTION:

The imperial smelting blast furnace is designed to simultaneously produce molten zinc and lead
by smelting prepared raw materials with preheated coke and preheated blast air. The prepared,
agglomerated raw material (sinter) is fed to the top of a vertical shaft furnace together with the
heated coke. Air is blown into the bottom of the shaft and the chemical reaction between this air
and the coke produces carbon monoxide and generate heat to smelt the metallic oxide in the
charge into the elemental metal. Molten lead falls into the bottom of the furnace from where it is
tapped together with slag of a molten gangue material. At the temperature of operation, metallic
zinc is formed as a vapor and rises up the furnace shaft with the furnace gases. These zinc
containing gases pass through a furnace off take into the condenser containing molten lead. Here
zinc is condensed to a liquid by shock cooling, the gases with a spray of finely divided droplets
of lead generated by rotors immersed in the lead. After absorbing condensed zinc, this lead is
pumped out of the condenser into a adjacent cooling launder where it is cooled by tube banks
immersed in the launder from above. At the end of the launder the zincy lead is treated with flux
and flows into a separation bath where, at the cool temperature of 440 deg. Cent., zinc separates
as a molten layer on the top of lead. Zinc continuously overflows via a V – notch into a adjacent
liquation bath whilst the main lead stream passes from the separation bath under the underflow
weir and then into a return launder leading back into the condenser.

The liquation bath is small bath in which any final separation of lead and iron from the
zinc can occur before the zinc overflows to the final holding bath. Here it is allowed to
accumulate before being tapped for casting or further treatment in zinc refinery.

The waste gases leaves the condenser after zinc is condensed from them are passed into a
gas cleaning system where they are cooled and cleaned of particulate matter. These gases contain
carbon monoxide and have a low calorific value. After cleaning calorific value is utilized in

30
preheating the furnace blast air and in preheating the cokes any remaining excess is used in the
site power plant boilers.

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32
9.2 FURNACE:

The ISF consists of three sections-the upper section (or furnace shaft) which contains furnace
gases off take and intermediate section with a shower cooled casing and the lowest section-the
furnace hearth. All three section are joined together to give a gas tight construction in which the
charged is smelted.
The sinter and coke are fed into the shaft though two sets of charging gears situated in the
furnace roof and blast air enters through tuyeres set in the lower portion of shower cooled easing.
Lead and slag are tapped from the furnace hearth and furnace gas and zinc vapor leaves the shaft
through furnace off take which is set in one side above the top level of charge.

9.3 CONDENSER:

Zinc condenser is assentially a refractory lined steel tank containing molten lead with a gas
above through which furnace off gases are passed. Furnace gas enters the gas space from the
furnace off take and flow through the lead spray in three condensation stages before leaving the
condenser through the vertical off take stack at the rear. The condenser has a shallow inverted
arch refractory floor and a demountable shallow arch roof formed from cast iron and mild steel
tiles. It is divided into three sections by vertical steel baffles to from three distinct condensation
stages. In each stage steel baffles are three to from three distinct condensation stages. In each
stage vertical rotor units are suspended from above with the rotors immersed below the normal
lead level. The rotors are designed to throw the spray of lead droplets into gas space in order to
condense zinc vapor contained in the furnace off takes.
The condenser gas off take is a regular refractory lined stack fitted with internal liner
plates. The gas pass up the stack before leaving through a doubly inclined cross over duct leaving
to the gas washing tower. The off take stack is provided with doors in prder to provide facility for
cleaning.

33
9.4 LEAD COOLING AND METAL SEPERATION SYSTEM

Hot lead delivered from the condenser lead pumps is cooled so that dissolved zinc separates as a
second liquid phase and floats of the lead from where it can be removed by physical separation.
Cooled lead reduced in zinc contents is returned to the condenser so that it can condense more
zinc from the furnace gases.
The metal separation system consists of two connected baths between the cooling launder
and the return launder to the condenser, and two baths which form a side stream route for the
zinc output metal.
A lead enters the flux bath about 20 kg per hour of ammonium chloride pellets are added
from the hooper and feeder system. This flux is added to minimize turbulence and the oxidation
of zinc. The lead enters into a section from which it flows out over a submerged baffle, this
arrangement being adopted to ensure that the ammonium chloride is thoroughly mixed into the
lead and that dross is brought to the surface. The flux bath is roofed and the point of flux addition
is hooded for ventilation purpose. Lead flows out of the bath via an underflow weir to prevent
dross carry over to the separation bath.
From the liquation bath zinc overflows to the zinc holding bath which is a surge bath
allowing zinc metal output to accumulate before being tapped into ladles or moulds from transfer
to zinc refinery. This bath also provides a facility for reheating molten zinc to between 480 to
520 deg cent. Which is temperature required for further handling.
At the separation bath, zinc overflows the V-notch and falls into the liquation bath. The
purpose of this small bath is to provide facility for removal of impurity from zinc to maintain the
grade of zinc passing to the zinc refinery. Iron is removed in the hard metal which gradually
forms a layer under the zinc as is cools. Lead carry over and settle in this bath and may be tapped
and removed from time to time for return to cooling launder as lead ingot.
All the baths of the metal separation system are of a refractory lined metal casing
construction, have removable refractory lined roof tiles and are fitted with a burner and cleaning
road. In the sides of the bath, refractory tapping blocks allow metal to be drained out when
required. All baths are provided with ventilation ducts which passes through the roof tiles and
ventilation hoods are provided over the dross discharge areas.

34
10. GAS WASHING PLANT AND LCV DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

10.1 INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of these systems is to cool the condenser off gas, to remove particulate matter and to
produce and deliver a clean, low calorific value gas suitable for burning in coke preheaters,
cowper stoves and power generation plant. The particulate matter, containing zinc and lead
oxides and other fine particles carries over from the furnace (blue powder) is washed out of the
gas and collects as a slurry for subsequent thickening and return to sinter plant.
Gas cleaning is accompanished by a preliminary cleaning and conditioning operation in a
unpacked co current spray tower, followed by scrubbing in a special high peed irrigated fan
known as disintegrator. Water droplets are then remove from the gas in
A cyclonic separation and the gas pressure is booted for distribution to the gas consumers.
The dirty liquor drains to a dredge tank from which it is collected for pumping to a
thickener. This tank is 15m long and run under the three units, gas washing tower, disintegrator
and moisture separator. It serves both as water seal and as a slurry collection tank for each unit.

10.2 LCV GAS DISTRIBUTION:

The function of this system is to distribute the cleaned LCV gas from the outlet of the moisture
separator to the three major consumers, or to release from the system via the flare stack at
periods of low consumption.

The gas booster fan is used to control the pressure in zinc condenser and the gas washing system
and to deliver gas at the required pressure into the LCV gas header main for supply to cowper
stoves, the coke preheaters and the boilers of the power generation plant.

35
10.3 DREDGE TANK AND BLUE POWDER DISPOSAL:

The dredge tank forms a reception tank for the drain from the component of the gas
washing system, and also acts as a water seal for all the down comers. Scrubbing water drain into
the tank carrying with all solids scrubs from the condenser gas. The heavier solid particles settles
to the bottom of the tank while the major part of the liquor carries away the smaller suspended
particles and flows over a weir on the side of the tank into a line leading to a blue powder pump
tank.
At the blue powder slurry pump tank two slurry pumps, one operation and one stand by,
pumps the blue powder suspension onto a high level open launder leading to blue powder
thickener. Pumps also discharge liquor from the blue powder sump and the blue powder slurry
tank to the launder. Lump material from the lump bunker is moved to the sinter plant.

36
11. ZINC REFINERY PLANT

This Plant is also known as

1) Zinc and Cadmium Refinery
2) Zinc Refluxing Plant

11.1 OBJECTIVE OF REFINING:

The I.S.F zinc is not suitable for zinc’s prime user i.e. galvanizers due to
1) High cadmium percentage
2) Occasional high arsenic

Hence zinc produced from I.S.F. needs a suitable refining to become of economic industrial use.
The process followed in CLZS is by distillation in “new jersey type distillation columns”

11.2 INTRODUCTION:

Zinc refinery is situated east of I.S.F. the basic engineering is given by mechim-engineering of
Belgium and process by novellas-godault of France. Main construction is done by TATA DAVY
LTD.

11.3 SOME SPECIAL FEATURES:

1. Since the main refining is done in columns consisting of superimposed silicon-carbide

trays, the trays can’t take thermal shock, so the process can’t be stopped more than 2-3
minutes. Only after the life (2 to 3 yr) of the columns finishes can be stopped. So the
equipments which are responsible for feeding and heating must run 24hr/day.

37
 2. Due to above reason, there are some conditions before start up. Otherwise huge
expenditure & time will be taken to rebuilt the trays consisting columns.

11.4 PROPERTIES USED IN REFINING METALS:

Zn Pb Cd As
Melting point 419.5c 327 320.9 616
Boiling Point 907c 1740 767 815
Specific Gravity 7.14 11.40 8.65 5.73
Atomic no. 30 82 48 33
Atomic weight 65.37 207.19 112.4 74.92

38
12. MAIN PROCESS WISE UNITS:

1. I.S.F. ZINC HANDLING UNIT

2. EMERGENCY CASTING UNIT
3. MAIN WORKING UNIT
4. CASTING AREA
5. RECUPERATOR UNIT
6. CADMIUM REFINERY
7. L.P.G. AIR MIXING UNIT
8. OIL HANDLING STATION
9. BLOWER HOUSE AND BURNER
10. FUME EXTRACTION SYSTEM
11. BUILDING VENTILATION
12. STORES

12.1 PROCESS DESCRIPTION

The I.S.F. Zinc is feed to the storage f/c through tilting device or by the loading door in form of
1.1T ingots. This Zn by gravity goes to the feeding furnace. In emergency 1 zinc pump is used or
ladles are tilted in the feeding f/c directly. The feeding furnace through the needle valve and float
valve feeds the I.S.F. Zinc to the lead columns in requite amount and temp. The lead columns
which have 59 trays each are having two parts up to the 30th tray. It is having a combustion
chamber around it and is known as the boiling part. The top portion above the 34th tray (feed
tray) is insulated, it is the refluxing part. Only during the start up this top part of lead columns
are electrically heated. If we consider the column erected by superimposition the trays, has got 8
types of trays. The top tray is different at it is connected to the condensers by a mall-rack
(electro-fused silica) cross over the bottom tray, the tray above feed tray. The 30th tray is having
double opening and extra electric coils around it. 33 rd tray is having different outer shape. All the
rest trays are of 2 types:

39
 1. flat type: located in the reflux part
2. w-type: located in the bottom part (boiling part)
If we consider the composition of I.S.F. Zn and see the action of combustion chamber which is
having 8 burners in each column drawing 10% of total combustion air from the burner and the
rest 90% preheated air from recuperator, we find that full cadmium, half Zn vaporizes and full
lead and half Zn comes down, The top product is condensed in condensers of each lead column
and then again in hot condition they are fed to cadmium columns. Feed system is same as lead
columns, Here the number of trays are 56 only and 2 columns are there (rest everything is same
for cadmium columns) this feed is known as Zn-Cd alloy. The bottom products of lead columns
are collected through sump which has an air lock type overflow system. This is Pb-Zn alloy
having extra lead. This Pb is separated in liquation f/c. some hard Zn also comes and rest Zn
having only the minimum lead comes out as G.O.B. Zinc i.e. good ordinary brand or prime
western (PW) zinc. The top Zn-Cd alloy is separated in cadmium columns. The bottom product
of this is very high grade Zinc known as special high grade zinc (SHG). The top product after
condensation becomes Cd-Zn enriched alloy and is casted in moulds to be sent to Cd refinery.
The SHG & GOB are casted in separate casting m/c.

12.2 MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEAD AND CADMIUM COLUMNS:

1) The feed tray is 34th for lead columns & 36th for cadmium columns.
2) After the 36th tray cadmium columns are having baffles inside the trays.
3) There are no electrical heating systems for cadmium column top portion, it unlike
lead columns behave as condenser also.
4) Total no. of trays for LC is 59 & CC is 56 each.
5) Condenser size is small for cadmium columns.

Both types of columns have attached recuperator system for energy conservation. The I.S.F. Zn is
stored to ensure a constant feed but in case this 1.1 T ingot stock fails, wer have recirculation
facility of GOB zinc through 4T shaft way using one demag monorial hoist. 0.5T shaft way is
also there for bringing ingots to the top floor. Weighing m/c is used to weigh the ingots before

40
charging. Some Zinc from cadmium refinery comes in from 0.5T ingots to be melted in storage
f/c. the lead from liaq. f/c is sent to lead refinery and hard zinc to I.S.F. All other dross is also
sent back to I.S.F.

12.3 PROCESS PARAMETERS:

A) STORAGE FURNACE

1. bath erea: 18square meter

2. free metal: 70 T
3. Fixed metal 40 T
4. total metal: 110T
5. metal content: I.S.F. Zinc
6. metal flow: 286T/Day (same as feed)
208T/Day (when ingots are used)
7. metal feeding temp.: 480 – 5200C
8. Bath temp.: 550
9. burners each of : 400000 kcal/h
(Triple fired i.e. I.D.O/LSHS/LPG)

B) FEEDING FURNACE

1. bath area 6.6 square meter

2. metal flow: 286T/day
3. metal content: I.S.F. Zn
4. metal feeding temp.: 550
5. bath temp.: 55-670
6. feeding quantity: 282T/day
7. burners one of : 600000kcal/h

41
C) LEAD COLUMNS (LC1,LC2,LC3,LC6)

1. combustion chamber: 14 square meter

2. metal flow: 95T/day
3. top flow (vapors): 38T/day
4. bottom flow : 57T/day
5. top outlet temp.: 850/950
6. incoming temp.: 550/670
7. bottom outlet temp.: 750/850
8. condenser capacity: 1square meter/ton of Zn condensed
(Natural induced air type)

9. expected life: 2.5 yrs

10. burners 8 each: 250000kcal/h
(triple fired)

D) CADMIUM COLUMNS (CC4 & CC5)

1. metal flow: 57.5T/day

2. metal content: top: An-Cd alloy enriched
Bottom: SHG Zn
Feed: Cd-Zn alloy
3. top outlet flow : 2.5-3T/DAY
4. bottom outlet flow: 54.5-55T/day
5. top outlet temp.: 850/950
6. bottom outlet temp.: 750/850T/day
7. incoming feed temp: 550/670T/day
8. combustion chamber: 14 cubic meter
9. burners (triple fired): 8 no. each 200000kcal/h

42
E) LIQUATION FURNACE
1. bath area: 1.25 square meter
2. free metal capacity: 103T
3. minimum metal capacity: 25T
4. metal flow: 164T/day
5. metal content: Pb-Zn alloy
6. metal feeding temp.: 430/450
7. bath temp. (reheating part): 480/540
8. burners each having: 200000kcal/h

F) GOB HOLDING F/C

1. bath area: 26 square meter
2. free metal capacity: 103T
3. minimum metal capacity: 25T
4. metal capacity (total): 128T
5. metal flow: 161T/day
6. metal content: GOB Zn
7. metal feeding temp.: 475
8. bath temp.: 475/540
9. burners (2 no.): 400000kcal/h

G) SHG HOLDING FURNACE

1. bath area: 17.8 square meter
2. free metal capacity: 71T
3. fixed metal capacity: 17T
4. total metal capacity: 88T
5. metal flow input : 120T/day
6. metal content: SHG Zn
7. metal feeding temp.: 475
8. bath temp.: 475/540
9. metal flow (outlet): 120T/day
24h/day
10. burners (2 no.) : 400000kcal/hr

43
13. LEAD REFINERY PLANT

13.1 OPERATION IN LEAD REFINERY:

Lead refinery can be subdivided into two sub sections for case of understanding
1. Copper drossing area
2. MTM Refined lead production area

13.2 COPPER DROSSING AREA:

In this area the copper is removed from ISF bullion in two stages.
The area consists of five kettles. Each of 100 MT capacities. Out of which two are enmarked for
first stage of copper drossing, or hot drossing and others are used for second stage of copper
remove, or cold drossing. In fifth kettle, lead bullion from the Ausmelt Plant is charged.

13.3 HOT DROSSING:

ISF lead is received in lead refinery by means of 15/8 MT E.O.T crane. The ladle is placed on a
hydraulically operated ladle tipper which raises the ladle to pour molten lead into hot drossing
kettle. The kettles are provided with hoods with opening for stirrer and dedrosser. The hot
drossing kettle is filled up to capacity and temperature of the bath is brought down to 450 deg.
Cent with the stirrer running. As the temperature goes down, solubility of copper in lead
decreases resulting in separation copper from the bath. The copper so separated forms a dross on
the surface of the bath owing to its high melting point and low specific gravity then the bath. A
little quantity of saw dust is added into the bath to make the dross dry. The dross is then removed
from the kettle by means of mechanical dedrosser and is taken into skips. The copper dross is
then transferred to copper recovery plant for recovery of copper.

44
13.4 COLD DROSSING:

The bath is then transferred to either of the two cold drossing kettles. Here temperature is
brought down to 330 deg cent and a calculated amount of sulphur is added depending upon
copper content of the bath. Sulphur reacts with copper to form copper sulphide which floats on
the surface of the bath. This dross is removed manually into skips and is recharged into hot
drossing kettle. Copper after cold drossing is around 200 gpt. The Decopperised lead is then
transferred to MTM refined lead production area for further treatment.

45
14. MTM REFINED LEAD PRODUCTION AREA

14.1 DEARENATING:

Decopperised bullion is received in 150 MT capacity dearsenating kettles via a transfer

pipe. The temperature of the bath is raised to 459 deg cent and 100 kg of caustic soda is added
and which react to form sodium arsenate and which in the form of dross floats over the surface of
the bath. Once dross is formed, it is removed by mechanical deedrosser into skips. The dross is
then sent for treatment into rotary furnace. Dearsenate bath is pumped into desilverization kettle.

14.2 DESILVERIZATION:

Desilverization is carried out in two stages, each kettle of 180 MT capacities. Dearsenated lead is
received into first stae desilverization kettle at 450 deg cent. The kettle has a lead of Pb-Zn-Ag
ally from the previous charge. Poor silver zinc crust from previous batch of second stage of
desilverization and low grade metal from liquation kettle in silver recovery area are added into
this bath. The bath is thoroughly homogenized with the help of a mixer. Zinc and silver present
in the bath forms intermetallic compound which floats on the surface of the bath in the form of
crust. The crust, called rich crust is skimmed off by means of perforated crane skimmer and cast
into moulds for treatment in silver refinery. Once crust have been removed a calculated amount
of zinc is added to the bath depending upon its silver content, zinc is melted, bath is
homogenized and the bath is pumped into second stage desilverization little. When the bath is
received into second stage de-Ag kettle the little already contains a crust bridge across the kettle
with the central opening in it. Upon receiving the metal, thorough mixing is done and the crust
bridge is homogenized with the bath. At 450 deg cent again a crust formation is there which is
lean is silver. The crust is skimmed off into the moulds for charging into De-Ag first stage kettle
in succeeding charge. After removal of crust bath is allowed to cool with central mixer running at
very slow speed. As the bath cools down, solubility of bath zinc and silver comes down and these
elements separate from the bath and come to the top in the form of crust. As the crust melting

46
point is higher then the bath, the crust solidify over the bath. The kettle is cooled to 325 deg cent
at this temperature mixture is removed and the pump is placed in the central opening of the
solidify crust and the bath is transferred to next kettle for dezincing.

14.3 VACUUM DEZINCING:

This kettle is of 150 MT capacities and has a water cooled rim over it. In this kettle
temperature is raised to 590 deg cent and a vacuum dome is placed over the kettle. On the
underneath of the dome there is a solid rubber ring which sits over water cooled rim to make the
system vacuum proof. For dezincing vacuum pump is started. At this vacuum zinc in the bath get
vaporized and get deposited over the bottom of the water cooled dame. The operation is carried
over in two stages of four hours each. At the end of the operation the dome is lifted away and
zinc deposited is scrapped off. The dezineed bath is then transferred to first stage.

14.4 SOFTENING:

The dezinced bath is received in 150 Mt capacities for the removal of antimony. The
removal of antimony is cooled softening. Here in addition to antimony residual zinc. Arsenic etc
are also removed.
In this kettle caustic soda and sodium nitrate are added at a temperature of 440 deg cent.
All the impurities get oxidized and floats in the form of dross. This dross is removed by
mechanical dedrosser and sent for the treatment in rotary furnace. Then this lead is transferred
for casting. In casting condenser kettles are therein which lead condenses. Condenser lead is
consumed by ISF plant.

47
15. PROBLEMS WITH AN INDUSTRY:

a) Break down
b) Power failure
c) Industrial relations problem
d) Fire and explosions

15.1 PROBLEMS IN LEAD REFINERY PLANT:

.1 The amount of silver in rich crust is very low. It should be theoretically about 6 - 7% but
presently it is fluctuation between 3 – 4.5%.
.2 The amount of copper coming in the lead bullion after copper drossing is very high. It
should be less than 50 ppm but is much more than that.
.3 The amount of arsenic in the lead bullion is also high. It should be less than 50 ppm
but is higher than that.
.4 There is a problem in the removal of the rich crust efficiently as the homogeneity of the
bath is not there. The bath contains molten lead bullion at he bottom which creates
problem in the proper removal of the rich crust.

15.2 CAUSES OF PROBLEMS:

1. The rich crust is removed manually by skimmers with the help of cranes. As the molten
lead is present just below the crust, it also comes along with the rich crust making the
percentage of the silver in the crust low.
2. The skimmers are provided with the holes, so that the lead which is coming along with
the crust may fall down but these holes are choked thereby stopping any passage for the
removal of the lead.

48
3. The skimmers and the crane are operated manually and the lead metal coming along with
the crust can be released again into the bath through holes provided in the skimmers if the
crane and the skimmers are stand still for about a minute or so, but the skimmers are not
stopped over the bath and as soon as the crust comes in the skimmers, they are poured
into the moulds along with the lead.
4. The temperature for the removal of the rich crust should be ideally about 460 470 deg
cent as at this temperature the rich crust is having the maximum percentage of silver but
the temperature at the time of removal is mainly 500 deg cent or more, thereby causing
the loss of the silver.
5. The number of moulds present is six. If the amount of rich crust forming is more than
that, then the rest of the crust is not drawn which results in lowering of the percentage of
the silver in the coming crust.
6. The rich crust in the form of moulds (ingots) is kept there for a long period of time. As it
contains zinc also, the oxidation of zinc takes place forming zinc oxide, thereby causing
problems.
7. Proper weighing and analysis of the rich crust is not done regularly. So if the amount of
metals in the crust varies there is no proper measure taken.
8. Zinc added sometimes is much more than the required amount and it disturbs the
analysis.
9. The arsenic present in the coming lead bullion is more than 50 ppm, this arsenic causes
problems in the formation of the rich crust.
10. The homogeneity of the bath is not there, as it contains molten metal at the bottom. So at
the time of the removal of the crust, metal also comes out.
11. The process is going on very fast and sufficient time is not given for proper separation of
the crust and the drossing process to take place which results in the loss of the metal.

49
15.3 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS:

1. K3 and K4 should be properly drossed to remove copper and temperature should be less
than 450 deg cent otherwise the copper will dissolve again.
2. Temperature at time of removal of the rich crust should not be more than 460 -470 deg
cent otherwise the silver will dissolve again.
3. In CLZS it’s the batch process, so the analysis should be done on the basis of batch
coming for the production and not on the basis of the shift.
4. Temperature measurement should be done accurately. The thermo couple should be
placed in the correct place. Ensure that it is not in the stagnant area of the kettle that is
fused in the solid lead.
5. The skimmers are provided with the holes; make sure that the holes are open so as to
pour the lead down again into the bath.
6. As the crust is skimmed manually, the skimmers should be stand still for about a minute
so that all the lead again goes down. Also the crane should be operated carefully with
slow speed so that sufficient time is given for pouring back the lead into the bath.
7. The calculated quantity of zinc should be added into the lead bath depending upon the
silver content. The zinc should be added according to the following table

Silver Input (g/l) Zinc (kg) Silver input (g/l) Zinc (kg)
1050 1220 1950 1550
1100 1240 2000 1570
1150 1260 2050 1590
1200 1280 2100 1600
1250 1300 2150 1620
1300 1320 2200 1640
1350 1340 2250 1530
1400 1350 2300 1550
1450 1370 2350 1570
1500 1390 2400 1590
1550 1410 2450 1720

50
 1600 1430 2500 1730
1650 1440 2550 1750
1700 1460 2600 1760
1750 1480 2650 1780
1800 1500 2700 1800
1850 1520 2750 1810
1900 1530 2800 1830

8. Analysis and weighing of the rich crust should be done regularly so that the amount
of the metal present can be known and accordingly zinc and other materials like sodium
nitrate, caustic soda can be added in the upcoming process.
9. The amount of arsenic present in the lead bullion coming in the desilverization stage
should be less than 50 ppm. For this sufficient amount of caustic soda should be added in
the dearsenating stage and temperature should be raised accurately to 450 deg cent and
also dedrossing should be done carefully otherwise the arsenic percentage in the lead
bullion going for further treatment will be more then 50 ppm.
10. As the skimming operation are performed with the help of the cranes, so the micro
operated cranes can be used as the control on these cranes is much better than the cranes
conventionally used.

51
15.4 LEAD/SILVER REFINERY FLOW SHEET

52
16. SILVER RECOVERY PLANT

This plant consist three different operations

1. Liquation
2. Vacuum Retort Dezincing
3. Bottom Blown Oxygen Cupel (BBOC)

16.1 LIQUATION:

This kettle is of 19 Mt capacities and has been provided with two tapping holes. The top
of the kettle is maintained at 700 – 750 deg cent. and bottom is maintained at 550 deg cent. By
use of this temperature difference two distinct phases form inside the kettle. The top level is rich
in zinc and silver while the bottom part is mainly lead. The top silver rich phase is called high
grade metal and bottom silver lean phase is called low grade metal.
Rich crust from De-Ag first stage operation is feed material for this furnace. When rich
crust is charged into liquation kettle, it displaces an amount of low grade metal which overflows
via siphon into a mould. About one hour is given to liquate the freshly charged crust. During
which time, owing to temperature difference, lead separates out and goes to the bottom while
silver and zinc remains on the top. Normally two rich blocks, each weighting approx 660 kg are
sufficient level of high grade metal tapping. When level has been attained, the high grader metal
is tapped into high grade moulds. A layer of molten calcium chloride and sodium chloride is
maintained over the both to prevent oxidation of zinc and form slag with any oxide present in the
crust.

53
16.2 VACUUM RETORT FURNACE:

This furnace is an induction heated furnace with the graphite crucible of 1 Mt fitted into
it. A movable condenser is also provided to collect zinc coming from the crucible.
High grade metal is melted into the graphite crucible. When approx one MT metal is
melted, the condenser is connected to the furnace and system is made vacuum tight. A vacuum of
50 m bar is maintained in the system.
Zinc present in the bath gets evaporated and passes on to the condenser where it gets
cooled and comes a liquid phase. Normally a operation of eight hours required to remove the
zinc. At the end of the process zinc is tapped out from the condenser. Condenser is then removed
from the furnace; furnace bullion is tapped into moulds for further treatment.

54
16.3 BOTTOM BLOWN OXYGEN CUPEL (BBOC):

This is refractory lined shall type furnace with direct oil heating arrangement. There is
also provision of blowing oxygen and nitrogen gas from the bottom of the furnace into the bath,
capacity of this furnace is 1 MT.
VRF bullion ingots are melted into this furnace and oxygen is blown through the lance
into the bath. From a concentric tube of lance nitrogen gas is also blown to reduce the burn back
of lance. Oxygen reacts with lead to form lead oxide, litharge, which is tapped out periodically in
molten form. When all the lead has been removed, only silver remains in the furnace which is
cast into 30 kg ingots for sale.

16.4 RICH CRUST

In the 1 stage of desilverizing, on adding zinc the silver and zinc forms a inter metallic
compound and due to their lower specific gravity and density, they comes on the surface of the
molten metal in the form of curst. This crust is known as rich crust as it has high silver content of
5-60C. This rich crust is then skimmed with the skimmers and is poured into moulds, there ingots
are formed and then they are send to the silver recovery plant for the recovery of silver.

ANALYSIS OF SOME SAMPLES OF RICH CRUST

Sample Ag% Zn% Pb% Cu%

Sample1 2.4 11.5 76 6.7
Sample 2 3.2 10.2 72 6.2
Sample 3 2.9 10.9 69 6.9
Sample 4 2.5 11.2 71 6.5

55
ANALYSIS OF SOME SAMPLES OF ISF BULLION

Sample Zn(ppm) Cu% Ag% Sb%

Sample 1 29 .41 .1036 .164
Sample 2 20 .185 .167 .2050
Sample 3 18 .22 .1870 .19
Sample 4 10 .13 .28 .22

ANALYSIS OF SOME OF THE SAMPLES OF LEAD BULLION COMING FROM

AUSMELT PAINT

Sample Zn(ppm) Cu% Ag% Sb%

Sample 1 28 .06 .20 .22
Sample 2 45 .196 .185 .429
Sample 3 15 .12 .2956 .39
Sample 4 90 .28 .18 .19

56
57
16.5 CONCLUSION:

For increasing the production of silver, the lead bullion coming from the ISF Plant should be
properly dedrossed at the decopperising and dearsenaing stages followed by the properly done
skimming operations at the sesilverizing stage so that the lead coming along with the rich crust is
as low as possible.
For syustemizing the removal of the rich crust, the crane and the skimmers should be moved
carefully and the micro operated crane could also be a better option as in it there will be more
control. The silver content in the rich crust will be high if the temperature at the time of the
removal of the crust is between 460 – 470 deg cent and not more than that and also the
concentration of the arsenic, copper and other metals is as low as possible.

58
17. COPPER RECOVERY PLANT

The Imperial Smelting Furnace used in the production of lead and zinc produces by-product
drosses from the ISF bullion floor which are rich in copper and lead, These drosses are treated in
copper recovery plant by a process developed by Imperial Smelting Processes Limited. Drosses
receiver from the copper drossing kettles are ground and screened and over sized material which
are predominantly lead, returned to kettles.
The drosses are treated in a stirred batch leach reactor by an aerated of ammonia liquor
and carbon dioxide. Copper is dissolved and removed as cupra ammonium carbonate. After
leaching, the slurry is filtered in a filter press and the leachant passed to leachant tank. Lead is
present as a mixture of lead oxide and lead carbonate in the filter cake, the lead content being
approximately 70% on a dry weight bases. The filter cake is slurried and returned as approx 50%
w/s slurry to the sinter plant.
Leachant is further filtered before treatment by solvent extraction to recover the copper.
Copper is extracted with 1.1X 54, a copper specific diketone liquid ion exchange reagent in
hydrocarbon diluents, in two stages of mixture settler. The depleted aqueous phase or raffinate,
containing approx 1.5 g/l copper recycled to leaching circuit for reuse in leach reactor.
The loaded organic is washed with dilute sulphuric acid to remove impurities before
being stripes with depleted electrolyte to remove copper. The copper enriched strong electrolyte
passes to electro winning section in which cathode copper is produced by electrolysis of the acid
copper sulphate solution.

17.1 SOME PARAMETERS OF MILLING:

Temperature of feed 70 deg cent (max)

Temperature of product 60 deg cent (max)
Size of feed 80% - 5mm
Product size 80% - 75 micron

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Ball mill capacity 2 tonnes per hour
Mill running time 15 hrs/day

17.2 DROSS MILLING:

The function of dross milling circuit is to grind back hoe dross to 80 % finer than 75 micron.
Simultaneously as much metallic lead as possible is rejected to return to drossing kettle. Dross is
received as back hoe dross for milling and also as fine dross the drossing section bag house.

17.3 GRINDING CIRCUIT:

The mill is a hardinge conical ball mill, air swept in close circuit with double cone separator and
vibrating screen. The mill has an overflow discharge into an air stream,. Coarse metallic fails to
be transported by the air stream and will drop out into a drag link conveyer.

The ground material carried up by the air stream is classified in the double cone separator. The
coarse fraction is screened on a double deck vibrating screen. Coarse dross is recycled to the mill
through a air lock. The cyclone overflow returns with the main air stream to the mill. The
cyclone underflow forms part of the ground dross product. A bleed form the exhauster fan
delivery is fed to the mill bag filter. Dust recovered from this unit is also fed to the ground dross
product. The mill feed is controlled automatically to maintain the correct mill load by an audio
signal from the mill.

17.4 FINE DROSS HANDLING:

All the dross, consisting of ground dross, bag house dross and dross from the hygiene bag filter,
is also fed to the ground dross storage bin. Ground dross and hygiene bag filter dross are fed
directly into the ground dross bin. Dross is discharged from the ground dross bin by a rotator
feeder into a bell hopper resting on a rail mounter trolley. A forced seal is made to prevent egress
dust during loading. The rotatory wall is operated by a timer to enable a reasonable consistent
volume of dross to be loaded into the bell hopper. The bell hopper is pulled clear of the storage

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bin by a winch. The copper leach crane, fitted with a crane weigher, is used to transport the bell
hopper in between the dross milling section and leach reactor. Nine transfers of fine dross to the
leaching section are done per day. The copper recovery plant is divided into following plant area

Area K2 Dross Milling

Area K3 Leaching
Area K5 Solvent Extraction
Area K6 Electro winning

17.5 AREA K3 LEACHING:

The leach reactor extracts copper from the dross produce in decopperising kettle. IN leaching
fine dross is leached with CO2, H2O and ammonia to form cupra ammonia carbonate which
contain copper approx 10 gpl

The designed criteria:

Dross treated 9369 t/a
Copper production 2100 t/a
Copper content in dross 32.2 %
Leach efficiency 90 %
Batch leach time 4 hrs approx.
Batch dross quantity 3.25
Leaches per day 9

17.6 A TYPICAL FEED STOCK DRY ANALYSIS:

Copper 32.3%
Lead 50%
Zinc 3.5%

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Arsenic 1.3%
Antimony 2.4%
Tin 0.3%
Silver 0.1%
Bismuth 0.025%
Gold 7.25 g/t
Sulphur 1.3 %

Copper is extracted by reaction with raffinate (ammonia carbonate solution) returned from
solvent extraction plant.
A typical raffinate analysis is:
Copper 1.5 g/l
Ammonia 30 g/l approx
Carbon dioxide 20-30 g/l

17.7 AMMONIA RECOVERY:

It is essential for environmental, health and economic factors to minimize the loss of ammonia
and maximize the recovery for reuse in the process.
The ammonia recovery plant:
1. Provide ventilation for all areas in which ammonia bearing solution are handled
2. Recovers ammonia from the ventilation gases by scrubbing.
3. Recovers ammonia from the wash section for recycling
4. Produce an effluent suitable for disposal to the site effluent facility
5. Maintain in plant conditions below the TLV.
All ammonia bearing gas stream are scrubbed with water to produce a acceptable stack
discharge. The mildly ammoniacal water is then used for the final washing of the filter cake
before passing to the wash storage tank.

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 Ammonia bearing gases are streamed are scrubbed with water to produce a stack
discharge not greater than 25 ppm ammonia. Absorber water is used for the final washing of the
filter cake in order to maximize the water utilization.
All the ammonia bearing liquid streams, including bleed stream from the LIX wash and
electrolyte circuit are collected in the wash storage tank. The composite wash is treated by the
solvent extraction to remove any copper present prior to neutralization with caustic soda in the
caustic soda treatment tower where the pH is raised to 11 to liberate ammonia.

17.8 SOLVENT EXTRACTION:

The solvent extraction plant process 12.5 m3/hr of leachate (cupra ammonium carbonate solution)
containing approximately 30 gm/1 Cu+2. Copper is transferred from the leachate to the barren
electrolyte by proprietary copper specific ion exchange reagent LIX 54 diluted with Escaid 100
ion exchange diluents.
A typical leachate analysis is:
Copper 30 g/l
Ammonia 30 g/l
Carbon dioxide 23-30 g/l

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64
18. AUSMELT PLANT

18.1 PROCESS SELECTION:

Considering various processes options available such as sinter blast furnace, imperial smelting
furnace, and direct smelting process etc, HZL proposed for Top Submerged Lance (TSL)
technology based on direct smelting process at CLZS. TSL technology enjoys distinct
advantages over other technologies. The superiority of TSL technology lies in its compact
cylindrical vessel designs which leads to better pollution control, high energy utilization.

18.1.1 FEEDING SYSTEM:

The fuction of the feeding system is to feed the charge or concentrates from the RMH section to
the furnace, In this various belts. Bins and other equipments are used for transferring the charge.
Bin 01 is situated at the ground floor. All the concentrates are first fed into this bin coming from
the RMH section. From this bin the concentrates are passed on to conveyer belt CV 01 through a
magnetic separator at which all the iron particles are removed. CV 01 ia a high angle conveyer
belt. From CV 01, the concentrate goes to CV 02 and then to CV 03. CV 03 is a kind of belt that
can move in both the directions hence called reversible belt and below it there is a shuttle having
holes at the bottom through which the concentrates are fed into the bins. For bin 01 to bin 04 the
conveyer move in one direction and for the rest of the bins, it moves in the opposite direction.
There are 10 bins.

The concentrates present in the bins are:

Bin Material Capacity
Bin 03 Lead Concentrate 70 m3
Bin 04 Silica Flux 25m3
Bin 05 Limestone 25m3
Bin 06 Lead Concentrate 32 m3
Bin 07 Arsenic Dross 25m3
Bin 08 Lead Sludge 25m3
Bin 09 Reductant Coal Revert 25m3
Bin 10 Recycle Dust 25m3

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Below these bins weigh feeders are present through which a required amount of concentrate is
passed. From bins, the concentrates is passed into the Pug Mill via CV 04 which is also
reversible for throwing the extra charge down again. In pug mill moisture is added. From pug
mill, the concentrate is passed into the furnace via CV 05, CV 06 and CV 07 (reversible).

18.2 PROCESS DESCRIPTION:

Selected process for proposed lead smelter is based on Top Submerged Lance Technology. In this
process, a concentrate is smelted directly in a cylindrical furnace. The furnace is designed
especially for this process. At the roof of the furnace there are 4 ports, one for feeding, second
for lance, third is for sample dipper and the last one is for stand by burner which is used to heat
the refractory bricks and also used when lance is not working. Lance has 4 concentric tubes
through which air, enriched oxygen and oil is passed. This oil is atomized and its combustion
tales place. The bath height in the furnace should not exceed 1.4 m. The lance can move up and
down which is controlled from the control room.
Lead concentrate along with recycle dust of the furnace and flux are fed into the furnace after
agglomerating the feed in the pug mill. Air enriched with oxygen is introduced into the furnace
along with fuel via lance. Lance rod is used to burn and agitate the lead concentrate in the slag
already present in the furnace.
Total process is completed in three stages:
1. Smelting
2. Slag Reduction
3. Slag Cleaning

All these three stages happen in the same furnace. In the smelting stage concentrate, recycle dust,
fluxes are fed into furnace and oxygen enriched air and fuel is fed through a vertical lance which
is kept submerged into the slag of previous batch. Sulphide concentrate is oxidized to lead oxide
and produced lead is tapped intermittently from the furnace.
Reaction that takes place at the smelting stage:
PbS + O2 - PbO + SO2 (12 %)

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PbO + PbS + O2 = Pb = SO2

Slag produced in smelting stage will have 40 % lead content which will be further reduced in the
next stage- slag reduction stage. In this stage all the other feed is stopped and coal is charged
through the feed port. Oxygen enrichment through the lance is also stopped. Coal acts as
reducing agent and it reduces the lead oxide to lead bullion, which is tapped from the furnace.
Reaction taking place at the reduction stage
PbO = C = Pb = CO2

Resulting slag after this stage inside the furnace contains 5 % lead and zinc which is recovered in
the third stage- slag cleaning stage. In this stage no bullion is produced, lead and zinc in the slag
is recovered in the form of oxide after fuming the slag. This zinc and lead oxide collected from
the Waste Heat Recovery Boiler and hot ESP, is recycled int eh existing sinter plant to recover
lead and zinc from it. Dust collected in other stages is recycled in the furnace itself.
Off gases at a temperature 1150 – 1400 deg cent from the furnace is cooled to 350 deg
cent by waste heat recovery boiler. Steam generated in the boiler is sent to the leaching section of
the hydrometallurgical zinc smelter. The cooled off gases are cleaned in the hot ESP. Dust
content in the off gas after hot ESP will be below
100 mg / Nm3. Off gas will be further cooled and cleaned in the Quench Tower, where water is
sprayed from the top and gas are passed from the bottom in the counter current direction of
water. Here the temperature of the gases drops to 60 – 70 deg cent. The gas is then transferred to
Packed Gas Cooling Tower (PGCT) from where the gas is passed to the Wet Est. Here the
remaining dust is cleaned by spraying water and then the gas is fed to the sulphur dioxide gas
recovery section or Absorption Tower where amine is added called lean amine from the lean
amine tank which absorbs SO2 and becomes rich amine which is then transferred to the
regenerator. Since this amine is very costly so we circylate the same amine by extraction the
absorbed SO2 in the regenerator by using steam. This SO2 is cooled and transferred to the Acid
Plant to produce Sulphuric Acid.

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68
19. EFFLUENT TREATMENT PLANT

The Effluent Treatment Plant can be divided into 5 sections:

1. Cadmium Removal
2. Cyanide Destruction
3. Fluoride Precipitation
4. Heavy Metals Removal
5. Lime Slurry Make-up

19.1 CADMIUM REMOVAL:

The Cadmium plant produces the effluent containing 40% cadmium. Therefore this Cadmium is
precipitated before entering the main effluent treatment plant. The effluents are first mixed with
10% w/w slurry & pH is maintained at 11.5. The solids are taken to a sludge tank, which also
collects sludge from the main plant. The over flow from the thickener flows into the primary
reaction tank for the precipitation of the remaining heavy metals.

19.2 CYANIDE DESTRUCTION:

Blow down from the ISF gas washing system is received into an agaitated tank, where the pH is
adjusted with a lime slurry. The pH is maintained at about 8. The effluent is pumped to a cascade
tower prior to which the effluent is chlorinated with a vacuum ejector chlorine dosing system, at
a rate of 0.825 kg/hr. The cyanide decomposes during aeration in the cascade tower,; the effluent
is then pumped to the reaction tanks to precipitate heavy metals.

The clarified treated effluent overflowing from the thickener gravitates to a treated effluent tank.
The treated effluent is then pumped to the ISF gas washing system at a rate of 10 gm cu. M/hr.
The excess treated effluent is channeled to the evaporation lagoons.

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19.3 FLUORIDE PRECIPITATION:

Effluent from the gas cleaning plant is the main source of fluoride ion. In order to reduce the
level of fluoride to an acceptable level in final effluent this stream is treated with milk of lime
slurry to precipitate fluoride to 8 mg/l.

The fluoride bearing stream is fed to agitated reaction tank where it is mixed with milk of
lime from the ring main & the pH controlled at approximately neutral (pH 6-8). The resulting
gypsum & calcium fluoride are filtered out on a plate & frame filter pres. A standby press is
provided. The coke is manually discharged & dumped. The filtrate is pumped to the main
effluent stream.

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19.4 HEAVY METALS REMOVAL:

Effluent arising from the following sources are routed to either the primary or secondary
reaction tank:

Sinter plant (Blue Powder Filtrate) Gas Cleaning Copper Recovery, Water Treatment, Boiler
Blow Down (Launder & Power Generation), & Soft Water Circuit.
In addition, intermittent wash-downs from the Acid Plant. Sinter Plant & Raw Material
Handling & Intermittent arising from the Precious Metal Plant.
The reaction vessel also receives the cadmium plant effluent & ISF gas washing effluent
mentioned previously. The majority of heavy metals are precipitated in two reaction tanks by
treatment with lime slurry & continuous agitation at a pH of 8.0 & 10.5 respectively in first &
second tank. The effluent & precipitated solids are taken to a 30metre diameter thickener.
The overflow from the thickener gravitates to the third reaction vessel where the pH is adjusted
to 9 by the addition of sulfuric acid (98%w/w). The underflow from the thickener is pumped to a
sludge tank, which also receives cadmium sludge. This vessel is agitated to maintain the solids in
suspension The liquor in the third reaction vessel precipitates gypsum as the pH is lowered. This
liquor is pumped for final clarification to a thickener where any solids removed are pumped to
the sludge vessel mentioned above.
The sludge collected in the sludge tank is pumped as a slurry, to the Blue Powder Thickener
where it is further thickened & returned to the sinter plant.

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19.5 LIME SLURRY MAKE-UP:

Lime of 80%CaO crude, received in 40 kg bags is transported by hand from the storage area to
the lime mixing tank at a rate about 1.1 tonnes/hr. The bags are split open on a grid over the tank
& mixed with treated recycled effluent water. The lime slurry is pumped via a transfer pump to a
head tank, which supplies two sets of pumps feeding lime slurry (10% w/w) to the cadmium
plant & effluent treatment plant ring mains.

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20. SAFETY EQUIPMENTS (PPE’S):

a) Safety Belt
b) Safety Shoes
c) Ear muff
d) Face shield
e) Safety helmet
f) Acid proof glasses
g) Air stream helmet
h) Dust and gas mask
i) Apron
j) Hand gloves

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21. SAFETY DEPARTMENT

The Safety is one of the fundamental needs of all living beings. Accident is an unwanted
event and held due to carelessness. So these shouls be minimized or prevented. A Worker cum
preserve himself following the safety feles and precautions to get the best out of and “Individual”
his physical safety essential. These are to main reasons which induce the accidents.

• UNWANTED ACTS
• UNWANTED CONDITIONS

In the accidents incurred by the unwanted acts, the worker is directly responsible. These type
of accidents are held by improper acts, carelessness, short cuts for completing work early and
overconfidence of the worker. These unwanted acts can be minimized by deepi8ng
awareness, patience in doing work. One should not touch any machine or equipment or
should not do any work with out having compete know I edge and procedure about it.
The main reason which motivate the accidents in the from of unwanted acts are as
follows:

• Use of machine or equipment without improperly.

• Filling of loading the material improperly.
• Keeping high speed of machine.
• Maintaining Oiling of greasing the M/C in running condition.
• Poor house keeping and loose uniform
• Standing in unsafe condition.
• During working attract the attention of other worker.
• Use of unsafe tool and safety equipment.
• Have incomplete knowledge of work.
• Lifting or keeping the material unsafe.
• Disobey theinstructions and rules.

74
 There are some unsafe conditions which motivate the accidents as follows:
1. Work an gradeless machine.
2. There is oil or grease on the floor of work station.
3. Bad housekeeping.
4. Unsafe dresses.
5. Unsafe tool and design.
6. Breading or absence of railing on the platform.

Thus we can prevent accidents by considering the main causes unwanted acts and unsafe
conditions.

If the person is assured that the tool and equipment the handles are wheel designed and
well build have necessary guards against misuse, he can apply himself confidently to work
with out being insecure and hesitant.
There are many rules for safety but main golden rules are as follows:

• Comply with all safety rules and refutations.

• Correct of report Unsafe Conditions immediately to
• Supervisor.
• Wear rotative safety equipments only when authority.
• Use right tool for the right job and use it safety.
• \keep the work place clean and tidy.
• Don’t horseplay.
• Report accident.

Thus safety is the basic foundation for build tall structure and define of productivity.

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22. ZINC AND LEAD IN NATIONAL ECONOMY:

Zinc and Lead plays an important role in the service of mankind. These metals are used in almost
every important sector such as energy, transport, agriculture, communication, power
transmission, water supply, defence, household appliances etc.

Due to use of lead in ammunition, it has a strategic role to play in national defence; just as zinc
plays a similar role in the nation’s economic growth.

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23. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTING MEASURES:

1. Stringent of the India/U.K. Statutory Standard adopted for

• Emission of polliutants from source.
• Work Zone concentration on pollutants.
• Ambient air quality
• Effluents/Emmision.

2. Effluent after treatment plant being recyeled for Zero effluent discharge system
3. Gaskets Pollutant being cleaned through dedusting and gas cleaning system.
4. Regular monitoring of stock emission work Zone and ambient air quality.
5. for sound and planned industrial development of the environs comrehesive environmental
impact out after 12 months blessing data collection.
6. Green belt arount plants.
Saplings Pianted 72,000
7. Expenditure incurred
Equipment and System
Environmental study.

RAW MATERIAL REQUIREMENT:

• Zinc concentrate 1,46,090 T.P.A.

• Lead Concentrate 74,930 T.P.A.
• Coke 1,31,200 T.P.A.

The total land of this plant is 310 Hact. The Power consumption is 19.5 MWC Connected
Roads and 14 MW (Captive gen. capacity) water consumption is 12,800 cum day.
Above products are utilized in following ways:
• ZINC – Galvanizing, Zinc base alloys, die casting, rolled zinc products, batteries, paints and
pigments.
• CADMIUM – Elector plating, pigments, nickel – cadmium batteries, fugicides.

77
• LEAD - Batteries, cable sheeting, pipes, sheets, dlead base allogs and acid profiling.
• SILVER – Ornaments, Silver alloys, coins, electrical appliances, photo film industries.
• SULFURIC ACID – Fertilizer, Chemical industries, alums and other sulfates, batteries, lab
chemical and explosives.
• ZINC SULPHATE – Rayon and textile industries, agriculture, wood preservation, flotation
reagent
• COPPER SULPHATE – Algicide, feticide, floatation reagent azo dyes, leather training,
mordant in textiles.
The technology for various plant are as follow –

• Sinter Plant - M/s. Lurgi, Germany.

• Acid Plant - Davy, Zimmer, Germany.
• I.S.F. Plant - S.P.L., U.K.
• Lead Ref. - M.T.M., U.K.
• Zinc Ref. - Mechim, Belgium
The raw material for C.L.Z.S. Comes various mines readily cruched there in form of fine
grains. Mainly raw material comes form.
 Rampura Agucha mines.
 Rajpura Dariba Mines.
 Ambamata Mines
 Zawar mines.
The raw material comes from the mines by roal transport and coke by both train and road.
The annual production capacity of C.L.Z.S. is as follows –
• Zinc 70,000 Tonnes/annum
• Lead 35,000 Tonnes/annum
By products -

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24. SUMMARY

The whole process of recovering zinc and lead from the feed driven from mines is known as
Pyrometallurgy in which temperature plays a very vital role.

Initially Pb and Zn concentrates are being put up into the bins from which sinter is prepared by
agglomeration process done in the sintering machine at a temperature aroung 1000 deg. Cent.
Also generation of SO2 is there which is further used in the production of sulfuric acid.
Sinter is next transferred to Imperial Smelting Furnace (I.S.F.) where sinter at 400 deg.
Cent is charged along with coke at 800 deg. Cent as well as addition briquettes and a hot blast of
air is passed into the furnace where PbO and ZnO are reduced by coke to the corresponding
metals producing CO gas. Since boiling point of Pb is very high therefore it remains in molten
from and taken along with slag in a Forehearth, Due to the difference in densities. Pb is being
separated and taken as an underflow. Zn vapours and finally temperature is lowered to 440 deg.
Cent in order to separate PB and Zn is recovered in a zinc holding bath whose purity is aroung
98%.
These Pb & Zn obtained from ISF then goes to the refineries where impurities are further
removed to obtain the metals at 99.9% purity. There are also copper and silver refineries to
produce pure copper and silver derived from lead refinery process.
Another technique used in the Pb extraction is derived from Australia known as Asmelt in
which Smelting and reduction is done in the single furnace known as Ausmelt furnace and does
not need sinter formation. Off stake gases are cooled and cleaned in a gas cleaning plant and SO2
is absorbed and taken to the acid formation plant.

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