Lead Smelting and Refining, With Some Notes on Lead Mining
Science
Lead Smelting and Refining, With Some Notes on Lead Mining
Lead -- Metallurgy; Lead mines and mining
A more serious competitor will be, however, the Savelsberg process,
which appears to do all that the Huntington-Heberlein process does,
without the preliminary roasting. Indeed, if the latter be omitted
(together with its estimated expense of 63c. per ton of charge, or
79c. per ton of ore), all that has been said in this paper as to the
Huntington-Heberlein process may be construed as applying to the
Savelsberg. The charge is prepared in the same way, the method of
operating the converters is the same, and the results of the reactions
in the converters are the same. The litigation which is pending between
the two interests, Messrs. Huntington and Heberlein claiming that
Savelsberg infringes their patents, will be, however, a deterrent to
the extension of the Savelsberg process until that matter be settled.
The Carmichael-Bradford process may be dismissed with a few words. It
is similar to the Savelsberg, except that gypsum is used instead of
limestone. It is somewhat more expensive because the gypsum has to be
ground and calcined. The process works efficiently at Broken Hill,
but it can hardly be of general application, because gypsum is likely
to be too expensive, except in a few favored localities. The ability
to utilize the converter gases for the manufacture of sulphuric acid
will cut no great figure, save in exceptional cases, as at Broken
Hill, and anyway the gases of the other processes can be utilized for
the same purpose, which is in fact being done in connection with the
Huntington-Heberlein process in Silesia.
The cost of desulphurizing a ton of galena concentrate by the
Carmichael-Bradford process is estimated by the company controlling
the patents as follows, labor being reckoned at $1.80 per eight hours,
gypsum at $2.40 per 2240 lb., and coal at $8.40 per 2240 lb.:
0.25 ton of gypsum $0.60
Dehydrating and granulating gypsum .48
Drying mixture of ore and gypsum .12
Converting 0.24
Spalling sintered material .12
0.01 ton coal .08
——-——-
Total $1.64
The value of the lime in the sintered product is credited at 12c.,
making the net cost $1.52 per 2240 lb. of ore.
The cost allowed for converting may be explained by the more rapid
action that appears to be attained with the ores of Broken Hill than
with some ores that are treated in North America, but the low figure
estimated for spalling the sintered material appears to be highly
doubtful.
The theory of the lime-roasting processes is not yet well established.
It is recognized that the explanation offered by Huntington and
Heberlein in their original patent specification is erroneous. There is
no good evidence in their process, or any other, of the formation of
the higher oxide of lime, which they suggest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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