A new method for continuous recovery of fine copper droplets from copper matte smelting slag via super-gravity

Copper matte smelting slag inevitably entrains amounts of copper droplets, which brings about a high loss of copper in copper slag. In this study, a new method was proposed to continuously recover copper droplets from copper matte smelting slag via super-gravity. Motion behavior of copper droplets indicated that a long time of 60–120 min was needed for settling of copper droplets in copper matte smelting slag at 1573–1673 K under gravity. In contrast, copper droplets were directionally separated from copper matte smelting slag within 3–5 min at 1523–1573 K via super-gravity with a high Cu recovery ratio of 97.98%. Moreover, the application experiment of continuous recovery of copper droplets from copper matte smelting slag was carried out in a laboratory-scale apparatus. On this basis, this study provides a cleaner approach to efficiently recover copper resources in copper matte smelting slag with no additives and no additional heat.