STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF PROCESS TEMPERATURE, COAL ADDITION, AND PYRITE ADDITION IN THE FUMING OF PRIMARY TIN CONCENTRATE FROM BATU BESI MINING

• Main Author: Dwi Anugrah, Bilal
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/72206
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Cassiterite tin ore is divided into two types, namely primary tin ore and alluvial tin ore. Alluvial tin ore is easier to process through gravity concentration due to its relatively coarser liberation size. However, alluvial tin ore reserves are predicted to run out in less than 10 years, so that in the future tin metal production will be focused on primary tin ore. Tin content in primary tin ore is very low. Therefore, concentration process is needed to increase tin content so that it can further be processed to produce tin metal. The method that can be used to process primary tin ore is fuming. This study aims to investigate the effect of temperature, the addition of coal, and the addition of pyrite on tin volatilization in the primary tin concentrate fuming process. Series of experiments were carried out by mixing primary tin concentrate, coal and pyrite by varying the coal addition by 0%; 4.13%; 8.25%; and 12.4% and the addition of pyrite by 1.75; 1.90; 2.05; 2.20; and 2.35 ratio to the stoichiometric requirement. The fuming process was carried out in a horizontal tube furnace and a rotary tube furnace for 2 and 3 hours in an inert atmosphere by flowing argon gas at a flow rate of 1 L/minute. The experiments were carried out with temperature variations of 900, 950, 1000 and 1050 °C. The experimental results in the form of residue and dust were analyzed using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscope – Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM – EDS) to determine their chemical composition so that the tin volatilization in the fuming process can be calculated. Tin volatilization rate increases with increasing process temperature from 900 to 1050 °C. Tin volatilization rate of more than 99% (in the presence of coal) can be obtained at a minimum temperature of 950 °C. The experiment without the addition of coal resulted in a relatively lower tin volatilization rate than the experiment with the addition of coal. The addition of coal from 4.13% to 12.4% lowered the percent tin volatilization rate. The addition of pyrite from 1.75 to 2.35 ratio to the stoichiometric requirement lowered the tin volatilization rate. The highest percentage of tin volatilization rate of 99.62% was obtained by the coal addition of 4.13% and pyrite addition of 2.35 ratio to the stoichiometric requirement at 1050°C.