Abstract:
Lead production in comparison with zinc and copper production seems to be quite conservative. For the last 50-60 years, Zinc industry has principally switched from pyrometallurgical technologies to hydrometallurgical processes, so did copper industry, but lead production is still based on raw materials smelting processes. New technologies being developed in lead hydrometallurgy sphere are not being implemented in production process for various reasons. Another sign of lead production conservatism is slow introduction of the advanced lead smelting processes which were developed back in the eighties-nineties of the last century. Not more than two or three smelters for each of the advanced processes (Caldo, QSL, Ausmelt/Isasmelt, KIVCET) had been operated on an industrial scale unit recently. Therefore, their part in total lead production volume had been relatively small. The situation has considerably changed since modernization of Chinese metallurgical industry began. For the last 17 years, they have tested all advanced modern processes. Moreover, for the last 12 years they have been widely implementing domestic technologies based on foreign processes.
The paper presents the author's view on current state of the world lead industry and the role of China in the development of lead smelting technologies. There were reviewed peculiarities of the modern lead smelting processes predetermining their raw base and fields of application. Some ideas regarding perspectives of the technological development of lead production in connection with the trends of raw base development were also presented in the paper.
Considering the trends and perspectives of the technological development of lead production the following conclusions were made:
- introduction of lead hydrometallurgy is not coming soon, but it is going to be an alternative to the lead smelting processes in perspective;
- the development of lead smelting technologies in perspective is to be predetermined by development and modernization of Chinese lead industry;
- expansion of use of the advanced lead smelting processes will be predetermined by the trends of raw base development and environmental aspects.
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