Method and smelting unit for pyrometallurgical smelting of metal- containing raw materials, waste materials and/or secondary waste materials

1 . A method for pyrometallurgical smelting, comprising:

feeding metal-containing raw material, waste material and/or secondary waste material (M) in shredded form to a smelting unit ( 1 ) which comprises

a smelting zone ( 6 ),

a main reaction zone ( 7 ), and

a secondary reaction zone ( 8 ); and

smelting the material (M) in presence of an oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G), and thereby forming

a liquid melt phase ( 9 ),

a liquid slag phase ( 10 ), and

a gas phase,

wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) via at least one injector ( 11 ) arranged in the smelting unit ( 1 ) above the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) and without contacting the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) at an angle of 5 to 85° with respect to a horizontal and tangentially with respect to a notional flow ring ( 16 ) having a diameter that corresponds to 0.1 to 0.9 times an inner diameter of the main reaction zone,

thereby forming a vortex in the main reaction zone ( 7 ), and the secondary reaction zone ( 8 ).

2 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the at least one injector ( 11 ), via which the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ), has a minimum distance of 0.30 m from a surface of the slag phase ( 10 ).

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) via the at least one injector ( 11 ) is blown in at a speed of at least 50 m/s.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one injector ( 11 ) comprises

a Laval nozzle ( 14 ) via which the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ), and

a coaxial nozzle ( 15 ) via which a second oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is blown onto the liquid slag phase ( 10 ).

5 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is blown into the slag phase ( 10 ) at a flow rate of at least 500 Nm 3 /h.

6 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the main reaction zone ( 7 ) of the smelting unit ( 1 ) arranged above the smelting zone ( 6 ) has a substantially circular and/or oval-shaped cross-section.

7 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) via the at least one injector ( 11 ) is pulsed.

8 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is

an oxidizing gas and/or gas mixture (G) selected from the group consisting of oxygen, air and/or oxygen-enriched air;

a reducing gas and/or gas mixture selected from the group consisting of natural gas, methane, carbon monoxide, water vapor, hydrogen, and gas mixtures thereof; and/or

an inert gas and/or gas mixture is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide and gas mixtures thereof.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G)

is fed in compressed form via the at least one injector ( 11 ),

is expanded adiabatically within the smelting unit ( 1 ), and

is then blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) as an adiabatically expanded gas and/or gas mixture in such a manner that a cooling effect in the range from 10 J/Nm 3 to 100 kJ/Nm 3 is achieved.

10 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the metal-containing raw materials, waste materials and/or secondary waste materials are fed into the center of the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) through an opening ( 17 ) arranged above the liquid slag phase ( 10 ).

11 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the metal-containing raw materials, waste materials and/or secondary waste materials are blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) through at least one injection lance ( 18 ) arranged in a wall ( 3 ) of the smelting unit ( 1 ).

12 . The method according to claim 11 ,

wherein the at least one injection lance ( 18 ) is arranged in a region of the at least one injector ( 11 ).

13 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the smelting unit ( 1 ) is not selected from the group consisting of an electric arc furnace (EAF), a submerged arc furnace (SAF), and an induction furnace (IF).

14 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising

causing the liquid slag phase to rotate such that it forms a central funnel in the vortex, and

directly introducing the metal-containing raw material, waste material and/or secondary waste material (M) into the liquid molten phase through the central funnel.

15 . A method for pyrometallurgical smelting, comprising:

feeding metal-containing raw material, waste material and/or secondary waste material (M) in shredded form to a smelting unit ( 1 ) which comprises

a smelting zone ( 6 ),

a main reaction zone ( 7 ), and

a secondary reaction zone ( 8 ); and

smelting the material (M) in presence of an oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G), and thereby forming

a liquid melt phase ( 9 ),

a liquid slag phase ( 10 ), and

a gas phase,

wherein the smelting unit ( 1 ) comprises a hollow cylinder, hollow cone, or hollow cuboid having a height that is greater than a length and a width,

wherein the oxidizing, reducing and/or inert gas and/or gas mixture (G) is blown into the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) via at least one injector ( 11 ) arranged in the smelting unit ( 1 ) above the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) and without contacting the liquid slag phase ( 10 ) at an angle of 5 to 85° with respect to a horizontal.