In the pyrometallurgical extraction, the copper concentrate is slagged by adding SiO2 in the furnace at 1200 to 1400 °C. The melt of copper and iron sul? de is removed as the so-called copper matte from the slag phase. The liquid copper matte is poured into a converter and the iron sul? de reacts with air to sulfur dioxide SO2.
Resulting SO2 is oxidized to sulfur trioxide SO3 (contact process), which SO3 is directed into sulfuric acid (96 wt%). In the absorber, sulfuric acid in high concentrations by adding water or oleum is generated. In the blending process, the H2SO4 is diluted on desired target concentration. Each process step can be both monitored continuously by the inline LiquiSonic® measurement technology and optimally set. The high dependency on sonic velocity enables an accuracy of +/- 0,05 wt% for sulfuric acid.
The LiquiSonic® immersion sensor is easily installed into pipelines after absorber or sulfuric acid produc-tion and blending. By using the LiquiSonic® controller 30, up to four sensors can be connected, allowing the simultaneous monitoring of several measuring points.
Typical measuring range:
• concentration range from H2SO4: 80 to 100 wt%
• temperature range: 20 to 90 °C
• concentration range from oleum: 0 to 10 wt%
• temperature range: 10 to 60 °C
The LiquiSonic® analyzer provides a precise inline H2SO4 and oleum concentration measurement with real-time monitoring. The robust sensor construction and the optional special materials, like Hastelloy C2000, promote long process life.
LiquiSonic®enables a reduction of labor cost through the elimination of manual process steps:
• time saving: 1 h per day
In comparison to conductivity and density measurement, LiquiSonic®generates a clear signal in the concentration range from 80 to 100 wt% and provides at every time reliable process information.