Magnetite reduction in copper converter slag using biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil

In copper smelting process, oxygen-enriched smelting leads to the enrichment of magnetite and increase of slag viscosity, which is not conducive to the sedimentation and separation of copper. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce magnetite in order to improve the recovery rate of copper. In this work, biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil was used to replace carbon and diesel, which should be more economical and environment-friendly. Effects of temperature and reaction time on biodiesel pyrolysis, magnetite reduction and slag viscosity were studied. It was found that the main products of biodiesel pyrolysis were carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane, and carbon. Because methane will decompose to carbon and hydrogen at 823 K, the main reducing agents during magnetite reduction were hydrogen and carbon. With increasing reduction time and temperature, the magnetite phase in the copper slag gradually decreased, while the fayalite phase gradually increased. After injecting biodiesel into molten copper slag at 1523 K for 4 minutes, magnetite was reduced from 31.6% to less than 0.6% and the viscosity decreased from 1.43 poise to 0.68 poise. This low viscosity is beneficial for separation and recovery of copper from the molten slag.