Thermodynamic investigation of antimony recovery from the mixture of antimony sulfide, hematite and carbon

In this research, the carbothermic reduction of antimony from its sulfide in the presence of iron oxide has been investigated. Fe۲O۳ is used as a sulfur inhibitor. Thermodynamic calculations were done using FactSage ۶.۱ software in the temperature range of ۷۰۰-۱۴۰۰ , total pressure of one atmosphere and in the presence of argon as carrier gas. Investigations show that Fe۲O۳ is converted to FeS as a result of reaction with Sb۲S۳ in the presence of carbon, which can be separated in the molten phase. Also, pure antimony can be recovered in molten form at low and medium temperatures and in gaseous form at high temperatures. The non-dissolution of the phase containing antimony and the phase containing FeS in each other makes it possible to recover antimony with high purity in this process. The composition of the exhaust gas shows that the amount of SO۲ in the gas is very small and lower than ۱۰-۱۳ atmospheres

کلیدواژه ها:

Stibnite ، Hematite ، Recovery ، Thermodynamic calculations