Determination of optimal technological modes for obtaining manganese alloys from poor carbonate and oxide ores in a jet-emulsion unit

The paper presents the results of development and research of a new resource-saving technology for processing poor oxide and carbonate manganese ores in a unit of jet-emulsion type. The basic principles of creating a jet unit and the technology of processing pulverized manganese ores are considered. For the preliminary reduction of manganese from higher oxides or carbonates decomposition, as well as the removal of moisture from the ore, it is proposed to use a reducing gas, which is a product of the implementation of manganese reduction technology in jet-emulsion unit. Thus, the authors propose to close the process, that is, to create a consistent flow of substance and energy passing through the main jet-emulsion unit and the preparatory unit of the fluidized bed. The main task of calculating the proposed technology is to determine the consumption of crude ore in the fluidized bed unit in order to obtain a given yield of the intermediate product and at the same time to ensure the possibility of complete conversion of high oxides or carbonates of crude ore into lower oxides by reducing gas produced in the main unit. To solve this problem, an optimization task was set and implemented. The first stage is selection of composition and consumption of the reducing gas and determination of consumption of the initial manganese ore, which provides the output of a given amount of the intermediate product. The second stage is solution of the optimization problem for output and composition of the gas, which should ensure the recovery process in the second unit. The paper presents the results of calculating the processing technology in the jet-emulsion unit for oxide ore of the Selezen’skoe and carbonate ore of the Usinskoe deposits. A comparative analysis of two options for processing manganese ores by the proposed technology and by the technology without preliminary recovery and roasting was carried out. The proposed technology of processing manganese ores in a closed-cycle jet-emulsion unit allows one to significantly reduce the specific costs of materials, increase productivity, and significantly reduce the energy intensity of the process compared to the technology of processing poor manganese ores without preliminary reduction or roasting.