The modern production methods of zinc can be divided into two categories: fire method and wet method. Fire zinc smelting includes three main processes: roasting, reduction distillation and rectification. Zinc smelting by distillation is divided into flat tank zinc smelting and vertical tank zinc parts. The former is an ancient method of zinc smelting and has gradually been eliminated, while the latter is only used by a few companies in the world.
The emergence of closed blast furnace zinc smelting in the 1950s brought new development to fire-based zinc smelting, but it currently only accounts for about 10% of zinc production.
Hydrometallurgical zinc smelting includes four main processes: roasting, leaching, purification and electrowinning. This method is a zinc smelting method that appeared in the early 20th century. Although its production history is not long, it has developed very rapidly. Zinc production through hydrometallurgy now accounts for 80% of the world’s total zinc production. At present, the main raw material for zinc smelting is sulfide ore.
There are very few single die casting zinc deposits in nature, and they are usually symbiotic with other metals. Various polymetallic ores have different compositions, and the zinc content ranges from about 8.8% to 16%. Zinc-containing polymetallic sulfide ores are generally beneficiated by preferential flotation to obtain concentrates of each metal.
The main components of zinc sulfide concentrate are Zn, Fe and S, which account for about 85% to 95% of the total.
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