Enhancing Rotary Kiln-Electric Furnace Process of Saprolitic Laterite from the Viewpoint of Slag Optimization to Minimize Energy Consumption

How to reduce the energy consumption of the rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) process has become an important issue for the stainless steel industry. The aim of this study is to reduce the energy consumption of ferronickel production from saprolite nickel laterite in the RKEF process. The effects of the slag binary basicity, FeO content, and Cr2O3 content on the melting temperature and electric conductivity of the slag as well as the effects of coal dosage, smelting temperature, smelting time, and binary basicity on the smelting process, within the new slag system of CaO–MgO–SiO2–Al2O3–FeO–Cr2O3, have been systematically investigated. It was found that properly increasing the binary basicity and FeO content of slag tends to lower smelting temperature and higher electrical conductivity, while decreasing the Cr2O3 content is beneficial to decreasing the melting temperature of slags as well as the electrical conductivity. Through the optimization of slag composition and smelting parameters, ferronickel with 22.11