A method of manufacturing ferronickel
It is a dry manufacture method that was developed by SLN in France about 120 years ago in the 1890s before being adopted in Japan and Colombia. It is concentrated on manufacturing ferronickel by smelting and reducing ore in electric furnaces.
Main processes include raw material treatment, drying, preliminary reduction, smelting reduction (electric furnace process), refining and casting, and final ferronickel products contain about 20% of nickel and 80% of iron.
- Raw Material Wharf
- It consists of a birth facility and an unloading facility that aim to move nickel ore transported from New Caledonia in a ship to an open-air yard for raw materials in SNNC.
- Raw Material Treatment Process
- Nickel ore unloaded through a raw material wharf is transported through the use of a belt conveyer to be piled up in an open-air yard for raw materials. Raw materials amassed by mine are uniformly mixed according to target component to be put into a dryer so that moisture is removed. At a final stage, ore is transported to preliminary reduction process.
- Preliminary Reduction Process
- Preliminary reduction process aims to remove remaining moisture in ore to be supplied to an electric furnace through the use of rotary kiln facilities so that oxygen in nickel and iron existent in the form of oxide can be eliminated.
- Electric Furnace Process
- An electric furnace is a process of producing FeNi molten iron and slag through smelting and reduction of ore that went through preliminary reduction process.
- Smelting & Casting Process
- 1,500℃-FeNi molten iron produced in an electric furnace process is manufactured as ferronickel products in the form of Luppe in a casting process.
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Process & Products >Introduction of Production Process
