Pyrometallurgy is a process that uses high temperatures to produce machinable compounds, purer metals, and alloys. It includes drying, roasting, melting, refining, and alloying. Fuel or electricity is needed as a heat source, and non-reactive materials are used to avoid explosions.
Pyrometallurgy is a process by which minerals and metals are heated to produce a finished product of machinable compounds, purer metals, and alloys. The process can be one of the following: drying, roasting, melting, refining and alloying, among others. Using high temperatures can cause chemical and exothermic reactions in materials. Various heating methods can be performed and all of these can be referred to as pyrometallurgy. All processes use heat to change some aspect of the material being processed. The change can be as simple as heating water or other liquids to a gaseous state and then removing them. Or it could be as complex as chemically bonding metals, such as when copper and tin are combined to make bronze.
Drying is a type of pyrometallurgy in which moisture is removed from the material. Heat is applied to make the metal hotter than the boiling point of water, so moisture can be drawn out of the material. Roasting is another type of pyrometallurgy. This occurs when metal sulfide is heated to such a degree that oxygen reacts to form solid metal oxide and sulfur dioxide gas.
Melting is another form of pyrometallurgy involving thermal reactions in the molten phase. Smelting typically occurs at a temperature above the melting point of the metal and removes carbon dioxide from the material, leaving a more refined metal. Refining is another pyrometallurgical process that removes impurities by heating metals.
Alloys are combinations of metals with other metals or of metals with nonmetals. A common example of this is bronze, a combination of copper and tin. If you heat copper to about 2000° Fahrenheit (1100° Celsius) and add tin, you can make bronze. Alloying is another form of pyrometallurgy.
In all types of pyrometallurgy, fuel or electricity is needed as a heat source. Sometimes exothermic reactions can provide sufficient heat for the pyrometallurgical process. At this point, when no further fuel or electricity is needed to work the metal, the process is known to reach an autogenous stage.
Generally, pyrometallurgical processes are used on materials that tend not to be very reactive, as reactive materials can be encouraged to explode when heat is applied. Non-reactive elements can be extracted by heat and refined by using the heat to apply other materials and causing impurities to bind and become easier to remove, allowing for a purer form.
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