By a mathematical model of distribution behaviors of Ni, Co, Sn, Pb, Zn, As, Sb, Bi, Au and Ag in copper smelting process, accessory-element behavior was studied for two types of slag, fayalite and ferrite, and two levels of oxidation. The model can predict any set of controllable process parameters, such as feed composition, smelting temperature, degree of oxygen enrichment and volume of oxygen enriched air, in copper flash smelting, Mitsubishi and Noranda processes. The predictions by the present computer model were compared with the known commercial data from Guixi Smelter in China, Horne Smelter in Canada and Naoshima Smelter in Japan. The agreement between the computer predictions and the commercial data was excellent, therefore the present computer model can be used to monitor and optimize the actual industrial operations of copper smelting. The effects of oxygen enrichment, matte grade, smelting temperature and types of slag, on accessory-element behavior were elucidated.

Aqueous E-pH Diagram is an essential tool for analyzing hydrometallurgical and corrosion processes. Due to the requirements for environmental protection and energy saving in recent years, waste water processing and hydrometallurgical process of concentrate have been greatly developed. The construction of E-pH diagrams has turned to multi-component systems. However, there are some limits in plotting such diagrams. There is only one diagram for one multi-component system, which can not reflect the truth of the aqueous reaction. In the paper, a new computation method is proposed to construct E-pH diagrams. Component activity term is used to determine the boundary of stable areas. For the multi-component systems, different atom ratios of elements have been taken into account. M-S-H2O system is chosen to study since it is of importance in metallurgical solution. Compared with conventional methods, the algorithm is simple and conforms to real conditions.