Kinetics of iron–copper sulphides oxidation in relation to protohistoric copper smelting

This article deals with one specific step of the copper extractive metallurgy process: the roasting of iron–copper sulphides. It aims at shedding light on an archaeological issue: the reconstruction of the copper extractive metallurgy processes during protohistory (IV e –II e millennium BC). Experim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry Vol. 103; no. 1; pp. 249 - 256
Main Authors:	Burger, Emilien, Bourgarit, David, Frotté, Vincent, Pilon, Fabien
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 2011 Springer
Subjects:	Analytical Chemistry Archaeology Chemistry Chemistry and Materials Science Copper Exact sciences and technology EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY Inorganic Chemistry Inorganic chemistry and origins of life Iron KINETICS Kinetics and mechanism of reactions MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS Mathematical models Measurement Science and Instrumentation MELTING OXIDATION Oxidation-reduction reaction Physical Chemistry Polymer Sciences ROASTING SMELTING SULFIDES Sulfur compounds Roasting Oxidation Copper iron sulphides Thermogravimetry Protohistoric times Desulfurization Smelting Transition metal Iron Sulfides Sulfides Thermal analysis Kinetics Protohistory Copper Copper Sulfides
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Summary:	This article deals with one specific step of the copper extractive metallurgy process: the roasting of iron–copper sulphides. It aims at shedding light on an archaeological issue: the reconstruction of the copper extractive metallurgy processes during protohistory (IV e –II e millennium BC). Experimental simulations are performed at laboratory scale by modelizing the conditions of protohistoric furnaces. Kinetic of roasting is studied by thermogravimetry combined with the physico-chemical analysis of synthetic products. The influence of two parameters is studied: (i) the temperature (773, 973 and 1173 K) and (ii) the granularity of the roasted ores (1 mm and 100 μm). In each case, the chemical mechanism governing the oxidation of iron copper sulphide is proposed. Apart from one extreme case (∅ = 1 mm; T = 773 K), it is showed that kinetic is controlled by the transport of molecular oxygen (O 2 ) from the gas to the grain surface. Moreover, we prove that, in some cases where the diffusivity of gaseous oxygen is low, roasting can be accelerated by the presence of an oxide, which constitute an in-situ source of oxygen. Theses experiments support the hypothesis that such a technique could have allowed a roasting process where iron and sulfur were removed by the solid oxygen instead of the gaseous oxygen. These results allow to validate a one-step copper smelting process starting from sulphidic ores, and to identify the experimental parameters of this process.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	1388-6150 1588-2926 1572-8943
DOI:	10.1007/s10973-010-0926-2