The Progress of Technologies for Energy Saving and Emission Reduction in Reduction Process of Magnesium Production by Silicothermic Reduction

The reduction process causes most energy consumption and emission among all the processes of magnesium production by silicothermic reduction;its main influence elements technically are as follows: feed proportioning,vacuum system,combustion heating technology,service life of the reduction pot,structure of the reduction furnace and disposal of the magnesium slag.Then,the elements' influence mechanisms on energy consumption and emission in magnesium production are analyzed separately.The new processes of research and development and their application status of energy saving and emission reduction technologies are summarized.Finally,an outlook has been given to the trends of the technologies:(1)The microcomputer proportioning system is adopted.(2)The water ring pump is assigned before the mechanical pump or jet vacuum pump is utilized singly.(3)Regenerative combustion technology is employed.(4)New materials are developed to prolong pots' service life.(5)The structure of the reduction furnace is adjusted,in order to prolong the remain time of the flue gas and improve pots' distribution density,or vertical magnesium reducing furnace is applied.(6)The magnesium slag is cleared out by mechanical equipments and reutilized after the remaining heat energy is recovered.