Pembuatan NPI (5-8% Ni) Menggunakan Hot Blast Cupola Furnace Kapasitas 3 Ton/Hari

Nickel laterite ore containing 10-40%Fe; 0.8-3.5% Ni; and 1-2%Cr was commonly used as a raw material for Nickel Pig Iron (NPI) making process which can be processed further for steel alloy containing Ni and Cr.In this present work, the NPI making process was conducted by using low investment technology, that was a hot blast cupola furnace with the capacity 3 ton/day of NPI. The agglomeration of nickel laterite ore was conducted prior to smelting process in a hot blast cupola furnace.The composition of pellet composite (in %wt) was 85.5% of nickel laterite ore, 12.5% of coal, and 2% of bentonite. In this smelting process, coke (as a fuel and reductor) and limestone (as a flux) were added together with pellet composite into a hot blast cupola furnace. The coke to pellet composite ratio was 0.4. The limestone was added to obtain the slag basicity of 1.0. The additive of MnO2 (containing 39%wt Mn) was also added into the hot blast cupola furnace. The temperature of the hot blast in this smelting process was 250-300°C. From the result, NPI having 5-8% Ni was obtained. The addition of MnO2 as much as 1% could suppress the reduction of iron oxide thus it could increase the Ni content in NPI.