Study on the effects of temperature in the carbothermic reduction laterite ore using palm kernel shell as reducing agent

Indonesia has a rich deposit of nickel. However, laterite in Indonesia has not been treated to its full potential. This happens because the refining process of lateritic nickel ore has a high cost, triggered by the amount of energy required and the complexity of the separation process. It needs pre-reduction to make the ore more easily to be reduced and increased the metal content so that it can maximize the nickel refining process and minimize the energy usage. One method of pre-reduction is carbothermic reduction. This research study the effect of temperature variation on the results of the carbothermic reduction of laterite ores using palm kernel shells as the reducing agent. The reduction process was done by heating the # 270 mesh lateritic ore and palm kernel shells with a mass ratio of 1: 4 for 60 minutes in the melting furnace at the temperature variations of 700, 800, 900 and 1000°C. The result of the reduction was then tested using XRF and XRD. Based on the calculation of % recovery, the optimum temperature for reducing the laterite ore with palm kernel shells for 60 minutes was 800°C which the content of NiO as much as 2.68%.