Extractive Metallurgy Division - The Development of the Lead Blast Furnace at Port Pirie, South Australia

IN this paper it is proposed to follow the developments in the design of the lead blast furnace at Port Pirie from the time The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. assumed control in 1915 to the present time, with special reference to the development of the system using two superimposed rows of tuyeres as is now in operation. Lead smelting operations first commenced in 1889, when the British Broken Hill Pty. Ltd. started its first furnace. This was followed by installing two more furnaces during the same year and another the following year. In 1892, Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd. acquired the smelting works and combined operations with those at Broken Hill, New South Wales; by 1897, the whole of the smelting operations had been transferred to Port Pirie and thirteen blast furnaces were built to treat the Broken Hill ore production. In 1915, The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. Ltd. took over from the Broken Hill Proprietary and have carried out operations since that time. From its inception, the present company started on a long range program of reconstruction, in which the development of the lead blast furnace has played a prominent part. A definite trend in plant development has been towards the simplification of plant control by a reduction in the number of operating units. The great advantages of technical control which resulted from the very simplified flowsheet established in the continuous refining process stimulated the desire to extend the principle to the smelting operation. Thus in the sequence of furnaces described here, it will be noted that the trend has been towards larger and, of course, fewer units. With each such development it is significant that the operating conditions and metallurgical results have shown steady improvement. Standard Furnace In 1920 there were seven furnaces operating, five of a type subsequently called the standard furnace and two of the original thirteen smaller furnaces, the latter type being used for the treatment of drosses, etc. produced from the refinery section, while the standard type carried out the main, lead-smelting operations. The standard furnace (figs. 1 and 2) had the dimensions given in table I.