Nickel ore is a kind of metal ore with rich reserves, and its deep processing is widely used, commonly used in metal beneficiation, refining nickel-iron alloy and stainless steel. The following will introduce the nickel ore beneficiation process in the crushing process and its production line configuration.

First, nickel ore crushing process

Nickel ore crushing process mainly includes two stages: crushing and screening. The specific process is as follows:

Primary crushing: the raw ore is fed into the jaw crusher through the feeder for coarse crushing.

Secondary crushing: the roughly crushed material is fed into the cone crusher for medium and fine crushing through conveying equipment.

Screening: the materials after medium and fine crushing are screened by screening equipment, and those with particle size below 20mm are sent to the finished products pile, while those over 20mm are returned to the cone crusher for further crushing.

Second, nickel ore crushing equipment models and parameters

In the process of nickel ore crushing, the main equipment used includes jaw crusher and cone crusher.

Jaw crusher (e.g. C6X80) is used for primary crushing, which has the advantages of strong processing capacity and high crushing efficiency.

Cone crusher (e.g. HST160 single-cylinder hydraulic cone crusher): used for medium and fine crushing, with high efficiency and stable crushing performance.

Three, 200 tonnes per hour nickel ore crushing line configuration

The following is an example of the configuration of a 200 tonnes per hour nickel ore crushing line:

Processing material: nickel ore

Capacity: 200 tonnes per hour

Feed size: 0-700mm

Discharge size: 0-20mm

Equipment Configuration:

C6X80 Jaw Crusher

HST160 single-cylinder hydraulic cone crusher

The crushed nickel ore with a particle size of 10-30mm can be used as a sinter bedding material to help improve the productivity of the sinter and reduce energy consumption. For particle sizes of 0-10mm, it can be dispensed into the sintering mix through the sintering floor bin and used to regulate the R2, MgO, and Ni/Fe compositions of the sintered ore. Although there are different opinions, the use of nickel ore powder to adjust these compositions can help to improve the grade of the sintered ore.

It is important to note that nickel laterite ore is usually imported from the Philippines or Indonesia, and the ore has a high moisture content during transport and storage. During the summer months, it is often necessary to increase the amount of lime to dehydrate the ore powder to meet the requirements of the production process, but this can elevate the CaO content of the ore powder. In order to balance the CaO content of the sintered ore, nickel ore crushing powder with high SiO2 content needs to be dosed.

The use of nickel ore powder instead of dolomite powder or lightly burnt magnesia powder is one of the effective ways to reduce the production cost of sintered ore. For manufacturers using rotary kiln drying process, although there is no need to worry about the dehydration of ore powder, but still need to pay attention to the sintered ore magnesium-aluminium ratio imbalance may lead to changes in the bonding phase and strength decline. Therefore, the requirements of ore dressing and ore allocation are higher.

Summarise

Nickel ore crushing process and its production line configuration play a crucial role in metal beneficiation. Reasonable crushing and screening process and equipment configuration can improve production efficiency and product quality, while reducing production costs.