Ferronickel Production via Selective Reduction of Turkish Laterite Ore by H₂ in Fluidized Bed Reactor: Isothermal Kinetic Modeling

The rapid development of the new generation transportation and energy storage technologies doubled the Ni need in the last 20 years. As the major cathode material of Li-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs), Ni is likely to play a vital role in the low-carbon future of our planet. Thus, it is significant to explore new ways for producing Ni from laterite ores as the sulfides are depleting. In this study, the laterite ore supplied from Manisa Gördes mine was reduced in a fluidized bed reactor at reaction temperatures of 700 °C, 750 °C, 800 °C, and 850 °C using 10, 25, and 40 pct H₂ gas streams. A maximum 81 pct reduction degree was achieved. XRD results verified that the obtained products contained mainly kamacite, wustite, and quartz. Detailed kinetic analysis revealed that the reduction consisted of 3 stages; the first progressed under chemical reaction control according to the “Contracting Sphere, R3(α)” model (E_a = 34.76 kJ/mol), while the second progressed under diffusion control according to the “One Dimensional Diffusion, D1(α)” model (E_a = 10.18 kJ/mol). No model representing the third stage that proceeded with an extremely low reaction rate was found. The sintering of the outer metallic layers might have caused the situation in the third stage.