Hydrogen Reduction of NiO Particles in a Single-Stage Fluidized-Bed Reactor without Sticking

A commercial NiO (green nickel oxide, 86 wt% Ni) powder was reduced using a batch-type fluidized-bed reactor in a temperature range of 500 to 600 °C and in a residence time range of 5 to 90 min. The reduction rate increased with increases in temperature; however, agglomeration and sintering (sticking) of Ni particles noticeably took place at high temperatures above 600 °C. An increasing tendency toward sticking was also observed at long residence times. In order to reduce the oxygen content in the powder to a level below 1% without any sticking problems, which can lead to defluidization, proper temperature and residence time for a stable fluidized-bed operation should be established. In this study, these values were found to be 550 °C and 60 min, respectively. Another important condition is the specific gas consumption rate, i.e. the volume amount (Nm3) of hydrogen gas used to reduce 1 ton of Green NiO ore. The optimum gas consumption rate was found to be 5,000 Nm3/ton-NiO for the complete reduction. The Avrami model was applied to this study; experimental data are most closely fitted with an exponent (m) of 0.6 ± 0.01 and with an overall rate constant (k) in the range of 0.35~0.45, depending on the temperature.