Authors:
K. Adham, C. Lee, K. O'Keefe
Conference of Metallurgist: COM 2010, Vancouver, Canada, October 5, 2010
Abstract
Magnesium metal is commonly produced through the molten salt electrolysis of MgCl2. The feed to electrolysis must be dry with minimum oxygen content. Drying the brine or the hydrated chloride prill (MgCl2-6H2O) is a challenging process, due to the great tendency of MgCl2 to undergo pyrohydrolysis (thermal degradation with H2O), when heated. Fluidized bed dryers are often used (under air or HCl environment) to achieve the target drying. This paper addresses the key features of three (3) different types of fluid bed technologies which can be applied to MgCl2 dehydration plants, with a discussion of chemistry, unit operation and advantages associated with each option. All the background information has been obtained from the relevant open literature sources (papers and patents), and most calculations have been performed using the commercially available metallurgical software, Metsim® and HSC.
