A two-stage reduction process for the production of high-purity ultrafine Ni particles in a micro-fluidized bed reactor

A novel two-stage reduction process for synthesis of ultrafine nickel powder with a high purity and low density in a fluidized bed reactor has been developed in this work. The raw ultrafine NiO particles are first pre-reduced using hydrogen at lower temperatures (340-400 degrees C), followed by further reduction at higher temperatures (500-600 degrees C). The self-agglomeration of Ni particles formed during low-temperature reduction decreases the sintering activity of the newly formed ultrafine Ni particles, leading to good fluidization quality, even for the subsequent high-temperature reduction process. The agglomerated Ni particles have a high Ni content (above 99 wt%), a low density (0.78 g/cm(3)) and a uniform particle size (approximately 100 mu m). A concept design for a novel two-stage fluidized bed reactor process used to produce high-purity Ni powder was also proposed. This approach may be extended to the synthesis of other ultrafine/nanosized metals or metal oxides through a fluidization method. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences.