TIME.CO, Jakarta – Indonesia is one of the largest producing countries nickel world. Indonesia’s nickel production in 2021 was recorded at 1.00 million tonnes or contributed 30.40% to the total world production.
Quoted from indonesia.go.idIndonesia supplies 37% of the world nickel market. Indonesia’s recorded nickel reserves amount to approximately 21 million tonnes of pure nickel equivalent. In fact, in the period January-August 2022, the value of Indonesia’s nickel exports reached $12.5 billion.
Previously, Indonesia was rich in nickel ore in the form of limonite and saprolite with levels ranging from 0.6 to 2.23%. Saprolite itself is characterized by a higher nickel content. Although limonite generally has a lower nickel content, it also contains other minerals, namely cobalt.
Currently products for nickel processing (blessings downstream nickel) in Indonesia in the form of ferronickel (FeNi), nickel cast iron (NPI), Ni-matte, mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), mixed sulfide precipitate (MSP) and stainless steel. Summarized from various sources, here is the explanation.
1. Nickel cast iron (NPI)
Summary from publications “DECARBURIZING PROCESS OF NICKEL-PLATED CAST IRON”, Nickel cast iron or NPI is crude iron that contains less than 15% nickel with higher levels of sulfur and phosphorus than ferronickel. NPI consists of nickel laterite ore as a raw material for the production of stainless steel and other nickel-alloy steels.
Quoted from p2k.stekom.ac.id, The production of NPI was started by China in 2005. At that time, NPI was in the form of irregular ingots. In the manufacturing process, NPI is heated in a furnace, which is then combined with coal coke and a mixture of sand and gravel aggregates. The mixture is calcined and sintered into pellets before being fed into the blast furnace.
2. Ferronickel (FeNi)
Ferronickel is an alloy of iron and nickel. Reporting from data.brin.go.id, Ferronickel contains 80% iron and 20% nickel, produced by the smelting process of reducing nickel oxide or iron-containing silicate minerals.
Ferronickel is commonly used in steel production. To produce ferronickel, saprolite nickel ore is first processed to become calcine. This processing goes through a process of crushing, drying, heating and adding different materials to reduce the acidity level, cited by antam.com.
3. Matte nickel
Summary from publications “NICKEL SOLUBILITY IN THE LEACHING PROCESS OF NICKEL MATTE (Ni3S2) IN AMMONIA – AMMONIUM NITRATE”, Nickel matte is a nickel sulfide compound obtained by the pyrometallurgical process (matte smelting) from laterite ores. Nickel matte has a chemical composition of 78-80% Ni, 0.5-1.2% Co and 18-20% S. Processed nickel matte is the raw material for nickel sulfate, which is used as a raw material in battery precursors.
Additionally, nickel matte (Ni3S2) can produce nickel salts. Nickel salt is obtained through a leaching process at room temperature using a mixture of ammonia and nitrate compounds.
4. Mixed precipitation of hydroxide and mixed precipitation of sulfide
Mixed hydroxide precipitate (MPH) and mixed sulfide precipitate (MSP) are the main ingredients of lithium battery components. Quoted from repository.uinjkt.ac.id, MPH is a mixture of solid hydroxides of nickel and cobalt through a hydrometallurgical process. Meanwhile, MSP is produced using HPAL (High Pressure Acid Leaching) technology in hydrogen sulfide.
MHP contains 34 – 55% nickel (Ni) and 1 – 4.5% cobalt (Co). Meanwhile, MSP usually has a content of 55% Ni. Both go through a hydrometallurgical process to become raw materials for battery production.
5. Stainless steel
Summarized by eprints.umm.ac.id, Stainless steel is an iron compound that contains 10.5% chromium. This substance forms a protective layer (anti-corrosive protective layer) which is the result of oxygen oxidation of chromium which occurs spontaneously.
Stainless steel is made up of iron ore, silicon, chromium, carbon, nickel, manganese and nitrogen. Stainless steel is used in the aviation industry and other household appliances.
Editors Choice: Observing the process of processing nickel waste so that it does not pollute the environment
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