Nickel carbonyl production process is not a latest technology, nearly a hundred years of the study of history, there are decades of research time. Nickel carbonyl refining is a simple process, low energy consumption, high extraction rate, but also conducive to environmental protection without waste precious metal enrichment process can produce high-purity nickel pellets, metal powder, alloy powder, powder-coated, foam nickel and nickel nano-powder products, but for a long time, due to the small market demand for high-purity nickel powder, limiting the development of nickel carbonyl.

Over the last decade, the rapid development of the situation in the high-tech industry, especially with the development of energy, communications technology and the family car, nickel carbonyl products showed a rapid upward trend, the annual growth rate of about 10%. Since the pyrolysis of nickel carbonyl may be prepared with different properties, a variety of products of different shapes, such as zero-dimensional material (nanometer, micron powder material), a one-dimensional materials (needles and filamentous materials), two-dimensional material (film material ) and three-dimensional materials (nickel pill, coated, gradient and hollow materials) and other special structural state of nickel products, these products have excellent physical and chemical properties, is in many areas, especially in high-tech industry is an important raw material, so the market demand rapid expansion and prospects.

At present, the production of nickel carbonyl developed countries technologically advanced, mature technology, and to large-scale production, with an annual capacity of about 180,000 tons, the consumption in the 16 to 18 million tons. With the continuous development of the energy, telecommunications, precision electronics and other industries, demand for nickel carbonyl products will continue at 10% annual increments. World carbonyl nickel products market has been dominated by the Canadian company INCO, the international market price of nickel carbonyl become a monopoly price.

At present, the China’s domestic demand for nickel carbonyl is the 4000-5000 tons of products. The first production of carbonyl nickel powder is produced by Plant #857 of National Nuclear Corporation. Plant #857 after Project #8615 has design capacity of 500 tons of nickel carbonyl powder, but for various reasons, it has been unable to reach production. The main products are nickel carbonyl powder and nickel carbonyl powder coating – alloy powder, mainly for military use. In addition, by the end of 2001 by Jinchuan Group Ltd., China Nonferrous Engineering and Research Institute, Steel Research Institute, Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and other units shared “nickel carbonyl refinery production process and product development of nickel carbonyl” project, Jinchuan company building in a 500 t/a nickel carbonyl pilot production line, and has been trial production in 2002, but production has been unstable.

Jinchuan nickel carbonyl total investment of 265 million yuan, using international advanced CVMR Canada’s atmospheric carbonyl technical equipment. After the completion of the project, the production of nickel carbonyl products could reach 2000 tons / year, including: nickel carbonyl pellets 1000 tons; micron nickel carbonyl powder, 580 tons; micron iron carbonyl powder 80 tons; nanoscale nickel carbonyl powder, 20 tons ; nickel carbonyl – iron alloy powder 200 tons; coating powder 100 tons; 20 tons of special functional materials.

In January this year, the project has been completed and acceptance, is currently in pre-production pre-commissioning phase, expected annual production of 600 tons in 2007. The company said that as the price of nickel carbonyl is more stable, higher margin nickel lowest bidder, but after nickel prices rising sharply, the decline in profitability. Therefore, the company will flexibly adjust nickel carbonyl production according to market conditions.

Source from http://www.chinapowder.com/special/show-602.html (Chinese)