In the pyrometallurgical antimony smelting process, the rotary furnace serves as the core piece of equipment linking roasting and refining, performing the dual functions of reduction smelting and energy circulation.

Antimony ore is fed into a rotary kiln via a belt conveyor, where it undergoes desulfurization roasting at 800–900°C; the resulting calcine is then precisely fed into the rotary furnace. Within the furnace's high-temperature reducing atmosphere, the calcine is reduced to molten crude antimony. Simultaneously, high-temperature flue gas generated by the rotary furnace supplies heat to the rotary kiln through an annular flue, enabling cascaded energy utilization and significantly reducing overall energy consumption.

The smelting flue gas is first cooled in the annular flue before entering a dust collection system to recover valuable antimony trioxide dust; it then passes through a desulfurization tower for final purification, ensuring emissions comply with environmental standards.

Once the crude antimony enters the refining stage, the process can be flexibly adjusted based on the target product:

For antimony ingots: Crude antimony is purified with refining agents in a refining furnace; the molten antimony is cast into shape by a continuous casting machine, and the ingots are automatically stacked and bundled by robotic arms.

For antimony trioxide: The material undergoes oxidation and volatilization in a refining furnace (oxidation furnace), and the antimony trioxide is collected in a dust collection system.

The rotary furnace plays a pivotal role throughout the entire process, from raw antimony ore to the final product. By integrating reduction smelting, waste heat utilization, multi-stage dust collection, and flexible product pathways, it achieves efficient, clean, and continuous modern pyrometallurgical antimony production. This technology provides stable, reliable equipment support for the antimony industry while offering advantages in resource recovery, energy conservation, and environmental protection.