8 Jurnal Sains Materi Indonesia Vol. 20, No. 1, Oktober 2018, hal. 8-14 THE EFFECT OF ADDITIVES AND REDUCTORS IN SELECTIVE REDUCTION PROCESS OF LATERITE NICKEL ORE F. Nurjaman 1 , A. Sa’adah 2 , A. Shofi 1 , W. Apriyana 3 and B. Suharno 2 1 Research Unit for Mineral Technology - LIPI Jl. Ir. Sutami, Km 15 Tanjung Bintang, Serdang, Lampung 35361 2 Departement of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Indonesia Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424 3 Research Unit for Natural Technology - LIPI Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta 55861 E-mail: fajar.nurjaman@lipi.go.id Received: 11 August 2018 Revised: 28 August 2018 Accepted: 28 September 2018 ABSTRACT THE EFFECT OF ADDITIVES AND REDUCTORS IN SELECTIVE REDUCTION PROCESS OF LATERITE NICKEL ORE. Selective reduction of laterite nickel ore followed by magnetic separation was carried out to produce ferronickel products. The effect of adding additives and reductor types in the selective reduction process was studied in this study. Reductors used were anthracite coal and palm shell charcoal with variations of 5 to 15% by weight, while the additive used was sodium sulfate (Na 2 SO 4 ). The reduction process was carried out at temperatures of 950 ºC, 1050 ºC and 1150 ºC for 60 minutes. The addition of 10% sodium sulfate additives by weight in the reduction process of laterite nickel ore produced higher concentrations of nickel as 6.09%, compared to no additives, i.e. 2.45%. The addition of reductors in the selective reduction process of laterite nickel ore shows that the higher the amount of reductors causes a decrease in the concentrate level of nickel. Furhtermore, the type of reductors used shows that the concentrate from the reduction result using anthracite coal reductor produces higher level of nickel and lower level of iron compared to the use of palm shell charcoal reductor. Keywords: Laterite nickel ore, Selective reduction, Ferronickel, Sodium sulfate, Anthracite coal, Palm shell charcoal ABSTRAK PENGARUH ADITIF DAN REDUKTOR PADA PROSES REDUKSI SELEKTIF BIJIH NIKEL LATERIT. Reduksi selektif bijih nikel laterit diikuti dengan pemisahan magnetik dilakukan untuk menghasilkan produk ferronikel. Pengaruh penambahan aditif dan jenis reduktor dalam proses reduksi selektif telah dipelajari dalam penelitian ini. Reduktor yang digunakan, yaitu batubara antrasit dan arang cangkang sawit dengan variasi 5 hingga 15% berat, sedangkan aditif yang digunakan adalah sodium sulfat (Na 2 SO 4 ). Proses reduksi dilakukan pada temperatur 950 ºC, 1050 ºC dan 1150 ºC selama 60 menit. Penambahan aditif sodium sulfat sebanyak 10% berat dalam proses reduksi bijih nikel laterit menghasilkan kadar nikel dalam konsentrat yang lebih tinggi yaitu 6,09%, jika dibandingkan tanpa aditif, yaitu 2,45%. Pada penambahan reduktor dalam proses reduksi selektif bijih nikel laterit, menunjukkan bahwa semakin tinggi jumlah reduktor menyebabkan penurunan kadar nikel dalam konsentrat. Disamping itu dari jenis reduktor yang digunakan menunjukkan bahwa konsentrat hasil reduksi menggunakan reduktor batubara antrasit menghasilkan kadar nikel yang lebih tinggi dan besi yang lebih rendah jika dibandingkan dengan penggunaan reduktor arang cangkang sawit. Kata kunci: Bijih nikel laterit, Reduksi selektif, Ferronikel, Sodium sulfat, Batubara antrasit, Arang cangkang sawit Akreditasi Nomor: 21/E/KPT/2018 Tanggal 9 Juli 2018 ISSN 1411-1098 E-ISSN 2614-087X