Abstract: The direct reduction of galena with hydrogen at 873—973 K could be described by the shrink- ing core model in the chemically controlled region.The reaction was revealed to be of first or- der with respect to hydrogen concentration and the activation energy is 79.0 kJ/mol.Be- cause of the fairly large interface tension between the solid galena and the liquid Pb,the SEM second electron images showed that the liquid Pb film is difficult to be formed on the unreacted galena surface in reaction process.

Key words: gas-solid reaction, galena, reduction