Controlled Solidification of Liquids Within the SFC Primary Phase Field of the “Fe2O3”-CaO-SiO2 System in Air

Abstract

To provide fundamental information on the phases and microstructures formed during sintering, a liquid with a bulk composition within the silico ferrite of calcium (SFC) primary phase field in the ternary “Fe2O3”-CaO-SiO2 system in air was solidified at a controlled rate. Samples of a bulk composition with a CaO/SiO2 ratio of 4.00 and 69.24 wt pct Fe2O3, were cooled from 1623 K (1350 °C) at 2 K/s, with samples quenched at temperatures between 1513 K (1240 °C) to 1453 K (1180 °C). The silico ferrite of calcium and aluminium I (SFCA-I) and Ca7.2Fe 0.8 2+ Fe303+O53 phases were observed to form an intergrowth (‘SFC-I’) rather than the anticipated SFC phase. Solidification was found to occur in three stages, Liquid + ‘SFC-I’, Liquid + ‘SFC-I’ + C2S + CF2, and C2S + CF2 + CF, where C2S denotes dicalcium silicate, CF denotes calcium ferrite and CF2 denotes calcium diferrite. The phases formed and the solidification sequence differ from those predicted under equilibrium and Scheil–Gulliver Cooling. Although not directly applicable to industrial operations, this research clearly shows that the formation of both the SFCA and SFCA-I phase in iron ore sinters is controlled by kinetic processes rather than equilibrium conditions.