Freeze-Lining Formation of a Synthetic Lead Slag: Part II. Thermal History

Abstract

Recently, freeze linings have been selected more frequently to protect pyrometallurgical reactor walls, due to a number of advantages over conventional refractory lining such as a self-regenerating capability and the possibility of operating under high-intensity process conditions. A freeze lining is formed on a cooled reactor wall in a time-dependent temperature gradient. To model freeze-lining behavior, input data on several assumptions, such as the phase formation and the temperature at the bath–freeze-lining interface during freeze-lining formation, are needed. In order to provide experimental data, the freeze-lining formation of a synthetic lead slag system (PbO-FeO-Fe2O3-ZnO-CaO-SiO2) is investigated. A lab-scale freeze lining was produced by submerging an air-cooled probe into a liquid slag bath for 120 minutes. The temperature evolution during freeze-lining formation was estimated using the experimentally determined position and composition of the phases, the phase-temperature relations predicted with the thermodynamic computer package FactSage, and the results of reference experiments. For the studied slag system, it is concluded that heat transfer is much faster than mass transfer and crystallization. As a result, the liquid in front of the freeze lining undercools. The degree of undercooling depends on the solidification rate. It is concluded that the temperature at the bath–freeze-lining interface varies between the glass transition and liquidus temperatures of the slag bath during freeze-lining formation.