Influence of Slag Chemistry on the Dissolution of FeCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> in CaO–SiO<sub>2</sub>–Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>–MgO Slag with Graphite Crucible

Abstract

The effect of Al2O3 and SiO2 content and basicity (w(CaO) + w(MgO)/w(SiO2) + w(Al2O3)) on the chromite ore dissolution in CaO–SiO2–Al2O3–MgO slag system was studied under the condition of 1550°C. The results show that the increase of basicity (R = 0.54, 0.67, 0.82) results in the reduction of the dissolved amount and dissolution rate of chromite ore in the slag. The dissolved amount of Cr in lower basicity slag (R = 0.54) is about 1.5 to 2 times higher than that in higher basicity slag (R = 0.67, R = 0.82). The dissolved amount of Cr tends to increase when the Al2O3 mass content decreases from 20% to 15%. While as the Al2O3 mass fraction continues to decrease from 15% to 10%, the dissolved amount begins to decrease. This may be related to the viscosity of the slag. The spinel phase tends to form on the surface of the unreacted FeCr2O4, thus hindering the further dissolution of FeCr2O4. After starting to dissolve, the FeCr2O4 decomposes into FeO and Cr2O3 dissolving in the slag. The FeO in the slag is preferentially reduced to metal iron attached to the surface of the FeCr2O4. The main forms of Cr element in the slag are CrO and Cr2O3, and the proportion of these two depends on the composition of the slag and the experimental environment. The proportion of CrO in the slag with lower basicity is larger. In the experiment, the maximum solubility of FeCr2O4 in 60 min was obtained in the slag system with 45% SiO2, 15% CaO, 20% Al2O3 and 20% MgO.