Kinetics and Mechanism of the Simultaneous Carbothermic Reduction of FeO and MnO from High-Carbon Ferromanganese Slag

Abstract

The carbothermic reduction of 38.7 pct MnO-12.1 pct CaO-5.4 pct MgO-9.3 pct Al2O3-24.1 pct SiO2-10.4 pct FeO slag in Ar at 1600 °C was studied using the sessile drop wettability technique. Pure graphite, coke, and charcoal were used as the carbon material substrates. The reduction rates were evaluated by sampling at different reduction times and by analyzing the chemical compositions of the reduced slag and the produced metal. The carbothermic FeO reduction from slag is initially fast followed by a much slower reduction rate. However, the rate of the MnO reduction is slow in the fast FeO reduction stage, and it starts to increase significantly during the slow FeO reduction stage. The kinetics of FeO and MnO reduction are affected by the type of carbonaceous materials. Moreover, the rate of the carbon dissolution/transfer into the produced metal phase and the amount of the transferred manganese to the metal phase depend on the type of carbon. Based on the experimental observations and the thermodynamic calculations, a mechanism for MnO reduction was proposed. According to this mechanism, MnO is mainly reduced through a metallothermic reduction by Fe and the rate of MnO reduction is controlled by the rate of the consumption of FeO from the slag, which takes place simultaneously. In contrast, the rate of FeO reduction in the fast initial reduction stage is controlled by the rate of the carbon dissolution/transfer into the metal phase. However, at the second slow FeO reduction stage, it is reduced mainly by the solid carbon.