Oxidation of mixed copper-iron sulfide

Abstract

A rectangular plate of mixed copper-iron sulfide composed of bornite (Cu5FeS4) and troilite (FeS) was oxidized in an O2-Ar mixed gas stream at 1023 to 1123 K. At the start of the oxidation, iron was preferentially oxidized with the rapid formation of a dense Fe3O4 layer of about 10 μm thickness on the sample surface, without the evolution of SO2 gas. Following this reaction, layers of both Fe3O4 and Fe2O3 grew on the sulfide surface in accordance with the parabolic rate law. The diffusion of iron through the oxide layers was assumed to control the oxidation rate during this stage. The effect of oxygen partial pressure on the parabolic rate constants was minor and an apparent activation energy of 126 kJ/mol was obtained. During the later stages of the reaction, when the sulfur activity in the inner sulfide core increased, the oxidation proceeded irregularly to the interior of the remaining sulfide with the formation of a porous oxide and the evolution of gaseous SO2. The remaining sulfide core was found to be a mixture of bornite (Cu5FeS4) and djurleite (Cu1.96S).