The Behavior of Phosphorus During Reduction and Carburization of High-Phosphorus Oolitic Hematite with H2 and CH4

Abstract

High-phosphorus oolitic hematite has not been widely utilized due to high content of phosphorus. Ca3(PO4)2 is the main component containing phosphorus in high-phosphorus oolitic hematite. In the present work, the thermodynamics was studied for Ca3(PO4)2 reduction by H2 gas and then carburization by CH4 gas. The results show that phosphorous in Ca3(PO4)2 cannot be reduced from gangue during the reduction of hematite and the formation of iron carbide at the temperature from 923 K to 1073 K (650 °C to 800 °C), in H2 and CH4 atmosphere. Reduction and carburization experiments were carried out. And phosphorus in reduced and carburized specimens was analyzed by EDS and wet chemical method. The results confirmed that phosphorous cannot be reduced during the preparation of iron carbide from this iron ore. So the metallic iron or iron carbide can be prepared without the reduction of phosphorous at relatively low temperature, which can be a new route of utilizing high-phosphorus oolitic hematite. After fine milling–magnetic separation, the 99.47 pct of Fe3C-containing material was recovered, but the dephosphorization rate reached to 19.37 pct only.