Work Index and Physical Properties of Slage Produced in Non-ferrous Metallurgical Processes.

Abstract

The slag samples from various non-ferrous metallurgical smelters have been characterized by determining Bond's work index, density and Vickers hardness coupled with X-ray powder diffraction and optical microscopic observation. Bond's work index for a slag consisting almost of glassy phase shows relatively higher index value than that of the crystalline slags and brittle minerals like quartz and feldspar, although a consistent index for zinc slag could not be obtained due to a large amount of co-existing metallic phase.The following empirical equation for crystalline brittle materials has been developed to describe the correlation between work index; Wi [kWh/t] and the product of Mohs' hardness; HM and density;ρ[Mg/m3]. Wi=0.42 (HM·ρ) +6.56This equation is suitable for the range up to 30×103 in the values of HM·ρ with corresponding correlation coefficient of 0.83. Using this equation, the work index for the brittle portion of zinc slag, which is mainly constituted of oxide and silicate minerals, was estimated to be 16 kWh/t.