Metallurgical processing of converter slag

Abstract

Converter slurries at modern metallurgical plants represent a significant part of metal-containing industrial waste with a high concentration of iron. Currently, there is a problem of their utilization and use as raw materials for metallurgy. The purpose of this work is to study the processes of briquetting and recovery of briquetted products, based on a mixture of converter slurries of gas purification and converter slags. When performing experimental studies on the preparation of sludge briquettes from a mixture of converter sludge of gas purification and converter slag, their metallization and reduction melting in laboratory conditions, the optimal composition of the components of the mixture of converter slag and gas purification sludge was determined by the percentage of iron, which is appropriate for use as a raw material for steel smelting. Experimental studies on the preparation of sludge-coal mixtures from dispersed metal-containing and carbon-containing industrial waste with stoichiometric coal consumption for the recovery of extracted metals have proved the possibility of obtaining sludge-coal briquettes, which are further subjected to metallization and reduction melting. Sequential processing of dispersed production waste, namely drying, metallization and reduction melting, allowed us to obtain at the final stage a metal sample that corresponds to high-quality steel in its composition. Based on the analysis of the results of experimental studies, the technology of reducing melting of metal-containing waste has been developed. As a result of the implementation of the technology, high-quality steels and alloys can be obtained without carburizing the metal, bypassing the production stages of cast iron and high-carbon alloys. The content of harmful impurities of sulfur and phosphorus meets the technical requirements of high-quality steel. The proposed technology for processing slag and sludge from oxygen-converter production will reduce the volume of accumulated production waste.