Mineral Carbonation of Basic Oxygen Furnace Slags

Abstract

Mineral carbonation is a method in carbon capture and utilization (CCU) in which carbon dioxide reacts with natural or synthetic mineral phases to form carbonates. In this study, BOF slag consisting of alite, Ca3SiO5, belite, Ca2SiO4, melilite, (Ca,Na)2(Mg,Al)[4][Si2O7], brownmillerite, Ca(Fe,Al)2O5, calcium ferrite, Ca2FeO4 and Ca-, Mg- and Mn-bearing wuestite, (Mg,Ca,Mn,Fe)O, was crushed into different particle size fractions and exposed over various durations (1 d, 3 d, 9 d, 14 d, 24 d) at a grate to 120 °C hot off-gas with a CO2 content of 25%. However, the total inorganic carbon (TIC) content never increases above the detection limit of 0.5% throughout the experimental duration. The determination of the carbonation depth using phenolphthalein does not reveal a homogeneous carbonation front, but an irregular carbonation. This observation was confirmed by microprobe analyses using elemental mapping. The solubility of the slag increases with increasing carbonation, e.g., the leachability of sulfate increases from 7.8 to 8270 mg/kg dry matter (DM), and of calcium from 940 to 3860 mg/kg DM. The leaching of environmentally relevant element varies: the leachable concentration of molybdenum increases from 0.017 mg/kg DM to 0.089 mg/kg DM, that of chromium remains constant (ca. 0.05 mg/kg DM) whereas that of vanadium decreases from 1.1 to 0.45 mg/kg. In summary, the chosen carbonation technology must be improved to enhance carbonate yield.