Activation Energy of Alumina Dissolution in FeO-Bearing Slags

Abstract

The dissolution of Al2O3 non-metallic inclusions in slag containing FeO was investigated in this study. The slag system used in the experiments was a quaternary system of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-FeO. The composition of the slag was studied by fixing the basicity (CaO/SiO2 ratio) to 1 and varying the FeO content to 10 and 20 wt%. In addition, the experimental temperature was varied to 1550 °C, 1575 °C, and 1600 °C to study the effect of temperature on the Al2O3 dissolution behavior. The experimental equipment used was a single hot thermocouple apparatus. The dissolution rate of Al2O3 particles increased linearly with increasing temperature and FeO content. In addition, the mass transfer activation energy of Al2O3 dissolution in FeO 10 wt% and FeO 20 wt% was calculated through an Arrhenius-type analysis. The obtained mass transfer activation energies were 159 and 189 kJ/mole, respectively.