Phase Diagrams of Me-O-C Systems to Study Metallurgical Processes

Abstract

Metallurgical processes in Me-O-C systems cannot be studied and controlled using conventional analytical and physicochemical techniques. This is due to the complex physical and chemical interactions occurring in high-temperature metallurgical systems with the formation of various compounds. To study such processes, mathematical (thermodynamic) simulation and other techniques are widely used, among which graphical diagrams illustrating the equilibrium between individual phases or their systems occupy a special place. Diagrams have been proposed that are more common, informative, and herewith universal to study pyrometallurgical processes. The main research objective was to determine the equilibrium composition of the Me-O-C system, i.e., the amount or ratio of its various compounds such as carbides, oxides, pure substances, and, possibly, ternary compounds. The equilibrium compositions of the system were obtained to plot diagrams from not only experimental studies but also the chemical equilibria mathematical simulation results using the Selector software package. The diagrams proposed herein allow establishing a quantitative relationship between the temperature, the ratio of independent components (metal, oxygen, and carbon), on the one hand, and the complete equilibrium composition of the system, which implies data on the amount and type of condensed and gas phases in the system and their ratios, on the other hand. This mechanism is a new tool to study chemical conversions in complex metallurgical processes, which will be very useful for metallurgists, chemists, and technologists.