Stainless steel slag from high alloy steel is hardly used in the construction industry. The chromium leaching in unstable phase is the limiting factor for the application in the slag. The aim of this study is to investigate the stability of mineral phases in stainless steel slag. In this work, the mineral phases were firstly confirmed through experimental results by SEM-EDS and XRD. Thermodynamic calculation and leaching test were adopted to characterize the theoretical stability of mineral phases in aqueous solution. The results showed that the main phases in the stainless steel slag were spinel, melilite [solid solution of gehlenite (Ca2Al2SiO7) and akermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7)], dicalcium silicate, merwinite and periclase phases. It can be concluded that the minerals behave differently when dissolving in aqueous solution and the dissolution of dicalcium silicate (Ca2SiO4), merwinite (Ca3MgSi2O8), akermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7) and periclase phase could be generally higher, especially at lower pH values. In addition, the solubility of chromium in the spinel phase is considered low. The leaching test demonstrated that the formation of spinel phase can limit the leaching of chromium and the chromium existing in the silicate and periclase phases can facilitate the chromium leaching.
The stabilization of chromium is of great importance to the use of stainless steel slag (SSS), and the influence of lime on the stability of chromium is currently unclear. In this work, the variation of phase transformation and chromium distribution with slag basicity (CaO/SiO2) were investigated experimentally, and the leaching ability of chromium was evaluated. Results showed that chromium-bearing phases were glass, dicalcium silicate (C2S), spinel, and periclase, while the degree of enrichment of chromium in these phases was found to be closely related to the basicity. The optimal basicity obtained in this research was 1.5, with the chromium mainly present in the stable spinel and exhibiting the lowest leaching ability. The product layer structure of unmelted lime was studied as well, showing a periclase layer and a Ca2SiO4 layer. Some CaCr2O4 had formed in the periclase layer, which is potentially hazardous for the environment and living organisms.
The chromium elution behavior of stainless steel (SS) slag depends highly on the chromium distribution, and the molten modification process proved to effectively improve the chromium enrichment in stable phases. However, the phase transformation and variation of chromium stability during the subsequent cooling process is still poorly understood. In this work, the phase composition and chromium distribution of SS slag from different quenching temperatures were experimentally studied, and the stability of chromium-bearing phases was evaluated using standard leaching tests. The results indicated that dicalcium silicate and spinel phases had formed in the molten slag at 1600 °C, while the dicalcium silicate disappeared and the phases of merwinite and melilite precipitated when the temperature decreased from 1600 to 1300 °C (at a rate of 5 °C/min). During this cooling process, the chromium migrated from other phases into the spinel, significantly suppressing the chromium elution. The leaching results also demonstrated that the potential chromium-bearing phases of glass, dicalcium silicate and merwinite are unstable and are presumably the main source of chromium release. The treated SS slag meets the requirements for the utilization of chromium-bearing slag in the cement and brick industries.
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