The usage of low-grade ferrous scrap has increased over decades to decrease CO2 emissions and to produce steel products at a low cost. A serious problem in melting post-consumer scrap material is the accumulation of tramp elements, e.g., Cu and Sn, in the liquid steel. These tramp elements are difficult to remove during conventional steelmaking processes. Sn is considered as one of the most harmful tramp elements because, together with Cu, it sometimes induces the liquid metal embrittlement in high-temperature ferrous processing, e.g., continuous casting and hot rolling. Furthermore, the chemical interaction between Fe and Sn plays an important role in the Sn smelting process. The raw material used in the Sn smelting process is SnO2 (cassiterite), in which Fe3O4 is a gangue in the Sn ore. In the process, the reduction of Fe3O4 is unavoidable, which results in forming a Fe-Sn alloy (hardhead). The recirculation of the hardhead decreases the furnace capacity and increases the energy consumption in the smelting. The need to efficiently recover Sn from secondary resources is therefore inevitable. The CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) approach helps to predict the equilibrium state of the multicomponent system. Previously reported studies of the Fe-Sn system show inconsistencies in the calculations and the experimental results. Mainly the miscibility gap in the liquid phase was under debate, as experimental data of the phase boundary are scattered. Experimental study and re-optimization of model parameters were carried out with emphasis on the correct shape of the miscibility gap. Three different experimental techniques were employed: differential scanning calorimetry, electromagnetic levitation, and contact angle measurement. The present thermodynamic model has higher accuracy in predicting the solubility of Sn in the body-centered cubic (bcc), compared to previous assessments. This is achieved by re-evaluating the Gibbs energies of the FeSn and FeSn2 compounds and the peritectic reaction related to Fe5Sn3. Also, the inconsistencies related to the miscibility gap around XSn = 0.31-0.81 were resolved. The database developed in the present study can contribute to the development of a large CALPHAD database containing tramp elements.
Evaporation kinetics of tramp elements (M = As and Sn) in liquid iron were investigated by high-temperature gas–liquid reaction experiments and a phenomenological kinetic model. Residual content of As or Sn in the liquid iron ([pct M]) during the evaporation was measured in the temperature range of 1680 °C to 1760 °C. [pct As] and [pct Sn] decreased faster as the reaction temperature and [pct C]0 increased. Assuming first-order reaction kinetics, the apparent rate constants (kM) were obtained at each reaction temperature and [pct C]0. [pct M] in a liquid iron during the top-blown oxygen steelmaking process was simulated, with an emphasis on enlarging the reaction surface area by forming a large number of liquid iron droplets. The surface area and the droplet generation rate were obtained based on the oxygen-blowing condition. The whole surface area increased up to ∼163 times the initial liquid iron (bath) surface area, due to the generation of the droplets. Using the kM obtained in the present study, the evaporation of M during the top-blown oxygen steelmaking process for 200 tonnes of liquid iron was simulated. For a condition of [pct M]0 = 0.005 (M = As and Sn), As and Sn could be removed from the liquid iron, which was seen to be much improved by the consideration of the droplet generation. However, additional actions are required to improve the evaporation rate, as the evaporation rate in the BOF process was not fast enough to be practically considered.
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