Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Sulfur and Boron Distribution between the Slag of the CaO-SiO₂-B₂O₃-MgO-Al₂O₃ System and the Metal

Abstract

The equilibrium interfacial distribution of sulfur and boron was estimated using the HSC 6.1 Chemistry software package (Outokumpu) and the simplex-lattice planning method. Adequate mathematical models have been constructed in the form of III degree polynomial, which describe the effect of the composition of the studied oxide system on the equilibrium distribution of sulfur and boron between the slag and the metal. Generalization of the results of experimental studies and thermodynamic modeling made it possible to obtain new data on the influence of the basicity and content of B2O3 in the slag of the CaO-SiO2-B2O3-MgO-Al2O3 system on the interphase distribution of sulfur and boron. It was found that in the range of boron oxide concentration of 1.0-10%, an increase in slag basicity from 2 to 5 at 1600°C leads to an increase in the sulfur distribution coefficient from 1 to 20 and, as a consequence, a decrease in the sulfur content in the metal from 0.02 to 0.0014 %, i.e. an increase in slag basicity favorably affects the development of the metal desulfurization process. An increase in the B2O3 content from 2.0 to 10.0% in slags formed in the region of moderate basicity, not exceeding 2-3, is accompanied at 1600°C by a decrease in the boron interphase distribution coefficient from 450 to 150 and an increase in the boron concentration in the metal from 0.006 to 0.021 %, which indicates the progress of boron reduction from slag to metal. The shift of the formed slags to the area of ​​increased basicity up to 5.0 shows a high degree of boron reduction from slag to metal. The results of the laboratory experiment confirmed the results of thermodynamic modeling.