Application of sessile drop technique (SDT) for study of reduction of FeO in slags: reduction by solid carbon as well as solute carbon

Abstract

With growing importance of smelting reduction processes, experimental research to understand reduction of FeO in molten slag and the foaming behaviour associated therein have assumed greater relevance. In a previous paper, experimental data on reduction of FeO in molten slag in a 30 kW capacity induction furnace have been reported. The present study used around 250 g slag in each experiment was concerned with influence of FeO concentration in molten slag and temperature on foaming and kinetics. The present paper describes a study on the same system carried out using the sessile drop technique (SDT) which, although it uses very small (∼25 mg) sample size, is extremely versatile. Moreover, SDT allows one to actually see the reaction occur. An attempt has been made to correlate kinetic data obtained using the present set-up with the data where much larger sample sizes were used. Both solid carbon and solute carbon have been employed in reduction studies.