Sulfur distribution in preparation of high titanium ferroalloy by thermite method with different CaO additions

Ferrotitanium is used as a deoxidizer and alloying agent during steelmaking process,which has a high demand for sulfur control.Sulfur was introduced from raw materials in the process of producing ferrotitanium by thermite method,where CaO was used as fluxing agent.At the same time,CaO has a great desulfurization capability.Effects of CaO addition on the distribution of sulfur in high titanium ferroalloy prepared by thermite method were studied in this work.The equilibrium diagram of Ti-AlFe-S system was calculated by FactSage 6.4 software package with FactPS and FTmisc database.The alloy and slag samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer(ICP-AES),X-ray fluorescence(XRF)and high-frequency infrared ray carbon sulfur analyzer.The result indicates that the sulfur in the alloy firstly exists in the form of liquid FeS,thereafter TiS(s)and eventually Ti2 S(s)during cooling.The sulfur is mainly distributed in the alloy,and only a small amount of sulfur remains in the slag.Moreover,it is noted that the sulfur in the alloy does not distribute homogeneously,and it exists in the form of solid solution phase,(Ti,Al,Fe)S.S content in the slag,the sulfur capacity of the slag and the sulfur distribution ratio(LS)all increase with the increment of CaO addition,while S content in alloys decreases.

Effect of magnesium injection process on hot metal desulfurization

To solve the technical problems of hot metal desulfurization by injecting magnesium particulate, a new method of hot metal desulfurization by bottom-blowing magnesium vapor combined with mechanical agitation was put forward. The effects of three different desulfurization processes on the desulfurization efficiency were studied in view of thermodynamics and kinetics. It was found that the utilization efficiency of magnesium can reach 82.6% and desulfurization efficiency can reach 86.2% during the first 4 min using the method of magnesium vapor injection combined with mechanical agitation. The gasification of magnesium powder leads to significant splashing and magnesium losses in the process of magnesium powder injection, resulting in a low utilization efficiency of magnesium of 51.8% and a low desulfurization efficiency of 55.76%. Activation energy for a first-order kinetic relationship between magnesium powder and sulfur was measured from the experiments, which was 142.82 kJ/mol in the temperature range of 1573-1723 K. The activation energy of the reaction between magnesium vapor and sulfur was around 54.8-65.0 kJ/mol in the temperature range of 1573-1723 K, which indicates that the desulfurization with magnesium vapor proceeds relatively easier than the desulfurization with magnesium powder.

Kinetics of hot metal desulfurization by bottom blowing magnesium vapor

To solve the technical problems of hot metal desulfurization by injecting magnesium particulate,a new idea of hot metal desulfurization by bottom-blowing magnesium vapor was put forward.The reaction mechanism of hot metal desulfurization with magnesium vapor injection was analyzed,and the kinetic model of the desulfurization rate during the process of hot metal desulfurization with magnesium vapor injection was established.The dimensionless equation of the gas–liquid mass transfer coefficient under the injection conditions was obtained by the dimensional analysis method.And the theoretical calculation results were in good agreement with the experimental measurements.The results show that the diameter of the bubbles and the viscosity of the melt significantly affect the desulfurization rate of hot metal injected with magnesium vapor.When the temperature is 1573 K and the gas flow rate is 3 L/min,the desulfurization rate can reach 79%and the utilization rate of magnesium can reach 83%.

Physical simulation of bubble refinement in bottom blowing process with mechanical agitation

In order to increase the contact area and promote the mass transfer process of gas and liquid,the process of the bubble refine-ment in a metallurgical reactor with mechanical agitation was studied by physical simulation.Based on the capillary number,a prediction equation for the bubble refinement was established.The effects of the gas flow rate,the stirring speed and thestirring depth on the bubble refinement in the reactor were discussed in detail.The distribution of the bubble diameter in thereactor was obtained under different conditions.The results show that when the stirring speed reaches 300 r/min,the bubblediamcter mainly distributes in the range of 1-2 mm.A higher gas flow rate may increase the number of bubbles in the meltand promote the bubble refinement process.The mechanism of bubble refinement under mechanical agitation was analyzed.and the results indicated that the stirring speed.,the blade area and the blade inclination are the main influencing factors.

Oxygen content of high ferrotitanium prepared by thermite method with different melt separation temperatures

High ferrotitanium prepared directly by the thermite method has a disadvantageously high O content(≥10 wt%)because of the short slag-metal separation time.In this study,CaO and CaF2 are added to the melt to improve the basicity of the slag and melt separation under heat preservation is performed to strengthen slag-metal separation.The thermodynamics of the step-by-step reduction process of TiO2 in the Ti-Al-Fe-Si-O system whose composition is close to the alloy after melt separation were calculated.Samples of alloys and slags before and after melt separation were systematically analyzed.The result indicates that the reaction that TiO is reduced by Al to Ti is the limited step in the reduction process of TiO2.The O content of the alloys slightly decreases with temperature from 1873 to 2023 K,which agrees with the changes in the law of deoxidation limit.It is mainly attributed to the movement of chemical reactions in the alloy melt at different temperatures and slag-metal interfacial reaction.The addition of Al2 O3-CaO-CaF2 slag and high temperature promote the removal of Al2 O3 and titanium suboxides.The minimum contents of O and Al in the alloy reach 1.84 wt% and 3.26 wt%,respectively.