Drying of iron chloride solutions: Laser heating of levitated single particles

Abstract

Iron chloride solutions are a waste product from the steel industry, which has to be recovered by the so-called spray roasting process. As this process is a complex sequence of different steps, the drying process of the droplets was separated to get deeper insight into the particle formation process from aqueous iron chloride solutions. Experiments were carried out on single droplets in an acoustic levitator. A CO2 laser was used as heat source for the drying process. Particles with different shapes were generated by various concentrations of FeCl2 and laser power. The characteristic time scales and particle size evolution are compared with literature data. To get deeper insight into the particle formation process from aqueous iron chloride solutions, experiments were performed with single droplets in an acoustic levitator. A CO2 laser served as heat source for drying. Varying FeCl2 concentrations and laser power allowed for generating particles with different shapes. Time scales and particle size evolution were compared to literature data.