A study of some elemental distributions between slag and hot metal during tapping of the blast furnace

Abstract

This paper investigates the distribution of elements between slag and hot metal from a blast furnace through calculation of distribution coefficients from actual production data. First, samples of slag and hot metal tapped from a commercial blast furnace were taken continually at 10-minute intervals for a production period of 68 hours. Distribution coefficients of manganese, silicon, sulphur and vanadium were then calculated from the results of the sample analyses. A major conclusion drawn from examination of the results was that the behaviour of the studied elements was as could be expected when approaching the equilibrium reactions from thermodynamic theory. The distributions of the elements in the slag-metal system showed clear tendencies which did not appear to be influenced by the operational conditions of the furnace. For example, for manganese, vanadium and sulphur, it was found that a higher basicity led to a decreased distribution coefficient LMn and LV, but an increased LS, which is according to theory. Another observed relationship was that slag basicity increased with an increased carbon content in the hot metal, which indicated that SiO2 was reduced to [Si] when the oxygen potential decreased. Furthermore, it was found that sulphur and silica behaviour likened that of acidic slag components, while the manganese oxide and vanadium oxide behaviour was similar to that of basic slag components.