Reduction Behavior of EAF slags containing Cr2O3 using aluminum at 1793 K

The simultaneous reduction kinetics of Cr2O3, MnO, FeO, and SiO2 in the EAF slag by aluminum has been investigated at 1793 K to understand the reduction mechanism of each oxide in the stainless steelmaking conditions. The reduction degree of MnO reached about 90% and that of FeO and Cr2O3 reached about 80% for 5 min. The reduction degree of SiO2 continuously increased up to about 55% for 20 min, followed by a constant value. The reduction of each oxide by aluminum was found to be controlled by the diffusional mass transfer process in slag phase from the simple kinetic analysis. The mass transfer coefficient of each oxide was in order of 'MnO>Cr(2)O(3)congruent toFeOmuch greater thanSiO(2)' in the present system. The reduction rate constant (log K-o(MO), where MO represents Cr2O3, FeO, MnO, and SiO2) linearly increases by increasing the product of diffusion coefficient and the activity of each oxide (log[D(M)(.)a(MO)]) in the slag.