Kinetics of aqueous leaching and carbonization of steelmaking slag

Sequestration of carbon dioxide by steelmaking slag was studied in an atmospheric three-phase system containing industrial slag particles, water, and CO2 gas. Batch-type reactors were used to measure the rate of aqueous alkaline leaching and slag particle carbonization independently. Four sizes of slag particles were tested for the Ca leaching rate in deionized water at a constant 7.5 pH in an argon atmosphere and for carbonate conversion with CO2 bubbled through an aqueous suspension. Conversion data (fraction of Ca leached or converted to carbonate) were evaluated to determine the rate-limiting step based on the shrinking core model. For Ca leaching, the chemical reaction is the controlling mechanism during the initial period of time, which then switches to diffusion through the developed porous layer as the rate-limiting step. Carbonate conversion proceeded much slower than leaching conversion and was found to be limited by diffusion through the product calcium carbonate layer. The calculated value of diffusivity was found to be 5 x 10(-9) cm(2)/s, which decreased by an order of magnitude with increasing carbonization conversion as a result of changing density of the product layer. The experimental data fit the shrinking core model well after correction for the particle specific surface area.