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Carbothermic reduction of vanadium titanomagnetite with the assistance of sodium carbonate

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Abstract

The carbothermic reduction of vanadium titanomagnetite concentrate (VTC) with the assistance of Na2CO3 was conducted in an argon atmosphere between 1073 and 1473 K. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the phase transformations during the reaction. By investigating the reaction between VTC and Na2CO3, it was concluded that molten Na2CO3 broke the structure of titanomagnetite by combining with the acidic oxides (Fe2O3, TiO2, Al2O3, and SiO2) to form a Na-rich melt and release FeO and MgO. Therefore, Na2CO3 accelerated the reduction rate. In addition, adding Na2CO3 also benefited the agglomeration of iron particles and the slag—metal separation by decreasing the viscosity of the slag. Thus, Na2CO3 assisted carbothermic reduction is a promising method for treating VTC at low temperatures.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC1900500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21908231, 51774260, 51804289, and 51904286), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDJ-SSW-JSC021), the CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team, and the Special Project for Transformation of Major Technological Achievements in Hebei Province, China (No. 19044012Z).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology, Institute of Process Engineering, Beijing, 100190, China

    Luming Chen, Yulan Zhen, Desheng Chen, Lina Wang, Hongxin Zhao, Fancheng Meng & Tao Qi

  2. School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Luming Chen

  3. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Guohua Zhang

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  1. Luming Chen
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  2. Yulan Zhen
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  3. Guohua Zhang
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  4. Desheng Chen
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  5. Lina Wang
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  6. Hongxin Zhao
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  7. Fancheng Meng
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  8. Tao Qi
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Correspondence to Yulan Zhen.

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The authors declared that they do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted

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Chen, L., Zhen, Y., Zhang, G. et al. Carbothermic reduction of vanadium titanomagnetite with the assistance of sodium carbonate. Int J Miner Metall Mater 29, 239–247 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-020-2160-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-020-2160-7

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