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Vacuum distillation of liquid metals: Part I. Theory and experimental study

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Abstract

The kinetics of vacuum distilling copper, tin, manganese, and sulfur from melted steel scrap have been measured. The experiments found that 70 to 90 pct of initial copper, 60 to 80 pct of initial tin, 80 to 100 pct of initial managanese, and 20 to 40 pct of initial sulfur can be eliminated in 30 minutes exposure to vacuum. Melt masses were in the range 10 to 60 kg, melt temperatures in the range 1850 to 2050 K, and chamber pressures in the range 3 to 400 pascals. Crucible diameter was 0.2m. Mass transport has been described in terms of Machlin's model for melt phase diffusion, Langmuir's model for evaporation, and convective bulk flow for gas phase mass transport. Two preliminary criteria are shown to demonstrate the suitability of vacuum distillation to any particular system and a third operational criterion is developed to define the range of vacuum required to eliminate gas phase mass transport resistance effectively.

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Abbreviations

A :

melt surface area exposed to vacuum m2

c :

molar concentration kg-mole m−3

D li :

diffusion coefficient in liquid m2s−1

D gi :

diffusion coefficient in gas phase m2s−1

h :

melt depht m

K1:

liquid phase rate coefficient ms−1

K2:

evaporation rate coefficient ms−1

K3:

gas phase rate coefficient ms−1

M :

molar mass kg kg-mole−1

N :

mole fraction

n :

molar flux kg-mole m−2s−1

P :

pressure pascal

P o :

equilibrium vapor pressure pascal

R :

gas constant joules kg-mole−1 K−1

r l :

melt radius m

T :

temperature K

V :

melt volume m3

v t :

melt surface velocity ms−1

v g :

bulk gas velocity ms−1

Z :

total number of species in solution

γ:

Raoultian activity coefficient

ρ:

density of melt kg m−3

ϕ:

multiplier which relates vapor pressure to molar concentration pascal m3 kg-mole−1

b :

bulk

bp :

back pressure

ch :

chamber

g :

gas phase

i :

species i

l :

liquid phase

s :

surface

x :

coordinate

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    R. Harris

  2. Department of Mines and Metallurgy, University of Arizonta, 85721, Tucson, AZ

    W. G. Davenport

Authors
  1. R. Harris
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  2. W. G. Davenport
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Additional information

W.G. Davenport formerly with McGill University

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Harris, R., Davenport, W.G. Vacuum distillation of liquid metals: Part I. Theory and experimental study. Metall Trans B 13, 581–588 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02650015

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02650015

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