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Implications of Direct Use of Slag from Ironmaking Processes as Molten Oxide Electrolyte

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Abstract

The thermochemical and electrical behavior of ironmaking slag produced from titanomagnetite concentrates has been assessed in the vicinity of its tapping temperature. A combination of electrochemical measurements in a modified thermal imaging furnace and computational thermodynamic calculations was employed to elucidate its potential use as a molten oxide electrolyte for the extraction of high-purity metal. The results show that the presence of entrained iron species in the ironmaking slag decreases the faradaic efficiency of the electrolysis. Thermodynamic predictions reveal a small electrochemical window of operation between the decomposition of silica and titania, which might result in the co-reduction of titanium and silicon ions from the melt. Practical considerations for the electrochemical production of metal directly from the ironmaking process are discussed, and further experimental investigation of the electrochemical behavior of this material is justified.

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Notes

  1. Calculations were made based on slags with 30 wt.% \(\hbox {TiO}_{2}\)9 and 54 wt.% \(\hbox {TiO}_{2}\) for ilmenite.13 Selling prices for air-cooled ironmaking slag average 8.53 USD per tonne14 and 180 USD per tonne for ilmenite.13

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank BlueScope Steel for samples. This research was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) under Contract CONT-46287-CRFSI-UOC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Samuel Martín Treceño, Aaron T. Marshall & Matthew J. Watson

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Antoine Allanore

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Catherine M. Bishop

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  1. Samuel Martín Treceño
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Correspondence to Catherine M. Bishop.

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Martín Treceño, S., Allanore, A., Bishop, C.M. et al. Implications of Direct Use of Slag from Ironmaking Processes as Molten Oxide Electrolyte. JOM 73, 1899–1908 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-021-04681-3

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