Characterization of black slags obtained during smelting in the electric arc furnace from SIDERPERU following reduction

Abstract

The primary process in an electrical arc furnace (EAF) during industrial steelmaking results in tons of black slags which cause pollution to the environment. In this work, the iron oxides of black slags generated in the EAF from the SIDERPERU plant, Peru was reduced via the carbothermal reaction. The reduction of the black slag to α-Fe is demonstrated by X-ray diffraction, Mӧssbauer spectroscopy and magnetometry. However, phases with calcium and silicon persist in the sample after the carbothermal process. The thermodynamic calculations of the most probable reactions sequence were performed to understand the reduction process. The magnetometry measurements confirm the presence of ferromagnetic domains, supporting the success of the reduction of the black slag to α-Fe. The reduced black slags were recycled into a HRB335 steel rod by consolidation and extrusion processes and inspected by X-ray fluorescence.