Research into the chemical composition of refinery slag from silicon production for its efficient recycling

The aim was to investigate the chemical composition of refinery slag obtained during silicon production in order to identify approaches to its further recycling. Research samples were collected from the slag remained after oxidation refining at the JSC Silicon (AO Kremny), RUSAL (Shelekhov, Irkutsk Oblast). The methods of X-ray phase, X-ray fluorescence, metallographic and scanning electron microscopy were employed to investigate the chemical composition of the samples. It was found that the refinery slag under study includes such basic components as elemental silicon, its carbide and oxide, as well as elemental carbon. It was shown that silicon carbide is the product of incomplete reduction, resulting from melting silica-containing ores in a smelting furnace. According to the conducted X-ray fluorescent analysis, the samples also contain (wt %): Ca - 7.40; Al - 3.80; Fe - 0.30; Ba - 0.19; K - 0.14; Na - 0.09; Sr - 0.09; Mg - 0.08; Ti - 0.05; S - 0.02. Calcium and aluminium are present in the slag mostly in the form of oxides. Complex oxides of an anor-thite type were also found: CaO Al2O3 2SiO2. The refinery slag under study also features insignificant amounts of other metal oxides, which are released from the furnace slag forming during the smelting process. The slag produced by oxidation refining during crystalline silicon production is a technogenic raw material containing valuable components. Due to the significant content of silicon in the refinery slag (from 42% to 65%), the existing methods applied to recycle such an industrial material were analysed in terms of additional silicon extraction or production of commercial silicon-containing products, which are in demand in various industries.

Processing of Sb-Pb-Sn-Containing Materials

During the processing of lead containing products and polymetallic alloys the recovery of tin and antimony from technology of lead production is carried out by oxidation refining of decopperized lead with rich oxides (Sn, Sb ≥ 20%).Tin oxides are melted in a short-drum furnaces to lead bullion (> 96% Pb) and tin-rich (> 20% Sn) slag. The slag is melted in an ore-smelting furnace to obtain a Sn-Pb alloy of next composition, %: 56.1 Sn, 18.2 Pb, 14.6 Sb, 6.9 As, which is refined by vacuum distillation with production of rough tin (Sn ≥ 90%). The additional profit of rough tin obtainment (∼310 tons/year), compared with sales of tin slag, is about ∼1.3 million $/year. Keywords: lead, tin, antimony, melting, vacuum distillation

The influence of technological parameters of smelting on the durability of the lining of an arc steel-smelting furnace under the conditions of Ural Steel JSC

The results of the study of the influence of the main technological parameters of steel smelting (composition of charge materials, duration of smelting and furnace downtime, oxidation refining intensity and metal temperature at the outlet) on the lining resistance of a small arch of a steel-smelting arc furnace in the Ural Steel JSC are presented. Recommendations have been developed for optimizing the technological and energetic regimes of steel smelting, which make it possible to prolong the service life of the lining of a small vault and reduce the cost of steel production. Ill. 5. Ref. 20. Tab. 1.