Elucidation of the crystallisation mechanism of iron oxide-devoid BOF slag melt

Abstract

The 'Petrurgic process' has become a prominent process to address the energy saving issue in the glass ceramic-making process. If the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag could be utilised by this process, the environmental problem caused by dumping the waste without recycling might also be resolved effectively. However, it is difficult to directly use BOF slag itself as a valuable material because of high melting point and large amount of iron oxide. Therefore, the current research was focused on elucidating crystallisation behaviour of the iron oxide-devoid BOF slag melt during cooling process with the intention of using the BOF slag to the Petrurgic process. The slag melt showed two crystallisation processes during cooling: the eutectic reaction at the early stage and the diffusion process at the later stage. In addition, the crystallisation mechanism was similar throughout the cooling rate, although the cooling rate influenced the morphology of the crystallisation product.