Innovative Transformation and Valorisation of Red Mill Scale Waste into Ferroalloys: Carbothermic Reduction in the Presence of Alumina

Rita Khanna (), Yuri Konyukhov, Kejiang Li, Kalidoss Jayasankar, Nikita Maslennikov, Dmitry Zinoveev, Jumat Kargin, Igor Burmistrov, Denis Leybo, Maksim Kravchenko and Partha Sarathy Mukherjee
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Rita Khanna: School of Materials Science and Engineering (Ret.), The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Yuri Konyukhov: Department of Functional Nanosystems and High-Temperature Materials, National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Kejiang Li: School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Kalidoss Jayasankar: Materials Science & Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram 695019, India
Nikita Maslennikov: Department of Functional Nanosystems and High-Temperature Materials, National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Dmitry Zinoveev: Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Iron Ore Processing, A. A. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Science, 119334 Moscow, Russia
Jumat Kargin: Technical Physics Department, Gumilev Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan 010008, Kazakhstan
Igor Burmistrov: Engineering Centre, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, 117997 Moscow, Russia
Denis Leybo: Laboratory of Inorganic Nanomaterials, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Maksim Kravchenko: Moscow Power Engineering Institute, National Research University, 111250 Moscow, Russia
Partha Sarathy Mukherjee: Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (Ret.), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhubaneshwar 751013, India

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Primary and secondary mill scales (MSs) are waste products produced by the surface oxidation of steel during the hot (800 to 1200 °C) rolling process in downstream steelmaking. While the primary MS is comprised of FeO, Fe 3 O 4 , and Fe 2 O 3 in a range of proportions, the secondary MS primarily contain red ferric oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) (red MS). We report a novel route for extracting iron from red MS and transforming it into ferro-aluminium alloys using carbothermic reduction in the presence of alumina. The red MS powder was blended with high-purity alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) and synthetic graphite (C) in a range of proportions. The carbothermic reduction of red MS-Al 2 O 3 -C blends was carried out at 1450 °C and 1550 °C under an argon atmosphere for 30 min and then furnace-cooled. The red MS was completely reduced to iron at these temperatures with reduced iron distributed around the matrix as small droplets. However, the addition of alumina unexpectedly resulted in a significant increase in the number and sizes of iron droplets generated, much higher reactivity, and the formation of ferrous alloys. A small amount of alumina reduction into metallic aluminium was also observed at 1450 °C. There is an urgent need to identify the true potential of industrial waste and the materials within it. This study showed that red MS is a valuable material source that could be transformed into ferro-aluminium alloys. These alloys find application in a range of industrial sectors such as construction, automotive, infrastructure, etc.

Keywords: valorisation; ferroalloys; red mill scale waste; carbothermic reduction; construction; nanomaterials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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