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

Khanna R. Konyukhov Y. Li K. Jayasankar K. Maslennikov N. Zinoveev D. Kargin J. Burmistrov I. Leybo D. Kravchenko M. Mukherjee P.S.
December 2023 Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

Sustainability (Switzerland)
2023 #15 Issue 24

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, Fe₃O₄, and Fe₂O₃ in a range of proportions, the secondary MS primarily contain red ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) (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 (Al₂O₃) and synthetic graphite (C) in a range of proportions. The carbothermic reduction of red MS-Al₂O₃-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.

carbothermic reduction , construction , ferroalloys , nanomaterials , red mill scale waste , valorisation

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School of Materials Science and Engineering (Ret.), The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, NSW, Australia
Department of Functional Nanosystems and High-Temperature Materials, National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, Moscow, 119049, Russian Federation
School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China
Materials Science & Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, 695019, India
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Iron Ore Processing, A. A. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation
Technical Physics Department, Gumilev Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, 010008, Kazakhstan
Engineering Centre, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Laboratory of Inorganic Nanomaterials, National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, Moscow, 119049, Russian Federation
Moscow Power Engineering Institute, National Research University, Moscow, 111250, Russian Federation
Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (Ret.), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhubaneshwar, 751013, India

School of Materials Science and Engineering (Ret.)
Department of Functional Nanosystems and High-Temperature Materials
School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering
Materials Science & Technology Division
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Iron Ore Processing
Technical Physics Department
Engineering Centre
Laboratory of Inorganic Nanomaterials
Moscow Power Engineering Institute
Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (Ret.)

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