Carbon-bonded silicon carbide and clay-bonded graphite crucibles are used in non-ferrous induction melting furnaces. Silicon carbide crucibles especially have encountered premature failure when used at high power densities and operating frequencies. This is thought to be related to their non-uniform properties. To gain a more thorough understanding of the problem, an equivalent circuit analysis has been applied to the composite load of crucible and metal charge.

Notre travail est consacré à l’étude des matériaux carbonés utilisés comme réducteurs pour la production des alliages de manganèse dans le four électrique à arc immergé. Le choix du réducteur est important pour l’optimisation du procédé métallurgique et sa réactivité au CO2 est le paramètre le plus important utilisé par les producteurs de ferroalliages pour évaluer sa qualité. Les objectifs de notre travail sont : ? d’établir les critères de sélection du coke métallurgique ou réducteur de remplacement, utilisés pour la production des alliages de manganèse dans le four électrique, en utilisant la réactivité au CO2 comme le principal paramètre pour évaluer sa qualité ; ? d’un point de vue plus fondamental, apporter une meilleure compréhension des réactions du carbone dans le réacteur industriel. Dans l’optique d’une modélisation globale du four électrique, notre travail fournit des paramètres cinétiques d’une des réactions les plus importantes du procédé : la réaction de Boudouard. L’étude de la réductibilité des oxydes de manganèse pourrait donc être une nouvelle étape vers la construction d’un modèle global du réacteur industriel. Un troisième volet d’expériences utile à la modélisation serait l’étude de l’influence de la nature et du calibre du réducteur sur la résistivité électrique de la charge. / The main aims of our work have been to establish criteria useful for reductant selection, using coke reactivity to CO2 as the main parameter for reductant quality assessment and, from a fundamental point of view, to develop a better understanding of carbon reactions inside the industrial reactor. Therefore, Boudouard reaction has been studied on three increasing scales: intrinsic chemical reaction, coke lump, and coke bed scales. Several different types of carbonaceous materials have been studied. They represent the variety of reductants commonly used in the production of manganese ferroalloys in the electric furnace. It has been shown that this extended range of reductants introduces large differences between their characteristics, mainly between their reactivity to CO2. Regarding the coke lump gasification kinetics, the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model has been used to represent the intrinsic rate of the Boudouard reaction. A good correlation has been found between the initial gasification rates of the coke beds and the single coke lumps. The difference between these rates increases with increasing reductant reactivity. It is possible to determine coke gasification regime inside the industrial electric arc furnace using single particle and coke bed gasification models. The overall rate at which coke reacts with CO2 inside the industrial reactor is probably limited by the intrinsic chemical reaction. Therefore, a reactivity index, based on the initial gasification rate of the reductant, measured in the chemical-kinetics controlled regime, seems to be adapted to the reductant quality assessment. An additional technique could be the microtextural analysis.

In South Africa, the ferrochromium industry produces approximately 100,000 t bag house filter dust and slurry, while the stainless steel industry produces 24,000 t of dust annually [17,39]. The toxic substances in these wastes potentially pose a threat to the environment and human health, especially Cr (VI) due to its toxic, carcinogenic, highly soluble and strongly oxidizing properties. Therefore, the existence and treatment of wastes from stainless steel and ferrochrome production remain a challenge and an issue of concern. The increase of environmental legislation globally and the trend towards sustainable development are drives for alternatives to landfill. In the present thesis, the characteristics, formation mechanisms, leachability and stabilisation of the Cr (VI)-containing electric furnace dust and filter cake were investigated using various techniques such as XRD, XRF, TG/DTA, XPS, SEM-EDS, FT-IR, Raman spectrometer and UV/Vis spectrometer. The electric furnace dust and filter cake are very fine particles. Stainless steel dust forms by the entrainment of charge materials, evaporation or volatilisation of elements and ejection of slag and metal by spitting or the bursting of gas bubbles. It was found that ferrochrome dust is formed by the ejection of slag and metals droplets from the electrode hole, the entrainment of charge materials, vaporisation as well as the formation and precipitation of compounds from vaporised species in the off-gas duct. Filter cake contains crystal phases (CaF2 and CaSO4 ) and metal rich amorphous phases. It is formed due to super saturation and precipitation. Leaching experiments on the wastes showed that Cr (VI) rapidly leaches out by distilled water. Bricks were produced by mixing wastes (stainless steel plant dust, ferrochrome dust and filter cake) and clay. The optimum sinter parameter was found to be 1100oC and 5 hours for a 50wt% SPD-50wt% AS mixture in the brick. The leachability of Cr(VI) is strongly influenced by the mass%CaO/mass%SiO2 ratio and alkali metal oxides content in the wastes. The emission factors from the stabilised wastes (SPD, FCD1, FCD2 and FC) are similar to those reported for the cement industry. Semi-dynamic leaching tests indicated that the predominant leaching mechanisms of chromium species are initial surface wash-off followed by matrix diffusion. / Thesis (PhD (Metallurgical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering / unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T17:19:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sander Bicalho Frade.pdf: 2532071 bytes, checksum: bff8f4da76e218955a6fd2b68f322d07 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Vibration refractory masses are dry granulated materials obtained by combination of several refractory oxides, such as: silica, alumina, magnesia; magnesia-chromite and chrome-alumina. These materials are usually applied by dry vibration process and / or accommodation using special forks. In the process of performance evaluation of dry vibration masses there is a need for proper compaction of the material so that the technological characteristics are retained after sintering and firing, and that the specimens prepared in the laboratory have similar characteristics to those found in practice. With the objective of developing a methodology to study in laboratory of the behavior of refractories for induction furnaces, two magnesia and alumina refractories were selected, with the formation of spinels. These materials were compacted considering as varying the type and amount of additive and the number of impacts on manual compression. The results allowed the construction of densification curves to determine the processing conditions that maximized the densification. Specimens obtained by this process were thermally treated for evaluating of the mechanical strength after curing. The results showed that this developed methodology allows the development of appropriate specimens for the development of studies of dimensional variation and resistance to slag attack. / Massas refratárias de vibração são materiais granulados secos obtidos através da combinação de diversos óxidos refratários, tais como: sílica, alumina, magnésia; magnésia-cromita e alumina-cromo. Esses materiais são normalmente aplicados pelo processo de vibração a seco e/ou por acomodação utilizando garfos especiais. No processo de avaliação do desempenho de massas de vibração a seco existe a necessidade de um adensamento adequado do material para que as propriedades tecnológicas sejam mantidas após a sinterização e queima, e que os corpos de prova preparados em laboratório tenham características semelhantes às encontradas na prática. Com o objetivo de desenvolver uma metodologia para estudo em laboratório do comportamento de refratários para fornos de indução foram selecionados dois refratários de magnésia e alumina, com formação de espinélios. Estes materiais foram adensados considerando como variáveis o tipo e quantidade de aditivo e número de impactos na compactação manual. Os resultados permitiram a construção de curvas de adensamento para determinar as condições de processamento que maximizaram a densificação. Corpos de prova obtidos por este processo foram tratados termicamente para avaliação da resistência mecânica após cura. Os resultados mostraram que a metodologia desenvolvida permite a elaboração de corpos de prova adequados para o desenvolvimento de estudos de variação dimensional e resistência de ataque por escória.