Oxidation Rate of Lead in Liquid Copper by Molten Slags

Abstract

Kinetic behavior of lead removal from liquid copper by slag-metal reaction was investigated at 1200 °C on a laboratory scale. Various slags composed of Cu₂O, Fe₂O₃, B₂O₃ and SiO₂ were used, For Cu₂O-M_xO_y (M = B, Si, Fe) binary slags, B₂O₃ addition was most effective for the lowering of activity coefficient of PbO in slag. As a result, larger removal rate of lead from liquid copper was obtained under the experimental condition of higher contents of B₂O₃ and oxygen. SiO₂ was also an effective slag component for the lead removal, but the reaction rate was retarded by its addition to slags. The kinetic behavior of lead removal by oxidizing slags could be simulated by the reaction model based on the two film theory.