The solubility of copper in lime-saturated and calcium ferrite-saturated liquid iron oxide
Abstract
The solubility of copper in lime-saturated and calcium ferrite-saturated liquid iron oxide has been measured as a function of the thermodynamic activity of copper and oxygen pressure. Experiments were conducted in slip-cast lime crucibles using copper-gold alloys at oxygen pressures in the range 10$\sp{-7}-10\sp{-10}$ atm. A copper-gold alloy of known activity of Cu was placed, with wustite, in a crucible and was heated at 1300$\sp\circ$C in a CO-CO$\sb2$ mixture of known oxygen potential. The iron oxide partly dissolved the crucible to produce a lime-saturated or calcium ferrite-saturated iron oxide melt containing approximately 30 wt% of CaO and equilibrium among the phases, the slag and the metallic alloy was established. The variation of the activity of cuprous oxide with copper content of the slag has been determined at different activities of copper and oxygen pressures and it has been found that, in the range 0-2.8 wt% of copper in the slag, the activity of cuprous oxide varies in the range 0-0.014 according to the following linear relation: wt% of Cu in Slag = 18.24($\pm$1.13) a${\sb{\rm CuO}\sb{0.5}}.$ The cuprous capacity of the lime-saturated slags is approximately one half of the value for silica-saturated slags and it is not influenced by the addition of up to 10 wt% silica. The results are compared with those of previous studies of the cuprous capacities of slags.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Gaskell, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Metallurgy
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