Fe-Si-Cr ferroalloy is predominantly produced by carbothermic reduction. In this study, silicothermic and carbothermic mixed reduction of chromite ore to produce Fe-Si-Cr alloy is suggested. As reductants, silicon and silicon carbide are evaluated by thermochemical calculations, which prove that silicon carbide can be applied as a raw material. Considering the critical temperature of the change from the carbide to the metallic form of chromium, thereduction experiments were carried out. In these high temperature reactions, silicon and silicon carbide act as effective reductants to produce Fe-Si-Cr ferroalloy. However, at temperatures lower than the critical temperature, silicon carbide shows a slow reaction rate for reducing chromite ore. For the proper implementation of a commercial process that uses silicon carbide reductants, the operation temperature should be kept above the critical temperature. Using equilibrium calculations for chromite ore reduction with silicon and silicon carbide, the compositions of reacted metal and slag were successfully predicted. Therefore, the mass balance of the silicothermic and carbothermic mixed reduction of chromite ore can be proposed based on the calculations and the experimental results.

Phosphorus exhibits considerable segregation in steelmaking slag. In order to recover phosphorus from slag to K3PO4 via molten iron, a carbothermic reaction using microwave heating was suggested recently. The carbothermic reduction of phosphorus from slag to molten iron using microwave heating was carried out at 2073K. However, at this temperature the thermodynamic properties of both slag and molten iron cannot be determined experimentally. Therefore, the computational approach of the so-called CALPHAD method is very useful to understand the transfer of phosphorus from slag to metal and to enhance this reaction. In the present investigation, a theoretical study of the reduction behavior of phosphorus in slag was carried out at much lower temperatures using the recently developed thermodynamic database in the FactSage program. The calculated results showed reasonable accordance with the experimental data; namely, the thermodynamic database could be applied successfully to higher temperature reactions. The current study found that higher temperature and high SiO2 concentration are favorable for the recovery of phosphorus from slag.

Ar/Ar-H2 플라즈마법으로 고순도 Nb금속을 환원 정련하였다. 또한, Ar-(20%)H2플라즈마에서의 용융Nb금속과 수소간의 반응을 해석하였다. Ar플라즈마 환원에서는 C/Nb2O5=5.00의 비에서 99.5wt%의 금속 Nb을 얻었으며, 니오븀 산화물의 열분해에 의한 O/Sub 2/의 손실은 발생하지 않았다. Ar-(20%)H2 플라즈마에서는 C/Nb2O5=4.80의 비에서 99.8wt%의 금속 Nb을 제조하였다. 주된 탈산반응은 H, H2와의 반응이었으며,NbOx의 증발에 의한 탈산은 발생하지 않았으나, "splash"효과에 의해 Nb의 질량손실이 발생함을 관찰하였다. 탈산반응은 1차 반응속도론에 따랐으며, 탈산의 반응속도 상수(k')는 7.8 × 10-7(m/sec)였다. Ar-(20%)H2 플라즈마법에서 Nb금속 내의 수소 용해도는 60ppm으로 분자상태 수소의 용해도인 40ppm 보다 높았으며, 포화되는 시간은 60초 이내였다. 이를 다시 Ar 플라즈마로 처리함으로써 수소 함량을 10ppm 이하로 감소시킬 수 있었다.소시킬 수 있었다.