Investigation of iron losses during desulphurisation of hot metal utilising nepheline syenite

Iron losses during calcium carbide based hot metal desulphurisation have been studied via large scale investigations of slag from the slag pit as well as slag sampling during desulphurisation at SSAB EMEA in Lulea. The desulphurisation slag, after injection of calcium carbide, is normally solid and contains large amounts of iron. An alkali containing mineral, nepheline syenite, was mixed together with the calcium carbide to form a more fluid slag as the iron losses originate from enclosed metal droplets in the slag as well as drawn off hot metal during slag skimming. The slag amount after slag skimming decreased from 28.1 to 25.1 kg t(-1) hot metal with addition of 5 wt-% nepheline syenite to the calcium carbide, and the magnetic fraction of the slag from the slag pit decreased from 2.5 to 1.9%. Finally, no negative effect on the reagent efficiency was observed during the trials with addition of nepheline syenite.