Abstract

Phosphorus recovery from dephosphorization slag generated during steelmaking has enormous potential to secure a stable supply of phosphate. Because P and Fe in slag are concentrated in different mineral phases, P can be recovered by separation of the P-bearing phase, and the residue can be reutilized in steel plant at the same time. In the present study, we adopted selective leaching of P and investigated the effects of leaching parameters on the dissolution behavior of slag. It was determined that with the decrease in particle size and increase in stirring speed, the P dissolution ratio increased significantly. When particle size was less than 53 μm and stirring speed exceeded 200 rpm, most of the P-bearing C₂S−C₃P solid solution was dissolved and separated. Increasing temperature and decreasing the mass ratio of slag to liquid had a slight influence on promoting P dissolution, while the Si dissolution was significantly suppressed in the case of high temperature and mass ratio due to the formation of silica gel. The P dissolution ratio reached 84.9%, and the Fe dissolution was negligible. Through selective leaching, the residue primarily consisting of magnesioferrite could be used as a flux in steelmaking process. The shrinking core model was successfully used to describe the dissolution kinetics of P. As temperature increased, apparent rate constant increased slightly. The calculated activation energy was 9.23 kJ/mol, demonstrating that the P dissolution was controlled by diffusion in the residue layer.

Graphical Abstract

Most of the P-bearing solid solution in dephosphorization slag was dissolved and the dissolution of Fe-bearing phase was negligible, achieving selective leaching of P. The P dissolution from slag was controlled by diffusion in the residue layer.