Electroreduction Kinetics for Molten Oxide Slags Original Research Article

The oxygen-ion conductor, the reducing agent, and the molten oxide slag containing electroactive matter were used as constituent of a galvanic cell. Metal was directly electroreduced from molten slag using a short-circuit galvanic cell. The following galvanic cell was assembled in the present experiment: graphite rod, [O]Fe-C saturated | ZrO2 (MgO) | Cu(1) + (FeO)(slag), and molybdenum wire. The FeO electroreduction reaction was studied through measuring short circuit current by controlling factors such as temperature, the FeO content in molten slags, and the external circuit resistance. An overall kinetics model was developed to describe the process of FeO electroreduction. It was found that the modeled curves were in good agreement with the experimental values. The new oxide reduction method in the metallurgy with controlled oxygen flow was proposed and the metallurgical theory with controlled oxygen flow was developed.