Modification of industrial BOF slag: Formation of MgFe2O4 and recycling of iron

Efficient recycling of iron oxide from industrial BOF (basic oxygen furnace) slags has always been an issue in metallurgy. In this study, a new method was developed for the efficient recycling of iron oxide: It was transformed into magnesioferrite spinel (MgFe2O4) by mixing the industrial BOF slag with 6.00% SiO2 first, and then the modified slag got cooled down from 1400 °C to 1270 °C at a rate of 1 °C/min. Finally, the Fe resources were recycled by magnetic separation. Various experiments and analyses such as XRD, SEM-EDS analyses, Factsage thermodynamic simulation, magnetization characterization, dry magnetic separation, and chemical analysis were carried out. The results show that the obtained MgFe2O4 has a high melting point (1716.76 °C in theory) and ferromagnetism (specific magnetic susceptibility of (8.03-206.84) × 10−5 m3/kg). Therefore, it could be separated from the weakly magnetic industrial BOF slag (specific magnetic susceptibility of (0.024-0.136) × 10−5 m3/kg). Furthermore, this new method could be applied to different BOF slags. The yield of MgFe2O4 increased to above 80% when the content of Fe2O3 was in the range 25.81-46.90%. After the modification and magnetic separation, the total Fe content increased by 15.80%, from 21.20% in the industrial BOF slag to 37.00% in the magnetic slag. This is better than the direct magnetic separation of iron oxide without any treatment. The magnetic slag could be reused as either a sintering or slag splashing material. The nonmagnetic slag can be used to produce high value-added building materials. Hence, this new method can be used to recycle the iron oxide from industrial BOF slags, achieving the sustainable development of the iron and steel industry.