Thermodynamic Behaviors of Nb and P in Dephosphorization of Niobium-bearing Hot Metal with BaO-based Slag

The Bayan Obo iron ore contains valuable metallic elements such as niobium and rare earth elements. However, developing appropriate metallurgical processes to achieve effective dephosphorization of Nb-bearing hot metal meanwhile retaining Nb in the steel products remains a challenge. We carried out a thermodynamic study on dephosphorization of Nb bearing hot metal and investigated the effects of the initial [C] content and the dephosphorization temperature on oxidation behaviors of [Nb] and [P]. In particular, we focused on thermodynamic analysis of dephosphorization of Nb-bearing hot metal with highly basic BaO-based slag. The results showed that the highly basic BaO-based slag system is more suitable for dephosphorization under oxidative conditions, and increasing the [C] content favors dephosphorization of Nb-bearing hot metal without oxidizing [Nb]. Moreover, the values of equilibrium oxygen activity for oxidation reactions of [Nb] and [P] are increased as the dephosphorization temperature increases. Considering the hot metal containing 0.02% of [Nb] in Baotou Steel, thermodynamic calculations indicated that the content of [P] can be reduced to 0.02%–0.05% and [Nb] remains unoxidized when dephosphorization occurs at the cconditions of T=1573–1673 K, [C]=4.0%, [Nb]=0.02%, aP2O5 =10−24, aNb2O5 =10−10.