Effect of Na2O on alumina leaching property and phase transformation of MgO-containing calcium aluminate slags

In order to remove or reduce the negative effect of MgO in calcium aluminate slags, the method of adding Na2O into calcium aluminate slags was studied and its effect on leaching mechanism was also analyzed. The results show that the alumina leaching efficiency of the calcium aluminate slag increases from 68.73% to 80.86% with Na2O content increasing from 0 to 4% when MgO content is 3%. The XRD results show that the quaternary compound C20A13M3S3 disappears when Na2O content increases to 4%. The addition of Na2O cannot remove the negative effect of MgO on leachability completely. XRD and EDS results indicate that Na2O can come into the lattice of 12CaO·7Al2O3 and promote the formation of 12CaO·7Al2O3