A New Concept for Refining Molten Metals and Recovering Metals from Slags

这项研究涉及一种提炼金属的新方法。它将利用钇稳定氧化锆（YSZ）固体电解质的氧离子导电特性，快速去除熔融金属和炉渣中的氧。通常，YSZ电解质的一侧与熔体接触，另一侧与还原性气体接触，而不让气体和熔体直接接触。这种排列类似于氧浓缩电池，因此可以通过通过电解液的电流除去氧。这可以通过外部连接（短路）电解液两侧的电极来实现，而不需要外部电位的应用。在这种（短路）条件下的氧通量可以足够高，以迅速脱氧（精炼）熔体。为了通过这种技术有效地去除氧气，YSZ电解质必须很薄，电极必须是多孔的，并且应该覆盖整个电解质表面以进行电荷转移。这种新型精炼装置将被构建并用于研究铜、低碳铁和氧化铅-二氧化硅熔体的除氧动力学。在研究的基础上，首席研究员将确定这些系统中除氧的速率控制步骤，并建立有效精炼的条件。这种提炼金属的新工艺对环境无害，可以使用含氢和碳的还原性气体，而不会增加熔体中氢和碳含量的风险，而且速度很快。

The research involves a novel approach for refining metals. It will utilize the oxygen ion conducting properties of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) solid electrolyte to rapidly remove oxygen from molten metals and slags. Typically, one side of the YSZ electrolyte will be in contact with the melt and the other side with a reducing gas without letting the gas and the melt come in direct contact with each other. This arrangement resembles an oxygen concentration cell, and therefore oxygen may be removed by passing an electric current through the electrolyte. This can be accomplished without the application of external potential by externally connecting (short circuiting) the electrodes on two sides of the electrolyte. The oxygen flux under this (short circuit) condition can be sufficiently high to rapidly deoxidize (refine) the melt. In order to efficiently remove oxygen by this technique, the YSZ electrolyte must be thin, and the electrodes must be porous and should cover the entire electrolyte surface for charge transfer. This novel refining device will be constructed and used as described above to study the kinetics of oxygen removal from copper, low carbon iron and lead oxide-silica melts. Based on the study the principal investigator will determine the rate- controlling step for oxygen removal in these systems and establish conditions for efficient refining. This new process for refining metals is environmentally sound, can use hydrogen and carbon containing reducing gases without running the risk of increasing hydrogen and carbon content of the melt, and is also rapid.