Investigation on the Matte/Slag/Spinel/Gas Equilibria in the Cu-Fe-O-S-SiO2-(CaO, Al2O3) system at 1250 °C and pSO2 of 0.25 atm

Funding Information: This study was partly supported by Aalto University, School of Chemical Engineering. Special thanks are given to the Finland’s RawMatTERS Finland Infrastructure (RAMI) based at Aalto University, GTK Espoo and VTT Espoo. Min Chen acknowledges the financial support from the China Scholarship Council [number 201806370217] for a PhD grant. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.The equilibrium-phase relations between copper mattes and spinel-saturated iron silicate slags were investigated at 1250°C and pSO2 of 0.25 atm. The experiments were conducted in synthesized spinel crucibles (Fe3O4) in controlled CO-CO2-SO2-Ar gas mixtures using a high-temperature isothermal equilibration/quenching technique. The equilibrium-phase compositions were characterized using an electron probe X-ray microanalyzer. The compositions of matte and slag were displayed as a function of matte grade or oxygen partial pressure. The present results obtained at spinel saturation in the matte-slag equilibrium system were compared with observations in the literature. This study improves the experimental thermodynamic data on the matte-slag-spinel-gas equilibria systems.Peer reviewe