Use of ornamental rock residues for mould flux development

Abstract

Abstract Ornamental rock production, such as marble and granite plates, have great importance in the southeastern region of Brazil. Its residues are composed of some compounds used in continuous casting as mould fluxes. Therefore, the aim of this article was to study these residues to formulate mould fluxes. First, the raw materials were chemically characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and two new fluxes were developed based on two different commercial fluxes used for peritectic and low carbon steels. All fluxes were analyzed for their ability to form crystalline phases, by performing the modified Stollberg test. The slag formed was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thin section microscopy (TSM) technique, and a mathematical model for comparison. Also, sample fluidity was measured using the known “boat test” and viscosities were predicted by FactSage® software. Crystallinity and fluidity of new fluxes were compatible with those observed for the commercial fluxes. The FactSage® simulations identified crystalline phases, such as cuspidine (Ca4Si2O7F2), for all fluxes. In commercial low carbon flux (CLC) and new low carbon flux (NLC), X-ray results have shown that non-crystalline phases are formed. And in commercial peritectic flux (CP) and new peritectic flux (NP), X-ray results have shown crystalline phases. The results showed similar characteristics between the new fluxes and the commercial ones; however, further tests in an industrial setting are required to obtain additional information and confirm equivalent behavior during their industrial use.

Keywords

• continuous casting
• steels
• peritectic steel
• mould fluxes