Experimental study of various fluxing agents in a phosphorus furnace. (2nd September 2017) - Geng, Ruixian
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: ABSTRACT: The consumption of ore and electricity for the production of yellow phosphorus is enormous in an electrical furnace. To reduce consumption and conserve energy, various fluxing agents, e.g., SiO2, K-feldspar, and nepheline, were used to replace silica in a phosphorus furnace. The characteristic temperature and viscosity for various fluxing systems were investigated. The results revealed that K-feldspar and nepheline could reduce the characteristic temperature and increase the liquidity, indicating that they can be used as fluxing agent instead of silica in a phosphorus furnace. The thermal analysis of the melting curves was also investigated and the results revealed that the melting points of K-feldspar and nepheline systems were shifted to a lower temperature. In contrast to our expectations, the difficulty of melting was increased with SiO2 as fluxing agent in a phosphorus furnace. This analysis clearly indicated that the reduction of the melting point and energy conservation could be achieved using K-feldspar and nepheline as fluxing agents instead of silica in a phosphorus furnace.