Removal of phosphorus-rich phase from high-phosphorous iron ore by melt separation at 1573 K in a super-gravity field

A new approach of removing the phosphorus-rich phase from high-phosphorous iron ore by melt separation at 1573 K in a super- gravity field was investigated. The iron-slag separation by super-gravity resulted in phosphorus being effectively removed from the iron-rich phase and concentrated as a phosphorus-rich phase at a temperature below the melting point of iron. The samples obtained by super-gravity exhibited obvious layered structures. All the iron grains concentrated at the bottom of the sample along the super-gravity direction, whereas the molten slag concentrated in the upper part of the sample along the opposite direction. Meanwhile, fine apatite crystals collided and grew into larger crystals and concentrated at the slag–iron interface. Consequently, in the case of centrifugation with a gravity coefficient of G = 900, the mass fractions of the slag phase and iron-rich phase were similar to their respective theoretical values. The mass fraction of MFe in the iron-rich phase was as high as 97.77wt% and that of P was decreased to 0.092wt%.