Haematites

After aluminium, iron is the most abundant metal and the fourth most abundant of all the elements it occurs chiefly as oxides (for example haematite (FCjO,), magnetite (lodestonej (FC3O4) and as iron pyrites FeSj- Free iron is found in meteorites, and it is probable that primitive man used this source of iron for tools and weapons. The extraction of iron began several thousand years ago, and it is still the most important metal in everyday life because of its abundance and cheapness, and its ability to be cast, drawn and forged for a variety of uses. 

If an aqueous solution of an iron(lll) salt is treated with alkali, a red-brown precipitate of iron(III) hydroxide is obtained this is probably best represented as FeO(OH). On strong heating it gives the red oxide Fe203. Iron(III) oxide, Fc20, occurs naturally as haematite, and can also be prepared by strong heating of iron(II) sulphate ... 

The resultant slag, a complex mixture of titanates, may contain 70—85% Ti02- The slag route is particularly useful when ilmenite is closely associated with haematite, from which it cannot economically be separated mechanically. Because the iron content of the slag is low, its use reduces the quantity of iron sulfate in the Hquid effluent of sulfate process plants. Slag used as a feedstock for TiCl production must be low in magnesium and calcium. A variety of other ilmenite beneficiation or synthetic mtile processes have been pursued, primarily to provide alternative chloride process feedstocks. Low grade ilmenite... 

Odier metals having vety stable oxides can be reduced by the aluminothermic reaction to produce useful feno-alloys. Niobium oxide, NbO, can be reduced to form a feiTO-alloy by the inclusion of iron in die reacting iiiixmre as haematite or magnetite, depending on the niobium content which is requhed in the product. 

Haematite mining (underground) with exposure to radon (Vol. 1, Suppl. 7 1987)... 

The furnace is charged with a mixture of the ore (usually haematite), coke and limestone, then a blast of hot air, or air with fuel oil, is blown in at the bottom. The coke bums and such intense heat is generated that temperatures approaching 2000°C are reached near the base of the furnace and perhaps 200°C at the top. The net result is that the ore is reduced to iron, and silicaceous gangue forms a slag (mainly CaSi03) with the limestone ... 

Mechanistically chromium additions have been shown to significantly enrich (lOX) in the magnetite oxide layer and, it has been suggested that this lowers its solubility. Additions of small amounts of oxygen to the water, increases the metal s potential and promotes the formation of haematite... 

Under thermal cycling conditions, the principal source of stress within the oxide scale is the temperature change . Christl et have noted that, when cooling 2.25%Cr-l%Mo steel from 600°C in air, compressive stresses build up in the haematite, whilst tensile stresses build up in the magnetite and spinel layers. This arises because the thermal expansion coefficients of the individual oxide layers increase in the order a metal < a spinel < a magnetite < a haematite . ... 

Fig. 7.8 Relative thickness of wustite, magnetite and haematite on mild steel as a function of...

Fig. 7.9 Arrhenius plot for the haematite thickening rate on mild steel and low-chromium...

When mild steel is heated in air at between 575 and 1 370°C an oxide or scale forms on the steel surface. This scale consists of three well-defined layers, whose thickness and composition depend on the duration and temperature of heating. In general, the layers, from the steel base outwards, comprise a thick layer of wiistite, the composition of which approximates to the formula FeO, a layer of magnetite (FejOJ, and a thin layer of haematite (FejO,). 

Holding of the temperature between 400 and 575°C causes the iron particles to coagulate and the scale becomes further enriched in oxygen. Since wiistite is unstable below 575°C, scales produced at temperatures lower than this contain magnetite and haematite only. In addition, the scales are often cracked and porous. This is due to the difference in contraction... 

Sulphuric acid is used to a very large extent for pickling low-alloy steels. The rate at which it removes the scale depends on (q) the porosity and number of cracks in the scale, (b) the relative amounts of wiistite, decomposed wiistite, magnetite and haematite in the scale, and (c) factors affecting the activity of the pickle. 

Although a good inhibitor reduces the acid attack, it does not prevent the attack of oxidising agents on the exposed base metal. Thus the ferric ions resulting from the gradual dissolution of the detached magnetite and haematite attack the exposed steel even in the presence of an inhibitor, and are reduced to ferrous ions. 

With oxygenated regimes, the preferred oxide formed is haematite, instead of magnetite, and in addition thinner layers are found. 

Haematite Fe203 Formed at lower temperatures and higher oxygen concentrations. 

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