Physical process for the recovery of iron from magnetic cementitious spherical particles generated from metallurgical byproducts

Abstract

A physical process for recovering iron from magnetic cementitious spherical particles generated from metallurgical by-products such as slag from a basic oxygen converter (B.O.F.S) by applying a thermal process assisted by Ar—He plasma, which allows the microstructural and morphological transformation of these compounds based on iron, resulting in the generation of magnetic phases, among others. The separation process is based on the classification of the particles according to their new magnetic properties. Thus, when applying a magnetic field, the particles are separated into two fractions: a highly magnetic one and with low cementitious properties, and another fraction with high cementitious properties and almost no magnetic properties. The highly magnetic fraction is mixed with an aqueous medium to form an agglomerate and facilitate its transportation to be reefed to an iron melting process. The fraction with low magnetic properties has potential applications as a densifier in non-conventional cement and concrete.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.