Simultaneous Recovery of Iron and Phosphorus from a High-Phosphorus Oolitic Iron Ore to Prepare Fe-P Alloy for High-Phosphorus Steel Production

Unlike previous dephosphorization studies, the present work complies with a concept to recover phosphorus within the utilization of high-phosphorus oolitic iron ores to prepare Fe-P alloy for high-phosphorus steel production. Simultaneous enrichment of iron and phosphorus can be achieved by directly alloying the high-phosphorus oolitic iron ore at high reduction temperatures (≥1623 K). Neither fluxes nor other special additives need to be used. Consequently, the phosphorus element migrates from original apatite to the slag phase with the elevating temperature from 1323 K to 1473 K, and it further moves into metallic iron and forms Fe3P at 1623 K. A metalized iron-phosphorus alloy with assaying of 96.51% iron and 2.03% phosphorus content was obtained at 1623 K for 10 min at corresponding iron and phosphorus recovery rates of 97.50% and 64.51%, respectively. This process exhibits high economic efficiency and is practicable as a stepping-stone for the efficient and direct utilization of high-phosphorus iron ore resources.