Thermochemical Simulation of Scheelite–Millscale Aluminothermy Reactions in Tungsten-Alloyed Steel Production

This study investigates the thermochemical reaction behaviour of scheelite–millscale aluminothermy for direct tungsten alloying in steel production. Experimental mixtures of aluminium, millscale, and scheelite concentrate were simulated using gas–slag–metal (g-s-m) equilibrium calculations in FactSage 8.3 at 2200 °C, and compared with previously reported experimental results. The simulations reproduced metal yields accurately with 0.901 to 0.940 correlation coefficients and predicted tungsten levels consistent with measured steel compositions. However, significant discrepancies were observed in predicted silicon levels, with simulations overestimating steel %Si by up to 3.5%, despite negligible gas-phase losses. Oxygen partial pressure calculations indicate that the Fe/FeO reaction equilibrium controls process reduction conditions. Backcalculation of activity coefficients revealed that FactSage minimisation routines understated silicon activity coefficient values. SiO2 mass transfer may play a role in low %Si in steel, but this is not clear due to differences in expected mass transfer regimes in aluminothermy under ASR and SHS conditions. Overall, the simulations demonstrate adequate predictive capability for alloying trends and metal yields while highlighting limitations in predicting silicon partitioning. These findings confirm the utility of thermochemical simulation for designing aluminothermic feed mixtures, reducing the number of experiments needed to optimise the aluminothermic feed mixture ratios.