Utilization of rubber tree bark as a carbon source for electric arc furnace steelmaking: Carbon/slag interaction at 1550℃

Rubber tree bark (RTB) is a biomass that consists of wood and rubber parts, with high volatile and ash contents. This research reports the utilization of RTB as a carbon source in Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking processes. RTB was mixed with coal at a ratio of 1:1 by weight, and heated at 1000℃ under an argon atmosphere for 1 h. The chars were brought to contact with Electric Arc Furnace slag (37.86 wt% Fe2O3) at 1550℃ for 15 min to investigate their interaction and compared to coal. Coal showed short slag foaming behavior with a foaming time of 4 min, while complete FeO reduction was seen thereafter with the DOM of 65.14%. For RTB, slag foaming sustains over 15 min, but small extent of FeO reduction was observed with the DOM of 42.57%.  For the Mixture, foaming time was 8 min, while iron droplets were seen since 8 min with the DOM of 54.63%. It was likely that interaction between the mixture and slag was due to the synergistic effect between coal and RTB. This research unlocks the potential of using RTB biomass for steelmaking process and the consumption of coal could be deducted by up to 50 wt%.