Formation of fayalite in the FeO-SiO2-MgO system at temperatures below the eutectic point

Resumen

This research article shows that during the manufacture of iron, slags have been a source of information about the product obtained. This applies to the entire history of the manufacture of this metal from the beginning of the Iron Age. Studies in this field are known as metallurgical archeology and it starts from paleo metallurgy to the present. The primitive slags obtained from its separation from the solid iron mass obtained in very primitive processes (Roman furnaces) and more modern as the Catalan forge. Petrographic, ray-X diffraction and ray-X fluorescence studies have revealed the existence of fayalite in ancient iron and steel slags at temperatures below the eutectic point, deduced as between 1150°C and 1200°C. More recently, the presence of fayalite has been revealed in reduction processes operating with temperatures below 900°C. This document presents an explanation for this fact through an analysis of the energies associated with the systems. Ceramics composed of FeO- SiO2-MgO- P2O5 are present in these processes.

Keywords: Smelting furnaces, iron, experiments, slag, analysis, fayalite.