DE

PHOSPHORIZATION
MEASURES IN IRON
AND STEEL MAKING
INDUSTRY
 DEPHOSPHORIZATION 
• A process that facilitate the removal of phosphorus from a metal (cast iron or steel)
during smelting.
• In the past, phosphorus control was not considered a big challenge in steel
production because iron ores with low phosphorus contents were readily available
and considered cheap.
• However, in the last decade, the iron ore price has risen by roughly 400% and lower
cost iron sources generally have higher phosphorus content.

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PROCESSES OF
STEEL MAKING 
Steel is made primarily by two
Processes.
In the first step, liquid iron from the
blast furnace is converted into steel
by the basic oxygen furnace (BOF), or
by melting scrap iron or direct
reduced iron (DRI) in an electric arc
furnace(EAF).
After this steel is refined and alloying
elements are added.
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IMPACT OF PHOSPHORUS ON STEEL
• Phosphorus element will have various effects on steel depending on concentration.
• The maximum amount of phosphorus in higher grade steel is between 0.03 to 0.05%.
• Although Phosphorous increases the tensile strength of steel and improves machinability
it is generally regarded as an undesirable impurity.
• High content of Phosphorous in steel increases embrittlement and decreases ductility
and toughness.
• The machinability is improved in free-cutting steel, but weld cracks can occur during
welding if the phosphorus content is more than 0.04%. .

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 BASIC OXYEN FURNACE

• Iron ore, coke and

  flux are added
in the blast furnace as raw
materials and air is blown.​
• Reaction between coke and air
takes place, pig iron and slag is
formed.​
• Phosphorous is present as an
impurity(P2O5) is reduced to P.​
Reduction of phosphorus:
• P2O5(g) + 5C 2P(g) + 5CO(g)

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 DEPHOSPHORIZATION IN BOF
• About 90% Phosphorus is present in pig iron rest is either lost in slag or in the
flue gas.
• Dephosphorization requires oxidizing conditions and cannot be conducted in the
blast furnace.
• Pig iron containing phosphorous and scrap metal is shifted to basic oxygen
converter.​
• Oxygen is blown and oxidation takes place which coverts reduced P again to
P2O5 form.​
• CaO is added as flux to increase the phosphorus capacity of slag.
• P2O5 is transferred to slag phase and is removed from the metal.

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 NECESSARY MEASURES FOR DE-
PHOSPHURIZATION
Temperature:​
• High temperature decreases dephosphorization.​
• Dephosphorization reaction is overall exothermic
      Thus, slag dephosphorization capacity decreases 
      with temperature.​
• Thus, low temperature is favourable​.
Flux composition:​
• In order to remove phosphorus, the flux needs to increase the phosphorus capacity of the
slag​
• Slags containing barium, with fluxes based on BaO, have high phosphate capacity. Since
Barium both is toxic and expensive, the more available CaO is commonly used.
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Slag basicity:​
• The dephosphorization of the hot metal
reaches its​ peak at a slag basicity of
approximately 3.5 to 4.5.​
• Too much basicity increases the melting
temperature of slag and reduces
dephosphorization.​
• A higher basicity increases​
dephosphorization independently of
temperature .

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FeO content:​
• FeO can increase the dissolution of CaO in the slag.​
• The activity of FeO will decrease when the basicity gets higher than its​optimum,
which will slow down the dephosphorization reaction ​if the FeO content is too
high it will dilute the CaO, reducing its​Concentration.
Carbon content:​
• High carbon content in the melt will favour dephosphorization by increasing the
phosphorus​activity in the melt.

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 KEYWORDS
PIG IRON:
Pig iron is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the
production of steel, also known as crude iron, which is obtained by
smelting iron ore in a blast furnace.

FLUX:
Flux, in metallurgy, any substance introduced in the smelting of
ores to promote fluidity and to remove objectionable impurities in
the form of slag. Limestone is commonly used for this purpose in
smelting iron ores.

SLAG’S BASICITY:
A slag’s basicity is defined as the ratio in weight percent between
the basic oxides and the acid oxides present in the slag.

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 CONCLUSION

• Phosphorous concentration decreases to a significant amount from

about 0.1% to 0.03%.
• It decreases embrittlement.
• Less phosphorus content in steel increases the ductility of steel i.e., can be drawn
into wires and thin sheets.
• It increases the toughness. hence, steel becomes crack resistant.
• It enhances the quality of steel, and hence the value is also increased.

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