Experimental liquidus in the PbO-ZnO-“Fe2O3”-(CaO + SiO2) System in Air, with CaO/SiO2 = 0.35 and PbO/(CaO + SiO2) = 3.2

Experimental studies on phase equilibria in the multicomponent system PbO-ZnO-CaO-SiO2-FeO-Fe2O3 in air have been conducted to characterize the phase relations of a complex slag system used in lead and zinc smelting. The liquidus in the pseudoternary section ZnO-“Fe2O3”-(PbO + CaO + SiO2) with a CaO/SiO2 weight ratio of 0.35 and a PbO/(CaO + SiO2) weight ratio of 3.2 has been constructed to describe liquidus temperatures as a function of composition in the range of commercial operating conditions employed by the Lead Isasmelt smelting process. The section contains the primary phase fields of spinel (zinc ferrite, ZnxFe3−yO4+z), zincite (ZnuFe1−uO), melilite (PbvCa2−vZnwFe1−w-Si2O7), hematite (Fe2O3), magnetoplumbite (PbFe10O16), and wollastonite (CaSiO3).