In-Situ formation of silicon carbide–Alumina composites via carbothermal reduction of kaolinite

Egyptian Kaolin especially, is considered in its raw form to be quite hard and massive. Kaolin deposits of the Sinai Peninsula, with reserves of >100 Mt are of major economic importance in northern Africa. Currently ~100,000 t of kaolin are exploited each year mostly for domestic uses, including refractories, ceramics & porcelain, cement, paints & adhesives, cosmetics, personal care, water treatment, metallurgy and alloys. The carbothermal reduction of kaolin is an economical route to the production of Al2O3–SiC mixtures. Al2O3–SiC refractory has a good erosion and spallation resistance and is durable against oxidizing attack at elevated temperatures. So it being considered for use in harsh applications such as cutting tools and advanced heat engines. The carbothermic reduction of kaolin in EAF is widely applied due to the use of less expensive raw materials compared to other synthesis methods. Also, the present work presents the experimental validation of smelting reduction of kaolin in a small-scale Laboratory EAF (25 kW).

Dr. Heba H. Ali is Researcher at Central Metallurgical R&D Institute, Cairo, Egypt, 2018-till date. She holds a PhD in Applied Inorganic Chemistry, chemistry, Faculty of Science (girls), Al-Azhar Univ., Egypt. Her thesis was titled “Production and Up-grading of MG-Silicon for Using in Different Applications”. She has an extensive experience in gaseous, carbothermic, and metallothermic reduction, chlorination, smelting (electric arc furnace), roasting, and calcination. Also, she skilled in the extraction of ferrous and nonferrous metals from both primary and secondary resources. Finally, she has solid experience in high-temperature processing of raw and waste materials to produce metals and advanced materials.