Isothermal Sections

A pseudo-ternary isothermal section is calculated with two composition axes at a fixed temperature. The oxygen activity could be used as a condition. These are isothermal section examples using the TCS Metal Oxide Solutions Database (TCOX).

Li₂O-MgO-Al₂O₃

An application with a high potential for resource efficient solutions is the pyrometallurgical processing of Li ion batteries. To safeguard raw material sources especially for critical elements such as Co, Ni, and Li as key components of this technology, efficient recycling processes are essential. One of the most important routes to recycle these battery types is the pyrometallurgical processing. While Co, Ni and other valuable heavy metals report into the alloy melt, Li is transferred at least in major amounts into the slag phase of this process. A resource and energy efficient recovery of Li from the slag could be accomplished, if Li were concentrated in specific Li-rich mineral phases, which could then be separated after crystallization and cooling of the slag by means of mineral processing technologies, generating concentrates for subsequent hydrometallurgical processing.

In the system Li₂O-MgO-Al₂O₃, three important primary crystallization fields can be predicted: spinel (MgAl₂O₄), MgO and γ-LiAlO₂. Interesting isopleths are spinel-LiAl₅O₈ and MgO-LiAlO₂. From these sections, it can be concluded that a limited amount of LiAlO₂ can be dissolved in MgO. Additionally, the compounds LiAl₅O₈ and MgAl₂O₄ can be combined to form an ideal spinel solid solution.

Isothermal Section with Four Components

The CMAS (CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂) system is important for slags and non-metallic inclusions. The Al₂O₃-MgO-CS (CaO.SiO₂) isothermal section at 1873 K is calculated with the TCS Metal Oxide Solutions Database (TCOX) using the components AL₂O₃, CAO, MGO, SIO₂, O and the condition X(SIO2)-X(CAO)=0.