Microwave-assisted grinding of high TiO₂ blast furnace slag

One effective way to reduce the TiO₂ content in the blast furnace (BF) high TiO₂ slag is to separate CaTiO₃ from the slag. In order to save the required energy for grinding the slag, the compressive strength of the slag is reduced by inducing cracks in it with the help of microwave. The slag could effectively be heated in the microwave field i and crack was induced in it. The crack propagation occurs with the increasing of microwave processing time. In order to investigate the effect of induced cracks on grinding of the slag, compression test was done. The result shows that the compressive strength of the slag is effectively decreased when crack is induced in it (the compressive strength of the slag is decreased by about 20% after 5 cycles, for 5min microwave processing). The compressive strength of the slag decreases with the increase of the microwave processing time and the thermal cycle number. But the thermal cycle number of microwave processing affects the compressive strength of the slag more effectively.