Integrated experimental and thermodynamic modelling study of phase equilibria in the "CuO0.5"-PbO-CaO system in equilibrium with Cu/Pb metal.

Phase equilibria studies were undertaken on the "CuO 0.5 "-PbO-CaO system in equilibrium with Cu/Pb metal as part of the integrated experimental and thermodynamic modelling study of phase equilibria in the Cu-Pb-Zn-Fe-Ca-Si-Al-Mg-O-S-(As, Sn, Sb, Bi, Ag, Au, Ni, Cr, Co and Na) gas/oxide liquid/matte/speiss/metal/solids system in support of the development and optimisation of pyrometallurgical processes. The equilibration and quenching technique followed by the electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA) was used in the present study. The primary phase fields of massicot (PbO), copper plumbite (Cu 2 PbO 2), cuprite (Cu 2 O) and lime (CaO) were experimentally characterised. The experimental data obtained in the present study, as well as available literature data on the phase equilibria and thermodynamics of the "CuO 0.5 "-PbO-CaO system in equilibrium with Cu/Pb were used for the optimisation of the model parameters of the discussed system in agreement with the Cu-Pb-Zn-Fe-Ca-Si-Al-Mg-O-S-(As, Sn, Sb, Bi, Ag, Au, Ni, Cr, Co and Na) gas/oxide liquid/matte/speiss/metal/solids system to obtain a self-consistent set of parameters of the thermodynamic model for all phases. The predicted liquidus surface of the "CuO 0.5 "-PbO-CaO system was presented for the first time in the complete range of temperatures and compositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]