About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Fundamentals of Sustainable Metallurgy and Processing of Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Thermodynamic Modeling of the Reduction of Samarium Oxide |
| Author(s) |
Amarender Reddy Athelli, Ramana.G Reddy |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Amarender Reddy Athelli |
| Abstract Scope |
The reduction of samarium oxide (Sm₂O₃) using calcium as a reductant was studied through thermodynamic modeling and compared with experimental studies. The effect of temperature (800–1600°C) and calcium reductant (mole fraction 0.50–0.89) on samarium yield and Sm-Ca alloy composition was investigated. Results indicated that yield decreases with temperature but increases with calcium content. To remove excess calcium, a distillation process was optimized across a wide range of pressures (0.1 bar to 0.0001 bar and 0.1 to 0.3 micron) and temperatures (200–1600°C). Additionally, flux additions (SiO₂ and CaF₂) were tested to enhance slag-metal separation. The Ca-SiO₂-CaF₂ system showed the best performance, achieving 100% samarium yield at 1175°C and 1 bar. A low-melting slag phase (3CaO·SiO₂·CaF₂) formed at 1106°C, improving separation efficiency and maximizing samarium recovery. Overall, the study identified optimal process conditions for producing high-purity samarium with high yield. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Extraction and Processing, High-Temperature Materials, Pyrometallurgy |