Carbothermic reactions involve the reduction of substances, often metal oxides (
O^2-), using
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes ...
as the
reducing agent
In chemistry, a reducing agent (also known as a reductant, reducer, or electron donor) is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an (called the , , , or ).
Examples of substances that are commonly reducing agents include the Earth m ...
. These
chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the positions of electrons in the forming and break ...
s are usually conducted at temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius. Such processes are applied for production of the elemental forms of many elements. The ability of metals to participate in carbothermic reactions can be predicted from
Ellingham diagrams.
["Figure 8.19 Ellingham diagram for the free energy of formation of metallic oxides" p. 308]
/ref>
Carbothermal reactions produce carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide ( chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...
and sometimes carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
. The facility of these conversions is attributable to the entropy
Entropy is a scientific concept, as well as a measurable physical property, that is most commonly associated with a state of disorder, randomness, or uncertainty. The term and the concept are used in diverse fields, from classical thermodyna ...
of reaction: two solids, the metal oxide and carbon, are converted to a new solid (metal) and a gas (CO), the latter having high entropy.
Applications
A prominent example is that of iron ore smelting. Many reactions are involved, but the simplified equation is usually shown as:
: 2 + 3C → 4Fe + 3
On a more modest scale, about 1 million tons of elemental phosphorus is produced annually by carbothermic reactions. Calcium phosphate
The term calcium phosphate refers to a family of materials and minerals containing calcium ions (Ca2+) together with inorganic phosphate anions. Some so-called calcium phosphates contain oxide and hydroxide as well. Calcium phosphates are wh ...
(phosphate rock) is heated to 1,200–1,500 °C with sand, which is mostly , and coke (impure carbon) to produce . The chemical equation for this process when starting with fluoroapatite
Fluorapatite, often with the alternate spelling of fluoroapatite, is a phosphate mineral with the formula Ca5(PO4)3F (calcium fluorophosphate). Fluorapatite is a hard crystalline solid. Although samples can have various color (green, brown, bl ...
, a common phosphate mineral, is:
: 4 + 18 + 30C → 3 + 30CO + 18 + 2
Of historic interest is the Leblanc process
The Leblanc process (pronounced leh-blaank) was an early industrial process for making ''soda ash'' ( sodium carbonate) used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: making sodium sulfate f ...
. A key step in this process is the reduction of sodium sulfate with coal:
: Na2SO4 + 2 C → Na2S + 2 CO2
The Na2S is then treated with calcium carbonate to give sodium carbonate, a commodity chemical.
Recently, development of the 'MagSonic' carbothermic magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...
process has restarted interest in its chemistry:
: + ↔ +
The reaction is readily reversible from its product vapors, and requires rapid cooling to prevent back-reaction
In theoretical physics, back-reaction (or backreaction) is often necessary to calculate the self-consistent behaviour of a particle or an object in an external field.
Intuitive definition
When a particle is considered to have no mass or to have a ...
.
Variations
Sometimes carbothermic reactions are coupled to other conversions. One example is the chloride process for separating titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
from ilmenite
Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...
, the main ore of titanium. In this process, a mixture of carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes ...
and the crushed ore is heated at 1000 °C under flowing chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine is ...
gas, giving titanium tetrachloride
Titanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. is a volatile liquid. Upon contact with humid air, it forms thick clouds ...
:
: 2 + 7 + 6C → 2 + 2 + 6CO
For some metals, carbothermic reactions do not afford the metal, but instead give the metal carbide
In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece.
Interstitial / Metallic carbides
The carbides of th ...
. This behavior is observed for titanium, hence the use of the chloride process. Carbides also form upon high temperature treatment of with carbon. For this reason, aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...
is employed as the reducing agent.
References
Chemical reactions
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