MTDATA and the Prediction of Phase Equilibria in Oxide Systems: 30 Years of Industrial Collaboration

This paper gives an introduction to MTDATA, Phase Equilibrium Software from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), and describes the latest advances in the development of a comprehensive database of thermodynamic parameters to underpin calculations of phase equilibria in large oxide, sulfide, and fluoride systems of industrial interest. The database, MTOX, has been developed over a period of thirty years based upon modeling work at NPL and funded by industrial partners in a project co-ordinated by Mineral Industry Research Organisation. Applications drawn from the fields of modern copper scrap smelting, high-temperature behavior of basic oxygen steelmaking slags, flash smelting of nickel, electric furnace smelting of ilmenite, and production of pure TiO₂ via a low-temperature molten salt route are discussed along with calculations to assess the impact of impurities on the uncertainty of fixed points used to realize the SI unit of temperature, the kelvin.