Phase relationship in V2O3-rich region of the V2O3–CaO system between 1573–1773 K at PO2 = 10−10 and 10−11 atm

VO–CaO system is one of the fundamental systems in the fields of vanadium extraction and vanadium-containing alloys production. Due to the insufficient experimental study, the data of this system was limited. The present study was carried out between 1300 and 1500 °C (1573–1773 K) at the V2O3-rich region (>56 wt% VO), with the controlled partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) at 10-10 and 10–11 atm. High-temperature equilibration experiments, quenching technique and electron probe micro-analyser (EPMA) were adopted to determine the microstructures and compositions of phases at high temperature. The results of phase compositions obtained were used to plot a sub-solidus phase diagram, which showed a great discrepancy with existing publications, and 4 solid-phase regions with their phase boundaries were identified in the present study. The solubility of CaO in V2O3 was found to increase slightly with the temperature under both PO2. The study is expected to fulfil the gaps of thermodynamics information in the VO-containing systems.