Understanding the reduction behaviors and characteristics of the end products of Fe-Cr-O systems is very important not only for maximizing the recovery of metals from stainless steel dust but also for the subsequent reuse in metallurgical process. The present work first predicted the possible products thermodynamically when FeCr204 was reduced by C. The reduction behaviors by graphite of three kinds of Fe-Cr-O systems, i.e., FeCr204, Fe203q-Cr203, and Feq-Cr203, were then investigated in 1350-1550℃. Further, the microstructures of final products and element distribution conditions were examined. The results suggest that, thermodynamically, the mass of products for the carbothermal reduction of FeCr204 is a strong function of temperature, and the initial carbon content is used. More Fe-Cr-C solution and less residual carbon content are obtained at higher temperatures and lower no：no ratios （the initial molar ratio of C to O in the sample）. Experimental data show that the sample amount tends to affect the reduction rate, and the residual carbon content strongly depends on nc：no. With regard to the phases present in products during the reaction process, metal carbides tend to form in the initial stage, whereas Fe-Cr-C solution forms when the degree of reduction is sufficiently high.
The reduction behaviors and characteristics of products of the Fe-Cr-O system （FeCr2O4 and Fe2O3＋Cr2O3） and Fe-Cr-Ni-O system （Fe2O3＋Cr2O3＋NiO） under various conditions were studied. The results show that more Fe-Cr or Fe-Cr-Ni solution and less residual carbon content were obtained at higher temperatures and lower initial molar ratio of C to O （nC：nO）. The degree of reduction was highly dependent on both time and temperature, and the residual carbon content greatly increased with increasing nC：nO at each temperature. The products generated during the carbothermic reduction of the Fe-Cr-O system were examined using X-ray diffraction （XRD）. A scanning electron microscope （SEM） coupled with energy dispersive spectrometer was used to observe the microstructure and the distribution of elements in the various phases of the final reduction products of the Fe-Cr-O and Fe-Cr-Ni-O.
