Influence of alumina on physical properties of an industrial zinc-copper smelting slagPart 1 – viscosity

Abstract

The rotating cylinder method was applied to measure the viscosities of an industrial iron silicate slag and mixtures of this slag with 5, 10 and 15 wt-% alumina addition, in temperature range 1100–1300°C. The measured viscosities were compared with the predicted values using two of the commercially available software products for viscosity calculations, namely Thermoslag®1·5 and FactSageTM6·2. As the models can only predict viscosities for a solid free melt, obtained values by FactSageTM6·2 were modified using the Einstein–Roscoe equation. Results show that aluminium behaves as a network former cation in this type of slag, and by increasing the alumina concentration, the melt becomes progressively polymerised. Consequently, the viscosity of the slag increases at a given temperature, which is supported by thermodynamic predictions. According to the modified FactSageTM6·2 calculations, the viscosity of the solid containing slag increases from 2·1 to 5·5 poise at the industrial operating temperature (∼1250°C).