Viscosity of Slags

slag
Slag is a multi component system
In steel making it consists of acidic oxides such as
SiO2 and P2O5
and Basic oxides such as FeO, CaO, MgO etc.
Cations are surounded by maximum number of
oxygen in a three dimensional crystalline
structure, number being the coordination number
Cations of basic oxides viz Fe2+, Ca2+, Mg 2+ have
radii smaller than cations of Al2O3, SiO2 etc.
Structure of an oxide ratio of radii of
cations/anions

Structure of an oxide

Basic oxides octahedral, Acidic Oxides Tetrahedral

In silica each atom of silicon is bonded with four oxygen atoms
Each atom of oxygen is bonded with 2 silicon atoms

Structure of Silica

The elemental tetrahedral of silica are joined at the vertic

to give the hexagonal network in three dimensions
During melting the crystalline network of silica is broken b
thermal agitation

Network former and breaker oxides

Bonding between cations and anions in acidic oxides is
strong
These form complex ions such as SiO44 -, In slags they
tend to form hexagonal network
These oxides are therefore called network formers or
acids
They can accept one or several oxygen ions
Basic oxides dissociate and form simple ions like Ca 2+ and
O2 All basic oxides are donors of oxygen ions
These oxides are called network breakers since they
destroy the hexagonal network of silica by reacting with it

Structure of slag
Most slags are silicates. Pure silica has very high
viscosity at melting points
Addition of basic oxides decreases the viscosity by
breaking the hexagonal network of silica
Consider the addition of CaO to silica
Calcium oxide dissociates to Ca2+ and O2 Each O2- ion causes two of SiO44 tetrahedra to seperate
The Ca2+ ion is accommodated in the interstices of the
silicate structure

Breaking down of silica

network
Increasing addition of Cao causes further break down
The number of vertices destroyed depends on the
composition of the binary oxide & the ratio of O/Si in
the melt

Viscosity
0 the viscosity, A an empirical constant, E the activation
energy, T the temperature and R the gas constant
Viscosity controls the fluidity of the slag inversely
related
Viscosity of slag is a function of temperature,
composition and percent solid present in slag
The decrease in viscosity is greater with alkaline oxides
like Na2O and Fluorides like NaF2 since Na has one
charge, each tetrahedron of silica will have Na ion
attached to oxygen ion
Alumina act as a network breaker in an acidic slag and
network former in basic slag

Continued ...
Presence of solid particles in slag increase the
viscosity of slag
is the volume fraction of solids in the slag
If volume fraction between 5-10% viscosity of slag
increases by 114-130%
As the network is progressively broken down the
activation energy for viscous flow decrease from a
high value of about 140 Kcal/mole for pure SiO 2 to
about 30 Kcal/mole at the orthosilicate composition
Viscosity of slag decreases as the temperature
inceases