Dissolution of Magnesia in Silicate Melts and Diffusivity Determination from CLSM Studies

Abstract

Magnesia is one of the vital and extensively used refractory components. In this study, the dissolution of magnesia is investigated at 1450, 1500, and 1550 °C in three silicate slags in the CaO–Al2O3–SiO2–MgO system using high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy to determine its effective binary diffusivity. The pore-free fragments of single-crystal fused magnesia particles were used, and the effects of experimental parameters and slag properties on the dissolution of magnesia were assessed. The ranking of dissolution times in the three slags at the three temperatures did not agree with the trend expected from the CaO/SiO2 ratio of each slag. Instead, several quotients serving as reference numbers were tested. The effective binary diffusivities were calculated considering all the impacting phenomena and parameters. The diffusivities of magnesia at 1500 °C in the slags with CaO/SiO2 weight ratios of 0.65, 0.93, and 1.17 are 2.67 × 10−10, 1.81 × 10−10, and 3.20 × 10−10 m2/s, respectively. The diffusivity of magnesia in one of the three slags was compared with rotating finger test results, which showed good agreement. The plausibility of diffusivity was checked using an Arrhenius plot.