Effect of basicity and Al2O3 on viscosity of ferronickel smelting slag

The effect of the Al2O3 content and basicity (the molar ratio of MgO to SiO2) on the viscosity of a SiO2-MgO-FeO-Al2O3-CaO slag was studied to fully understand the smelting process of the ferronickel alloy. Experimental results show that the slag is a mixture of liquid and solid phases at the experimental temperature. The viscosity decreased as the basicity increased and increased as the Al2O3 content increased. To determine the effect of the Al2O3 content and basicity on the structure of the molten slag, Raman spectroscopy was performed on the slag sample, which was quenched from the high temperature with water. The Raman spectra showed that the fractions of the polymerization structural units decreased significantly as the basicity of the slag increased, resulting in a decrease in the apparent viscosity. However, Al2O3 acts as a network former in the slag system, thereby making the slag structure further polymerized and increasing the viscosity.