Estimating viscosities, electrical & thermal conductivities of slags

The aim of this investigation was to develop models to estimate the viscosity, electrical conductivity/resistivity and thermal conductivity of slags from their chemical composition. Slags used in the iron- and steel-making industry exhibit a wide range of composition. When constituents like Al2O3 are introduced into silicate networks they cause significant changes in property values. This means that simple models can not provide good estimates of the properties over a wide compositional range. The approach adopted here consists of (i) identification of the principal factors affecting the property and (ii) development of "best fit" equations covering these factors. It is shown here that the electrical resistivity and the thermal conductivity both follow the viscosity; for this reason equations have also been developed to cover the viscosity. It was concluded that more experimental work on thermal conductivities of solid and liquid slags is needed to identify all the factors affecting the thermal conductivity.