Experimentally constrained atomic order probing of a Si–Al composite glass

Bona-fide method for the determination of short range order and transport properties in a ferro-aluminosilicate slag

“…The quantities A , ρ and C are constants which are meant to be modified, such that the structure in the atomic supercell satisfies experimental datasets (e.g. the structure factor and/or the pair distribution function arising from total scattering of X ray or neutron sources)123. Here, parameters A , ρ and C for Cr and Cu were determined via force field optimization, as no relevant data exist in the literature (see section ‘Force field optimization’ below).…”

“…The consistency of the SRO characteristics present in the amorphous slag has been highlighted in our precursor work, by Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) fitting of experimental structure factors attained from high-energy X ray and neutron diffraction123. Here we utilize the SRO established in that work as a starting structure for MD calculations aimed at extracting the transport properties of the slag in the high temperature regime relevant to EAF operation.…”

“…Ferronickel is produced by reductive smelting (RS) of nickel laterite ores in electric submerged arc furnaces (EAF)123. RS involves industrial infrastructures of grand physical proportions with correspondingly high requirements for electric energy, in excess of 40 MWatts per EAF.…”

“…It is of course expected that, on a fundamental level, such a ratio of phases must precipitate from the atomic coordination requirements of both Al and Ca. The coordination of Al is known to depend on neighboring cations, albeit Al is believed to be prominently four-fold coordinated12319, as flagged by the most frequently observed value for the polyhedron O-Al-O bond angle (approximately equal to 109° 1823). It has been suggested that the tendency of other network-modifying cations to charge-balance [AlO 4 ] 5− polyhedra decreases with increasing ionic field strength, according to the sequence K +  >Na +  >Ca 2+  >Mg 2+  19.…”

A CFD analysis of slag properties, electrode shape and immersion depth effects on electric submerged arc furnace heating in ferronickel processing

“…Ferronickel is produced in submerged-arc electric furnaces by reductive smelting (RS) of nickel laterite ores [1][2][3] . RS involves the formation of a slag bath (consisting of silicon, iron, aluminum and calcium oxides), floating over the ferronickel bulk, the latter accumulating in the EAF lower part.…”