A New Approach for the Diffusion Coefficient Evaluation of Sulfur in CaO-SiO<sub>2</sub>-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Slag

Abstract

The Diffusion coefficient of sulfur in a ternary slag with composition of 51.5% CaO- 9.6% SiO2- 38.9% Al2O3 was measured at 1723 K by chemical diffusion from the variation of concentration of sulfur in silver metal. A MATLAB program was developed to find the concentration variation of sulfur in silver metal using various critical parameters like the diffusion coefficient of sulfur in slag available in literature, sulfur partition ratio, sulfide capacity of the slag and the its density. The PS2 and PO2 pressures were calculated from the Gibbs energy of the equilibrium reaction between CaO in the slag and solid CaS and confirming the same by using ThermoCalc. The density of the slag at 1723 K was obtained from earlier experiments. Initially the order of magnitude for the diffusion coefficient was taken from the works of Saito and Kawai but later was modified so that the concentration changes of Sulfur obtained from the program agreed with the experimental results. The diffusion coefficient of sulfur in 51.5% CaO- 9.6% SiO2- 38.9% Al2O3 slag at 1723 K was estimated as 4.14x10-6 cm2/sec.