Effects of Temperature on the Thermal Conductivity of Amorphous CaO-SiO2-Al2O3 Slags: A Computational Insight

Amorphous CaO-SiO2-Al2O3 (CSA) slags are widely used in the glass, ceramic, cement and metallurgy fields. Temperature, as an external condition, plays an important role in the thermal conductivity of silicates. Herein, the effects of temperature on the thermal conductivity of CSA slags were systematically investigated by using equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations. Moreover, the effects of the composition and the structural unit on the thermal conductivity of CSA slags were examined. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of amorphous CSA slags significantly increases with increasing temperature in the range of 1273 to 1973 K. Further regression analysis based on a machine learning method showed that the temperature is the most crucial factor that affects the thermal conductivity of amorphous CSA slags, and high CaO/Al2O3 and CaO/SiO2 molar ratios can contribute to high thermal conductivity.