Physicochemical properties and structure of titania-containing metallurgical slags : a review

The titanium industry can hardly bypass the titania-containing slags, and the slag physicochemical properties are essential in the metallurgical reactor design and process control. The TiO2-FeO based slags and TiO2-SiO2-CaO based slags are the main metallurgical slag systems in the titanium resource utilization processes. To elaborate the role of TiO2 in the physicochemical properties of titania-containing metallurgical slags, the physicochemical properties including titanium redox ratio, liquidus temperature, viscosity, electrical conductivity, density, surface tension, thermal conductivity, and sulfide capacity were critically reviewed. Moreover, the property prediction models were briefly introduced with regards to the limitations of the existing models. The properties prediction models are still required to evolve since not all properties of titania-containing slags can be well modelled. As the slag structure has an intimate relationship with slag properties, the structural details of the titania-containing slag were investigated by using a combination of spectroscopic technologies, but the knowledge of the slag structure was not fully ascertained. The potential research fields related to the physicochemical properties and structure of the titania-containing slags were also suggested.