Kinetics of Ceramic Phase Crystallization in a Glass Derived from Wastes of Iron and Steel Industry

Intensified environmental regulations have posed numerous challenges in the disposal of industrial wastes. The steel industry is one of the biggest production industries, with a considerable amount of daily wastes. Production of glass-ceramic from the steel industry waters is one of the proper solutions for this problem. In this study, the application utilization of different wastes (such as blast-furnace slag, converter slag, and dust) as the raw material for glass-ceramic production was evaluated. After mixing the precursors, the mixture was melted at 1450℃. The obtained melt was cooled down at 10°C/min cooling rate in metallic molds, and the glass was derived. Ceramic phases were grown by application of isothermal heat treatment periods up-to 6 h, at 750, 800, 850, and 900℃. The mean length of the ceramic phases was measured after each heat treatment period by scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that crystal growth followed a parabolic kinetic model. The activation energy of crystallization was also determined as 129 kJ/mol in the temperature range of 750-900°C.