Borate distribution in stabilized stainless-steel slag

Disintegration of stainless-steel slag during cooling is caused by the beta ->gamma transformation of dicalcium silicate (2CaO center dot SiO2 or C2S). It is well established that disintegration can be avoided by borate additions, which are commonly believed to stabilize the high-temperature polymorphs by forming a solid solution with C2S. In this study, the borate distributions in slowly cooled synthetic and industrial slag samples are determined. The slag microstructures are characterized using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), quantitative X-ray diffraction (QXRD), and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS). The results show that only a limited fraction of the added borates forms a solid solution with the C2S phase, while the main fraction is found in a calcium borosilicate phase. In combination with literature data, this suggests that slag stabilization involves more than the chemical stabilization of the high-temperature C2S polymorphs.