SULFUR SOLUBILITY IN SILICATE MELTS: A THERMOCHEMICAL MODEL

A termochemical model for calculating sulfur solubility of simple and complex silicate melts has been developed in the framework of the Toop-Samis polymeric approach combined with a Flood - Grjotheim theoretical treatment of silicate slags [1,2]. The model allows one to compute sulfide and sulfate content of silicate melts whenever fugacity of gaseous sulphur is provided. "Electrically equivalent ion fractions" are needed to weigh the contribution of the various disproportion reactions of the type: MOmelt + 1/2S2,gas ,MSmelt + 1/2O2,gas (1) MOmelt + 1/2S2,gas + 3/2O2,gas ,MSO4,melt (2) Eqs. 1 and 2 account for the oxide-sulfide and the oxide-sulfate disproportionation in silicate melt. Electrically equivalent ion fractions are computed, in a fused salt Temkin notation, over the appropriate matrixes (anionic and cationic). The extension of such matrixes is calculated in the framework of a polymeric model previously developed [1,2,3] and based on a parameterization of acid-base properties of melts. No adjustable parameters are used and model activities follow the raoultian behavior implicit in the ion matrix solution of the Temkin notation. The model is based on a huge amount of data available in literature and displays a high heuristic capability with virtually no compositional limits, as long as the structural role assigned to each oxide holds. REFERENCES: [1] Ottonello G., Moretti R., Marini L. and Vetuschi Zuccolini M. (2001), Chem. Geol., 174, 157-179. [2] Moretti R. (2002) PhD Thesis, University of Pisa. [3] Ottonello G. (2001) J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 282, 72-85. 1