The effect of composition on spinel crystals equilibrium in low-silica high-level waste glasses

The liquidus temperature (TL) and the equilibrium mass fraction of spinel were measured in the regions of low-silica (less than 42 mass% SiO2) high-level waste borosilicate glasses within the spinel primary phase field as functions of glass composition. The components that varied, one at a time, were Al2O3, B2O3, Cr2O3, Fe2O3, Li2O, MnO, Na2O, NiO, SiO2, and ZrO2. The effects of Al2O3, B2O3, Fe2O3, NiO, SiO2, and ZrO2 on the TL in this region and in glasses with 42 to 56 mass% SiO2 were similar. However, in the low-silica region, Cr2O3 increased the TL substantially less, and Li2O and Na2O decreased the TL significantly less than in the region with 42 to 56 mass% SiO2. The effect of MnO on the TL of the higher SiO2 glasses is not yet understood with sufficient accuracy. The temperature at which the equilibrium mass fraction of spinel was 1 mass% was 25C to 64C below the TL.