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Kinetics and Mechanism of Ternesite Formation from Dicalcium Silicate and Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate

The kinetics and mechanism of ternesite formation (calcium sulfosilicate, Ca₅(SiO₄)₂SO₄, C₅S₂$) were investigated by studying the reaction between beta-dicalcium silicate (β-C₂S) and calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO₄∙2H₂O). Mineralogical composition development was monitored using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and backscattered scanning electron microscopy (BSEM) coupled to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Ternesite can form in the 1100 to 1200 °C range by the solid-phase reaction of β-C₂S and CaSO₄. The formation of ternesite is favored by increasing the sintering temperature or extending the sintering time. The solid-phase reaction is carried out by diffusion of CaSO₄ to β-C₂S. The kinetics equation of ternesite is consistent with three-dimensional diffusion models (3-D model, D3 model or Jander model). The equation of the D3 model is 1 − 2α/3 − (1 − α)^2/3 = kt. On the basis of the Arrhenius equation, the activation energy of ternesite is 239.8 kJ/mol.

KINETICS IN SOLIDS

The kinetics of solid state reactions generally cannot be assumed to follow simple rate laws that are applicable to gas-phase reactions. Nevertheless, a widely practiced method for extracting Arrhenius parameters from thermal analysis experiments involves force fitting of experimental data to simple reaction-order kinetic models. This method can produce significant errors in predicted rates outside the experimental range of temperatures, and it is of limited utility for drawing mechanistic conclusions about reactions. In this review, we discuss how an alternative "model-free" approach to kinetic analysis, which is based on the isoconversional method, can overcome some of these limitations.