Investigation of the Influence of the Energy of Thermal Plasma on the Morphology and Phase Composition of Aluminosilicate Microspheres

The influence of the energy of thermal plasma on the morphology and phase composition of agglomerated refractory oxide powders was investigated. It was established that on processing agglomerated powder, based on the ash residue from a state district power plant, in the flow of thermal plasma with different thermophysical characteristics of the carrier medium, three types of morphological features of the particles are formed: dense particle with separate gas inclusions in the surface layer; hollow spherical particle; vitrified agglomerated particle with solid-phase inclusions. According to XRD data, after processing, agglomerated polycrystalline powders are amorphous. On the x-ray diffraction patterns of particles processed in the turbulent regime of plasma jet outflow, there is a small Bragg peak of β-quartz. This means that the grains do not reach the molten state at the center of the agglomerate.