Now, if that same silica lining were to be exposed to cast iron with a high manganese content that resulted in the formation of manganese oxide, that oxide, circulated in suspension over the surface of the silica lining, would convert some of the silica refractory to a manganese silicate glass.
Once in contact with the alumina structure, the manganese silicate glass becomes unstable.
Cracking opens the structure to the penetration of more manganese silicate glass and causes rapid erosion.
The brown to black manganese silicate neotocite has a low degree of crystallinity and is not well defined.
Saneroite, a rare sodium and manganese silicate, was found for the first time at the Gambatesa mine as tabular triclinic crystals up to a few millimeters, associated with braunite and barite.
Ladle slag is primarily a combination of iron and
manganese silicate. Manganese sulfides have also been identified in the slag, as have rosettes of cristobalite, a silica phase that commonly forms in metal silicates.