Modeling the viscosity of silicate melts containing zinc oxide

Our recently developed model for the viscosity of silicate melts is applied to describe and predict the viscosities of oxide melts containing zinc oxide. The model requires three pairs of adjustable parameters which describe the viscosities in three systems: pure ZnO, ZnO–SiO2 and ZnO–Al2O3–SiO2. The viscosity of multicomponent silicate melts containing ZnO is then predicted by the model without any additional adjustable model parameters. Experimental viscosity data are reviewed for melts formed by ZnO with SiO2, Al2O3, PbO, CaO, MgO, Na2O and K2O. The deviation of the available experimental data from the viscosities predicted by the model is shown to be within experimental error limits.