Abstract
The carburization rate of iron by N
2-11 vol% CH
4 gas was investigated at 1573 K employing an induction furnace in order to minimize the pre-decomposition of methane. Unlike the carburization of iron by CO or CO+H
2 gases, the carburization rate of iron by CH
4-containing gas was controlled not by chemical reaction at the surface, but by diffusion of carbon in the liquid phase of Fe–C. The carburization rate by CH
4 was about 30 times faster than that by 50 vol% CO. The effects of H
2 addition and change in CH
4 concentration supported that the chemical reaction do not control the total carburization rate. The formation of graphite rods confirmed that the surface had a very high carbon concentration and the chemical reaction rate is sufficiently fast. Numerical simulation of the carbon diffusion in the spherical iron estimated the diffusivity of carbon (
) in liquid iron at 1573 K to be 3 × 10
–9 m
2/s. In addition, the moving mechanism of liquid/solid interface was schematically proposed.
