Deoxidation of Electroslag Remelting (ESR) – A Review

抄録

Deoxidation of liquid steel and alloy during electroslag remelting (ESR) is always an ongoing concern for producing advanced clean steel and alloy. The increasing demands for more excellent performance of steel urge metallurgists to further improve the steel cleanliness. Lowering the oxygen content and non-metallic inclusions amount during the ESR process is of great importance as ESR is the last processing procedure for refining liquid steel in the steel product manufacturing process. Deoxidation of ESR is dependent on one or more aspects including the initial oxygen content and oxide inclusions in the electrode, remelting atmosphere, deoxidation schemes, slag compositions, reoxidation degree, melting rate and filling ratio. This paper reviews the state of the art in the deoxidation of ESR and deoxidation-related oxide inclusions. The oxygen transfer behavior during ESR process is described first. Deoxidation of liquid steel during ESR is discussed based on the thermodynamic and kinetic considerations. The dependence of the oxygen on the processing parameters of ESR is reviewed and discussed. The influence of these parameters on the oxide inclusions associated with the deoxidation of ESR is also assessed. The suggestions for the future work are proposed in this article.