On the Oxygen Transfer during Direct Current Electroslag Remelting of Carbon Steel

Abstract

In order to study the mechanism of oxygen transfer during electro-slag remelting, carbon steel (S 48 C) was remelted in CaF₂-Al₂O₃ slag using a small scale ESR unit of direct current under the open atmosphere.
It was confirmed that those ingots remelted with an electrode of negative polarity give higher oxygen content than those with positive. Those differences of oxygen behavior would be resulted from the differences of the current density and of the inter facial area between the metal and slag. The oxygen content in those ingots remelted in large scale ESR furnace could be estimated from the present results on the oxygen transfer through the molten metal/ slag interface, on the assumption that the mass transfer coefficient of oxygen depends on the current density of the interface.