Study of Decarburization Process of Inductively Stirred Fe-C Melts

Abstract

A kinetic study of the decarburization process in a state of high oxygen blowing density which is similar condition in commercial converters has been done by blowing O₂-N₂ gas mixture of 0.12-0.48Nm³/min into the inductively well stirred Fe-C melts of about 50kg.
The results obtained are as follows: (i) the oxygen efficiency for decarburization is low in general, namely 40-50%; (ii) the maximum rate of decarburization is influenced markedly by partial pressure of oxygen, flow rate and lance height; (iii) temperature dependence of the decarburization rate is relatively small; (iv) a large amount of spit is created near the fire spot from the start of blowing and boiling occurs with decrease of carbon contents, thus the reaction surface moves gradually into bath; (v) the temperature of fire spot depends on partial pressure of oxygen.
Finally, a qualitative model of the behavior of oxygen has been proposed on the basis of the experimental results.