Flotation of Kish Graphite Precipitated from Carbon-saturated Iron Melt

Abstract

The flotation of carbon precipitated from carbon-saturated iron melt has been studied as a function of temperature drop, cooling rate, stirring and sulfur content in metal. Under the experimental conditions such as temperature (1450°C), the temperature drop (50 240°C) and the cooling rate (14.6 150°C/h), the amount of carbon floated to the top of the metal phase was observed to increase with increasing the degree of the temperature drop and with decreasing the cooling rate. The rate of flotation for the flakytype graphite (Kish graphite) was much faster than that for the sphere-type precipitated carbon. Furthermore the rate of flotation was accelerated by stirring, and increased by the addition of sulfur.