In order to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the casting process and become a decarbonized society by 2050, decarbonization in the manufacturing process, such as the utilization of converted biomass resources, should be promoted. Recently, using recycled steel scraps that contain small amount of carbon tends to increase as a cheap iron source. In this case, the total amount of carburizer has to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the characteristics of biomass, which is a sustainable carbon source and carbon-neutral, as a substitution for coal coke and to examine the casting method that is friendly to the environment.
Biocoke is a solid product to utilize biomass effectively. Biocoke can be produced from herbaceous biomass. The possibility to promote the domestic production of the carburizer can be expected by using bamboo as a raw material. The carburizing effect of biocoke as a carburizer in the melting process using a high frequency induction melting furnace has been confirmed. However, the carburizing process and mechanism of carburizer made from biomass have not been studied.
In this study, Bio-coke with different degrees of carbonization was carried out in the casting process to clarify the carburizing process. The graphitization degree was used for the evaluation of the carbon on the contact surface between bio-coke and molten metal using the graphitization degree. The consideration of the carburizing process was carried out from the carburizing effect and graphitization degree. The lower the degree of crystallinity of carbon in bio-coke, the faster the carbonization was carried out. It was found that the carburizing was performed when the R-value, which indicates the degree of graphitization, reached around 0.8.
This Paper was Originally Published in Japanese in J. JFS 95 (2023) 9–15.
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