Corrosion of Carbon Free and Bonded Refractories for Application in Steel Ingot Casting: An Approach for Improving Steel Quality

Abstract

Impurities and resulting inclusions are an issue when processing higher amounts of scrap during steel making. To increase the recycling rate, the removal of impurities from the scrap in form of inclusions is of great interest. In previous studies was found that inclusions attach primarily on carbon containing refractories, especially if on their surface an interfacial layer (1–3 µm thickness) was formed in-situ. This study investigates the formation mechanism of this in-situ layer in detail by application of computer tomography (CT) measurements on two scales. The large scale CT scans visualized the general appearance whereas the small scale measurement regarded the in-situ formed layer and the attached inclusions in detail. Based on these measurements, previous results and a literature review it was concluded that the layer formed mainly due to carbothermally reduced impurities which moved to the decarburized surface of the refractory in gaseous form and enhanced sintering of the surface region to develop the layer.