A kinetic model (effective equilibrium reaction zone model) was developed to simulate the decarburization reaction in the Ruhrstahl Heraeus (RH) degassing process. The model assumes that the chemical reactions reach equilibrium in the designated effective reaction volumes near the reaction interfaces. After the RH degassing process was divided into various reaction zones, the effective reaction volumes of each reaction zone were expressed as a function of the process conditions based on the physical descriptions of the reaction mechanisms. The influence of the chemical reaction between the RH slag and the RH steel to the decarburization phenomena was considered for the first time. The calculated C and O profiles by the present model are in good agreement with the industrial operation data for various steel compositions and process conditions. RH slag can serve as an oxygen reservoir to supply O during the RH decarburization process, which induces the observed deviation of the C and O contents from their ideal stoichiometric trajectory. The present model provides an efficient tool to understand the RH degassing process.

Experiments were carried out on a system with artificially prepared slags in a graphite crucible, in order to examine the possibility of recycling BOF slags produced in the steelmaking process. More than 80% of FeO and P 20S was reduced within 20 minutes and the FeO reduction rate was greater than that of P 20S. P 20S reduction began after more than 60% of FeO was reduced. Increasing slag basicity enhanced the reduction of FeO and P20S. Temperature also improved slag reduction. The overall reduction rate was controlled by the chemical reaction at the slag/carbon interface. The reduction rates of FeO and P20Swere second and first order with respect to their respective contents. Most of the reduced phosphorus is believed to vaporize in the form of P 2 gas.

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This study aims to elucidate the process of inclusion precipitation in Fe-Si and Fe-Si-Al melts. Deoxidation experiments were carried out in a vacuum induction furnace (VIF) at 1873 K (1600°C). In the Si-deoxidation experiments, spherical SiO 2 of 1~2 lm diameter was dominant. When 3 wt pct Si and 300 ppm Al were added, such that Al 2 O 3 and mullite were thermodynamically stable, the resulting inclusions depended on the addition sequence. When aluminum was added before silicon, spherical aluminum oxides were dominant after the Al addition, but after the Si addition, the number and size of alumina decreased and Al-Si oxides and mullite appeared with increasing time. When silicon was added before aluminum, spherical SiO 2 was dominant after the Si addition, but after the Al addition, spherical and polygonal alumina inclusions were dominant. When Al/Si was added simultaneously, polygonal alumina inclusions were dominant initially, but with time, Al-Si oxide and mullite inclusions increased in numbers. If the Al amount in the Al/Si addition was increased to 600 ppm, only alumina was found. This study shows how, under similar thermodynamic conditions, the transient evolution of inclusions in iron melts in the Si-Al-O system differ depending on the alloy addition sequence.