Kinetic Modeling of Nonmetallic Inclusions Behavior in Molten Steel: A Review

Abstract

The kinetic modeling for the nucleation, size growth, and compositional evolution of nonmetallic inclusions in steel was extensively reviewed in the present article. The nucleation and initial growth of inclusion in molten steel during deoxidation as well as the collision growth, motion, removal, and entrapment of inclusions in the molten steel in continuous casting (CC) tundish and strand were discussed. Moreover, the recent studies on the prediction of inclusion composition in CC semiproducts were introduced. Since the 1990s, the development of thermodynamic model and relevant databases for inclusion engineering has been initiated by the steel industry. Later, the commercial software FACTSAGE employing the FACT database was widely used to predict the gas (atmosphere/bubble)-liquid (steel/slag/inclusion)-solid (refractory/slag/steel/inclusion) multiphase equilibria. With the help of the comprehensive thermodynamic database and solution models in conjunction with the development of user-friendly computing packages, the kinetics of inclusion evolution in molten steel can be successfully predicted based on several kinetic models such as the coupled reaction (CR) model, reaction zone model, and tank series recirculation (TSR) model. However, some parameters are needed to represent the real processes according to the model employed at different operational or experimental conditions. The effect of reoxidation on the evolution of inclusions in the ladle and tundish, which was experimentally confirmed, can be simulated by the effective equilibrium reaction zone (EERZ) model. The complex slag-steel interfacial reaction phenomena have been successfully explained by the interfacial kinetic model based on the dynamic interfacial tension and oxygen adsorption/desorption characteristics at the slag-steel interface.

Investigation on the Effects of Ladle Change Operation and Tundish Cover Powder on Steel Cleanliness in a Continuous Casting Tundish

“…Accordingly, it gave rise to the increase in Si content in the steel. Similar results have also been reported by Holappa et al, [16,17] Yan et al, [18] and Park et al [19][20][21] Although the steel reoxidation caused by the TCP has been widely discussed, the effect of DOI: 10.1002/srin.202100072…”

“…Basu et al [9] and Park et al [19][20][21] reported that the SiO 2 from the rice husk ash could dissolve into the molten slag layer at the double-layer interface during continuous casting. The dissolution of SiO 2 in the molten slag would cause the steel reoxidation by the slag-steel reaction and the change of the slag-steel interfacial tension, which further result in reoxidation.…”

Influence of Slag Viscosity and Composition on the Inclusion Content in Steel

“…The values are in a reasonable range, compared to the reported values for the laboratory experiments. 35,36) Figure 6 shows the changes of the predicted slag compositions. From Fig.…”

Editorial: Inclusion/Precipitate Engineering and Thermo-Physical Properties in Liquid Steels and Alloys

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Editorial on the Research TopicInclusion/Precipitate Engineering and Thermo-Physical Properties in Liquid Steels and Alloys Non-metallic inclusion and precipitate behaviors in the liquid-and solid-state steels and alloys play a significant influence on both the cleanliness and the mechanical and corrosion properties of the materials. Two classical terminologies regarding the control of non-metallic inclusion behaviors exist, "Clean Steel Technology" refers to the investigation of inclusion motion, agglomeration, and its removal from the liquid steel and slag (Mu et al, 2018;Park and Zhang, 2020;Michelic and Bernhard, 2022). When the inclusion size is too small (normally sub-micron size) to remove, "Oxide Metallurgy" provides a suitable solution to utilize these types of specific inclusions/precipitates to refine the prior austenite grain size (PAGS) and induce intragranular acicular ferrite (IAF) formation to improve the steel mechanical property, e.g., low-temperature toughness (Sarma et al, 2009;Mu et al, 2017).

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