Impacts of Modification of Alloying Method on Inclusion Evolution in RH Refining of Silicon Steel
Fangjie Li,
Huigai Li,
Shaobo Zheng,
Jinglin You,
Ke Han,
Qijie Zhai
Affiliations
Fangjie Li
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Ferrometallurgy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
Huigai Li
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Ferrometallurgy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
Shaobo Zheng
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Ferrometallurgy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
Jinglin You
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Ferrometallurgy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
Ke Han
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Qijie Zhai
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Ferrometallurgy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
This study explores the effect of introducing additional alloy elements not only in a different order but also at different stages of the Ruhrstahl-Heraeus (RH) process of low-carbon silicon steel production. A more economical method, described as “pre-alloying”, has been introduced. The evolution of MnO-FeO inclusions produced by pre-alloying was investigated. Results show that spherical 3FeO·MnO inclusions form first, then shelled FeO·zMnO (z = 0.7–4) inclusions nucleate on the surface of pre-existing 3FeO·MnO. Spherical FeO·zMnO (z = 3–5) is further evolved from shelled 3FeO·MnO by diffusion. Because these MnO-FeO inclusions float up into the slag before degassing, the pre-alloying process does not affect the quality of the melt in the end. Both carbon content and inclusion size conform to industry standards.
