Search

Refractories have an important effect on the cleanliness of molten steel. The interaction between CeAlO3refractories and Ce treated steel was explored and compared with that between Al2O3refractories and Ce treated steel. The results show that the Ce content in steel decreases sharply after contact with Al2O3refractories and the pick-up of dissolved Al occurs. Compared with the test of Al2O3refractories, the loss of Ce content is less in the test of CeAlO3refractory, and the total oxygen content and dissolved Al content in steel increase less. The dense and continuous Ce2O2S interface layer is observed at the CeAlO3refractories/steel interface, which can serve as the metallurgical isolation layer and hinder the further interaction between refractories and steel. Therefore, the higher steel cleanliness and less penetration of refractories by molten steel are obtained in the test of CeAlO3refractories. The CeAlO3refractories show a promising prospect in the production of clean Ce treated steel.

In order to explore the corrosion mechanism of Al2O3–C refractories in the mold flux bearing MnO, the immersion test of Al2O3–C refractories in CaO–SiO2–CaF2–MnO slag with different MnO contents was carried out at 1550 °C. The results show that Mn particles were observed in the slag after experiment, due to the reduction of MnO by graphite in refractories. Large amounts of graphite were observed at the interface between refractories and slag, indicating that the oxidation of graphite is limited by the poor contact between graphite and molten slag. Therefore, the oxidation of graphite is not the main cause of damage to refractories. A small quantity of CaO·2Al2O3(CA2) and CaO·6Al2O3(CA6) adjacent to Al2O3grain was detected at the slag/reaction layer interface. CA2and CA6possess relatively high melting points, which is beneficial to hindering the further penetration of slag. However, the dissolution of Al2O3into slag is still the main cause for refractories damage. The increase in the MnO content of mold slag decreases the viscosity and then results in the severe corrosion of Al2O3–C bricks.