Content (wt%)

Carbon and Silicon

Pickup of Soaking time (min)

Relationship between (▲) carbon content and (G) silicon content

Interstitial-Free with soaking time under vacuum.

Steel from Al2O3–SiC

Refractories Pressure (Pa)

Carbon and silicon content of steel

samples heated in Al2O3–SiC crucibles
increased with soaking time and was
controlled by an impregnation–
dissolution mechanism.
Time (min)
Guozhi Ruan, Nan Li and Zhihui Zhang
Pressure variation of inner furnace with time (steel melt marked as
0 min).

Clean steel becomes more important with increased demands for high-quality steel. Ultralow carbon con-
tent and few inclusions are required for some steel.1 Low carbon content can be realized by refining. However,
molten steel may be recarburized by carbon-containing refractories after it is refined.2,3 Heat treatment and
carbon content of as well as antioxidant addition to refractories greatly influence the pickup of carbon by
molten steel.4,5
Bannenberg et al.6 as well as the current authors and their colleagues7–9 have reported that MgO–C and
Al2O3–C refractories cause carbon pickup by molten steel. Therefore, novel high-performance refractories
need to be substituted for carbon-containing refractories. As a result, Al2O3–SiC refractories have received
extensive study.

The Experiment
Raw materials used were white fused alumina (WFA) and SiC. Phenol formaldehyde resin was used as
binder. Al2O3–SiC crucibles with a SiC content of 15 wt% were fabricated using cold isostatic pressing at
~200 MPa. The crucibles, made by mixtures, were heated at 280°C for 24 h. The crucibles were dried, 6 kg
of interstitial-free (IF) steel was added, crucibles and steel were placed in a vacuum induction furnace and the
system then was placed under vacuum.
The IF steel composition—which was provided by Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd.—and its carbon con-
tent were determined using high-frequency combustion infrared absorption. Heating of the crucibles began
when the pressure in the furnace was ~10 Pa. The pressure in the furnace first increased then slightly

American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 10 9101

Carbon and Silicon Pickup
decreased (usually) with increased temperature. The pres-
sure varied because of furnace-lining vaporization and
molten-steel overflow caused by boiling until the experi-
ment was halted when the IF steel melted under vacuum
conditions. Thereafter, the furnace was filled with argon and
the pressure was controlled.
The Al2O3–SiC crucibles that contained IF steel were

Si/C
heated at 1600°C for 2 h in a vacuum induction furnace.
The first sample of molten steel was removed via a quartz
pipe when the molten steel reached 1600°C. This time was
marked as 0 min, and steel samples also were taken at 30, 60,
90 and 120 min. Carbon content of steel melt samples was
determined using high-frequency combustion infrared
absorption (Model CS-444LS, LECO Co., St. Joseph,
Mich.). The refractory after heating was investigated using
Soaking time (min)
electron probe microanalysis (EPMA; Model ISIS, Oxford
Instruments, Concord, Mass.) with energy-dispersive spec- Relationship between the silicon-to-carbon mole ratio pick-
troscopy (EDS; Model JAX-8800R, JEOL, Tokyo). up with soaking time.

Carbon and Silicon Content

The relationship between steel carbon and silicon content and soaking time
at 1600°C in an Al2O3–SiC crucible under vacuum conditions was plotted. The
values used were the average of three experiments. The relationship between the
silicon-to-carbon mole ratio picked up by the molten steel and the soaking time
was plotted. The amount of silicon and carbon as well as the silicon-to-carbon
mole ratio in the molten steel increased with increased soaking time. Before the
first sample was evaluated, the molten steel had picked up a quantity of carbon
and silicon from the Al2O3–SiC refractory crucible.

Composition of Raw Materials

The steel melt pickup of carbon and silicon
from Al2O3–SiC refractories was controlled by an
impregnation–dissolution mechanism.10,11 When
White fused
steel melts contacted SiC, the reaction SiC(s) = Sketch of equipment used in present
Oxide alumina (wt%) SiC (wt%)
C + Si occurred, and the steel melts picked up experiments.
Al2O3 99.30 0.41
equal molar amounts of silicon and carbon.
SiO2 0.22 0.53
CaO 0.03 0.05
Silicon oxidation is preferred to carbon oxidation in steel melts,12 and there
MgO 0.02 0.02 is little oxygen in steel melts and in refractory pores.13,14 Therefore, when the
K 2O 0.025 0.02 reaction Si + O = SiO(g) occurs, the mole amount of carbon pickup in the steel
Na2O 0.021 0.02 melt is greater than that of silicon. When the soaking time increases, the O in
Fe2O3 0.30 0.17 the steel melt is exhausted, the degree of silicon pickup increases and the car-
TiO2 0.012 0.02 bon to silicon mole ratio pickup in the steel melt decreases. The weight
amount of carbon pickup from refractories is much less that of silicon because
the molar weight of silicon is greater than that of carbon. I
SiC 97.90
LOI 0.40

Composition of IF Steel
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Education Dept. of Hubei Province
Component Composition (ppm) Government for financial support and E. Cai for fabricating the crucibles.
Carbon 20
Silicon 300 About the Authors
Manganese 1200
Phosphorus 100 Guozhi Ruan and Zhihui Zhang are researchers with Hubei Province Key
Sulfur 78 Lab of Refractories and Ceramics, Wuhan University of Science and
Aluminum 450 Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China, and are faculty members of Shandong
Nitrogen 34 University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, China. Nan Li
Titanium 730 is a researcher with Hubei Province Key Lab of Refractories and Ceramics.
Oxygen 15
Corres-pondence should be addressed to Guozhi Ruan at Shandong
Iron Balance
University of Science and Technology.

9102 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 85, No. 10

Carbon and Silicon Pickup
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