A study of the high-temperature interaction between synthetic slags and steel

Abstract

The paper is devoted to selected aspects of the current issues of the high-temperature interaction of the synthetic multicomponent oxidic systems and selected grades of steel. Analysing the consequences of the interaction between slag and molten steel is an integral part of modern research that can be connected with subsequent, applied research in the field of producing and refining steel. The interactions between the synthetic slag and the molten metal is realized after the processing of the liquid steel in the primary metallurgical aggregates, i.e., at the beginning of refining processes of secondary metallurgy. The addition of these synthetic systems (slag) significantly affects many technological processes and indirectly affects the final quality of the cast steel. This influence can be seen on two levels: the metallurgical and the metallographic. Both of these levels of evaluation complement each other. For the evaluation of the metallurgical aspects of refining processes a number of thermodynamic relations were used, supplemented by empirically established formulas and coefficients. Metallographic analyses utilize modern tools in the study of the structure and the chemical composition of materials, i.e., from light microscopy to sophisticated systems of microanalysis of elemental composition using a scanning electron microscope combined with an energy-dispersive X-ray micro-analyser. It is obvious that this area deserves more focused research and more attention, particularly in the context of the on-going needs for the identification and quantification of phenomena taking place in the following metallurgical innovations.