Abstract:
Desulfurization of CaO–Al
2O
3 particles in molten steel was observed
in situ using high-temperature confocal scanning laser microscopy. The effects of the aluminum and silicon contents of molten steel on desulfurization were analyzed. When the total aluminum content in the steel increased from 6 to 1100 ppm, the CaS content in CaO–Al
2O
3 particles increased from 2.1wt% to 84.84wt% after the reaction for 90 s. Furthermore, when the silicon content in the steel increased from 0.01wt% to 2.20wt%, the CaS content in CaO–Al
2O
3 particles increased from 1.53wt% to 79.01wt% after the reaction for 90 s. This indicates that the increase in the aluminum and silicon contents of the steel promoted the desulfurization of CaO–Al
2O
3 particles. A kinetic model was established to predict the CaO–Al
2O
3 particles composition, and the diffusion coefficient of sulfur in CaO–Al
2O
3 particles was 9.375 × 10
-10 m
2·s
-1 at 1600°C, which provided a new method for the calculation of diffusion coefficient.