Fundamental investigation of refractory reactions occurring at high temperatures in continuous steel casting process

An in-depth study has been carried out to investigate refractory degradation during continuous steel casting processes. Slag/refractory interactions have been investigated through a study of the wetting behaviour and gas generation phenomena at the slag/refractory interface at 1550oC using sessile drop experiments. The influence of carbon content and slag composition was investigated. Two different steel casting slags (slag1: MnO 50%, SiO2 25%, Al2O3 25%; and slag2: MnO 40%, SiO2 60%) have been studied along with yttria stabilized zirconia refractory substrates respectively containing 10%, 15% and 20% carbon. The gas generation has been measured using the Infrared gas analyser, and its influence has also been investigated by taking optical images at varying times. The total amount of gases emitted has shown the dependence on the compositions of refractory substrates and the existence of casting slags. Under the investigation of zirconia-carbon refractory, a new phenomenon that the gas generated can push the liquid slags away and minimise the contact of slags and refractory substrates has been proven