Measurement of oxygen activity in ferro-alloys

The thesis deals with determination of the oxygen content in ferro-alloys with emphasis on direct oxygen activity measurement in the meltage. The practical part of the thesis contains statistical analysis of oxygen activity values measured in austenitic and duplex stainless steel meltages. The measurements were done in vacuum furnace before vacuuming and afterwards. Statistically significant dependency of oxygen activity on the temperature of meltage was discovered among the values measured after the vacuuming. Therefore, its value can be predicted based just on the temperature of the meltage. No statistically significant dependency was found among the values measured before vacuuming (except for the low Chromium austenitic stainless steel meltages). Hence, other factors need to be considered when predicting oxygen activity before vacuuming