Purification performance on molten steel of novel Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filter prepared from microporous powder and nano-Al_(2)O_(3) powder

Reticulated ceramic foam filters provide an effective way to purify molten steel by removing non-metallic inclusions.We proposed a novel strategy to improve the purification performance of Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filters by using microporous corundum-spinel raw materials to replace dense raw materials.Three kinds of Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filters fabricated from dense α-Al_(2)O_(3) micro-powder or microporous corundum-spinel powder were selected to carry out the immersion tests with molten steel.On the one hand,the higher surface roughness of the filter skeleton prepared from microporous raw materials increased the adsorption capacity of skeleton surface on inclusions in molten steel.On the other hand,the higher apparent porosity and larger pore size of the filter skeleton were more beneficial to the penetration of molten steel in the micropores of skeleton.The reaction process at the solid-liquid interface also improved the wettability of the interface between skeleton and molten steel,resulting in a larger penetration depth and a better adsorption effect on the inclusions.In summary,the novel Al_(2)O_(3)-based ceramic filter prepared with microporous corundum-spinel powder and addition of 5 wt.% nano-Al_(2)O_(3) powder reduced the total oxygen content of the steel from 40.2×10^(-4) to 12.7×10^(-4) wt.% by 68.4% and the Al content from 0.46 to 0.18 wt.% by 60.9% after immersion test,presenting the most excellent purification performance on molten steel.

Effect of nano-carbon black content on wetting phenomenon of molten steel and alumina-carbon ceramic filter substrates

The effect of nano-carbon black content(O,8 and 12 wt.%)on the wettability of molten steel on Al_(2)O_(3)-C substrates was investigated by the sessile drop wetting method at 1500℃ under argon atmosphere.At the beginning of the wetting experiment,the contact angle decreased with the increase in nano-carbon black content.As the wetting experiment progressed,FeAl_(2)0_(4) layer and sheet Al_(2)O_(3) layer were found at the interface between the molten steel and the Al_(2)O_(3)-C substrates with O and 8 wt.% nano-carbon black content,and the contact angle deceased with time.When the content of nano-carbon black was 12 wt.%,a large number of nano-Al_(2)O_(3) whiskers were observed,which made the contact angle between the molten steel and Al_(2)O_(3)-C substrate become large.Based on the scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometry results,the formation mechanism of FeAl2O4 layer and Al_(2)O_(3) layer and the interfacial reaction mechanism were proposed.