Injection of manganese ore in liquid steel

Abstract

A theoretical and experimental analysis is carried out to estimate the rate of MnO reduction when manganese ore is injected into liquid steel with three carbon contents, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mass % at 1600 °C. It is assumed that there are two reaction zones along the flux injection operation: a transitory reaction between the rising particles and the bulk metal, and the permanent reaction between the metal and the top slag. The experiments were carried out in an open 10 kg induction furnace using A1203 refractory. The results show that the transitory reaction plays a more important role in the powder injection process than the permanent reaction. The reduction of MnO with silicon is more important when the basicity of the slag is high; this is because the aSi02 decreases as the slag basicity is increased. However, when the slag basicity is low and the initial carbon content in steel is high the reduction of MnO with silicon becomes less efficient, although silicon still remains better reducing agent than carbon.