Apparent activation of energy decarbonisation of Fe-C melts

The effect of temperature on the rates of decarbonisation of Fe-C melts, subjected to two different oxidising gaseous media, viz, still air and a mixture of 92% argon and 8% oxygen has been studied. Experiments were carried out in a graphite resistance furnace in the temperature range 1450°C-1650°C. The effect of temperature on the rate of carbon oxidation is found to be considerable. Within the temperature range investigated, the net rate doubles itself for both the gaseous media. The apparent activation energies have been calculated to be 28.95 kcal. For argon-oxygen mixture and 31.02 kcal for still air atmosphere. The calculated values have been compared with those found by Vallet for open-hearth melts and Watanable et al for laboratory melts and discrepancies are discussed. Analysis of laboratory data indicates the presence of a critical carbon concentration range. (Mr. P.K. Sen, Associate Professor in Metallurgical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur)