Abstract:
For the past decades, the use of calcium carbide, a well-known reducing agent at the secondary steelmaking, was extensively covered by many studies. The main features sought on this material, among many others, are its effect on lowering the oxidation potential of the ladle slag, increasing the alloy recovery rate, and reducing the number of nonmetallic inclusions on the semi-finished product. On this study, two types of calcium carbide were tested, one with a granulometry varying from 0-4 mm, and the other varying from 2-10 mm. The objective was to evaluate their effect on the desulfurization and deoxidation, during the tapping from the electric arc furnace to the ladle, and under the steel treatment at the ladle furnace station. The results showed a potential for the fine grain calcium carbide as a desulfurization agent during tapping, reaching 13 % of sulfur removal from the furnace sample to the ladle sample, as highlight by past studies, due to its powder morphology. The deoxidating result was better reported during the chemical composition adjustment, for both materials, at the ladle station, obtained reduction of approximately 5 and 8 kg in the silicon and silicon-manganese alloy addictions, respectively.