Institute of Metals Division - Solubility of Oxygen in Liquid Nickel and Fe-Ni Alloys

DURING the past twenty years, a considerable background of knowledge has been built up on the chemical behavior of oxygen in liquid iron. Little is known regarding oxygen in liquid nickel or the effect of nickel as an alloying element on the behavior of oxygen in liquid steel. The solubility of oxygen in liquid iron was determined by Fetters and Chipman' and, more precisely, by Taylor and Chipman.' The Ni-NiO eutectic was placed by Merica and Waltenberg"' * at 1438°C and 0.24 pct 0, and this point has been confirmed by others." O It was reported by von Bohlen und Halbach and LeitgebelT that nickel and its oxide are miscible in all proportions at 1600°C, but this report is discredited by observations of others. The melting point of NiO according to von Wartenberg and ReuschV s 1990°C. Approximate values of oxygen solubility at several temperatures were reported by Hensel and Sc0tt.O The data of Krupowski and Balickil0 are inconsistent with those of Hensel and Scott and indicate a solubility less than half that found in the present study. For oxygen solubility in Fe-Ni alloys under pure iron oxide-nickel oxide slags, only the scattered data of von Bohlen und Halbach and LeitgebelT are avail- able. The careful work of Bardenheuer and Brauns" involved silica-saturated slags. The equilibrium between Fe-Ni alloys and iron oxide-nickel oxide slags was studied by zur Strassenu and by Jander and Senf,u but no oxygen analyses were reported. Oxygen in Pure Nickel Apparatus and Nlethod: Samples were taken with a "Taylor sampler" from a bath of molten electrolytic nickel held under an air atmosphere in a magnesia-lined 30 lb induction furnace. Saturation of the melt with oxygen was effected partly by the addition of chemically pure black nickel oxide and partly by the air atmosphere. Samples were taken only when there was a clearly visible oxide phase present. To avoid contamination of this oxide phase, the silica-sheathed Pt—Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouples, by means of which temperatures were measured, were immersed in the melt for the minimum time consistent with accurate reading. Samples and temperature readings were taken only after the furnace had been