Iron and Steel Division - The Rate and Mechanism of the Sulfurization of Carbon-Saturated Iron

In recent years the problem of sulfur elimination in iron and steel-making has been of increasing importance. This interest has been due to the increasing amounts of sulfur coming into the system via raw materials. As a result, many investigations have been directed at obtaining information pertaining to the rate and mechanism of sulfur removal in the blast furnace as well as measuring appropriate thermodynamic quantities. Chang and Goldmanl as well as others2'3 showed that the process of sulfur transfer from molten carbon-saturated iron to blast furnace-type slags could be considered as two opposing first-order chemical reactions. Recently, Ramachandran et al.4 have shown that during desulfurization electrical neutrality is preserved in both phases and iron and silicon are transferred into the slag concurrently with the evolution of carbon monoxide gas. They concluded that the reaction s + c-+ (0)=(S) + CO(g) does not express the stoichiometry of the sulfur transfer process. As in all previous investigations, these authors studied the process of a net transfer of sulfur from metal to slag across a slag-metal interface. However, no experimental data have previously been obtained for the process of sulfurization. It was the purpose of this study to investigate the sulfurization process, i.e., net transfer of sulfur from slag to metal. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Apparatus—The equipment used in this investiga-tion was typical of that used by others.1-3The furnace was a high-frequency induction unit powered by a 35 kw Hg spark gap converter. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus. A two-compartment crucible assembly was employed to melt the slag and metal charges; being similar to that used by Ramachandran,4 in size and design. The atmosphere was that produced by reaction of hot graphite with air. Temperature measurements were made by W-Mo thermocouples which were calibrated against a Bureau of Standards Pt - Pt 10 pct Rh couple. Temperature control was always good to * 5°C and in general was much better than this figure. Raw materials used in the experiments were C. P. reagent grade where possible. The silica used in the preparation of the slags was in the form of highly purified silica flour. Silicon and titanium additions