The non-metallic inclusions in Ti-IF steel smelted by
semi-steel was studied by thermal test to improve the cleanliness of molten
steel and reduce the size of inclusions for process optimization. The research shows that the
inclusions are spherical FeO-MnO in LF inlet, the main inclusions are wrapped
and clustered MgO-FeO-MnO-Al2O3 in LF outlet. The main
inclusions are mainly spherical, spindle-shaped and irregular FeO-Al2O3 after RH decarburization, and are mainly triangular, quasi-spherical and
clustered Al2O3 after RH aluminum deoxidation for 3
minutes. After Ti alloying for 3 minutes, the main shapes of inclusions are
hexagonal TiO2-Al2O3, spindle-shaped and
almost diamond-shaped Al2O3. After leaving the RH station,the inclusions are spherical TiO2-Al2O3,
spindle-shaped and nearly diamond-shaped Al2O3 inclusions.
The inclusions in the slab are mainly diamond-shaped TiN, quasi-spherical Al2O3 and irregular-shaped Al2O3-TiN. The non-metallic
inclusions in the original process that affect the surface quality of Ti-IF
steel and the purity of molten steel are mainly large-sized Al2O3 (≥15μm). By optimizing the oxygen lance nozzle, RH process parameters and
tundish flow field, the T.O mass fraction in slab is reduced to 16.3×10-6,
the maximum non-metallic inclusion size is reduced to 9.5 μm. So the
cleanliness of Ti-IF molten steel is significantly improved.