KINETICS OF THE REDUCTION OF CARBON ALUMINA POWDER MIXTURE IN A FLOWING NITROGEN STREAM

The reduction of carbon/alumina powder mixture in a flowing nitrogen s tream was investigated by weight loss measurement and X-ray diffractio n. Experimental results indicated that the reaction rate could be incr eased by increasing the nitrogen flow rate, weight ratio of C/Al2O3, o r reaction temperature. The rate was also found to be increased by dec reasing the sample size, the grain sizes of carbon or aluminum oxide, or initial bulk density. Empirical expressions of consumption rates of Al2O3 and C as well as production rate or AlN have been determined.