THE CAPILLARY EFFECT PROMOTING COLLISION AND AGGLOMERATION OF INCLUSION PARTICLES AT THE INERT GAS-STEEL INTERFACE

Gas bubbling and flux injection processes have been extensively used i n metallurgical industries for several decades since the processes hav e been confirmed to be effective in removing impurity elements and non -metallic inclusions from liquid metals and improving the morphology o f inclusions. Aiming at more effective use of gas and flux powder for injection refining to obtain higher quality products at lower cost, el ucidation of the interfacial phenomena at inert gas-solid particle-liq uid metal interfaces has become increasingly important. A new techniqu e is presented to observe in situ the inclusions on steel melt, reveal ing collision/agglomeration characteristics of the inclusions.