On the Rate of Dissolution of Carbon into Molten Fe-C Alloy

Abstract

The rate of dissolution of carbon from the rotating or the stationary graphite cylinder into liquid Fe-C alloy has been measured in the temperature range 1270 to 1550 C. From the results obtained, it was concluded that the dissolution process was controlled by the mass transfer in the liquid. Applying the non-dimensional correlation of the mass-transfer under the forced convection, the effective interdiffusivity in liquid Fe-C alloy was estimated from the experimental results on the rotating cylinder. On the other hand, the mass-transfer coefficients for the stationary cylinder evaluated from the non-dimensional correlation under the natural convection were compared with the experimental results. When the effective interdiffusivity is used, experimental results for the stationary cylinder can be summarized as follows: Sh = 0.115 (Gr.m x Sc)^1/8. Furthermore, the effects of the heat of solution of carbon and the rate of heat-transfer on the dissolution process were briefly discussed.