Industrial Application of Desulfurization Using Low Basicity Refining Slag in Tire Cord Steel Original Research Article

Desulfurization performance with low binary basicity refining slag in 72 grade tire cord steel was calculated using FactSage and it is found that sulfur content in steel decreases with the increase of basicity of slag, MgO content in slag and slag/steel ratio while sulfur partition ratio between slag and steel increases gradually with the increase of basicity of slag as well as MgO content. Experiments were carried out and the results are of great agreements with theoretical calculation. Then industrial application tests were performed in a domestic plant and good results were achieved. Sulfur content in steel decreases gradually during refining process, as a result, sulfur content in the billets is controlled in the range of 0.0071%–0.0081%. Sulfur content in steel refined with slag basicity of 1.21 is lower than that of 1.02, while the plasticity of oxide compound inclusions is a little better controlled in low basicity heats. Using refining slag with basicityof 1.0-1.2 and MgO content of 5%–10% and reducing the slag takeover of LD are favorable for improving the desulfurization performance and the plasticity of inclusions during the industrial production.