Oxygen sensors are helpful tools to control and monitor continuous operations in steelmaking processes, e.g. in ladle refining and in the tundish of a continuous casting system. Up to the present no suitable oxygen probes for on-line measurements have been developed. In search of new sensors much work has been done to investigate and discuss possible error sources which impede the use of the conventional one-reading probes for continuous measurements. In the present study modified plug-type sensors and new combined tube plug-type sensors with optimized cell design are presented. Furthermore, new solid oxide electrolytes combined with new reference materials are used to reduce the flux of ionic oxygen across the solid electrolyte and thereby minimize polarisation effects over extended periods. It is shown that these oxygen sensors enable reliable long-term measurements over periods of at least 5 h in Al-deoxidized unalloyed and high alloyed steel melts.
Based on the commonly used oxygen sensors with O2‐ ion‐conducting ZrO2 electrolytes and solid metal‐metal oxide references, new sensors have been developed for direct measurements of Si content in iron and steel melts. The sensors are designed in such a way that local chemical equilibrium of the reaction ZrO2 + [Si] + 2[O] = ZrSiO4 is established at the surface of the ZrO2 electrolyte tube or inside a cavity adjacent to the ZrO2 electrolyte sensor tip using a saturating ZrO2‐ZrSiO4 mixture. Concepts and dimensions of the sensors were optimized in view of a fast EMF response upon immersion and the maintenance of a stable EMF recording over extended periods. Reliable measurements were performed in Fe‐Si melts at 0.05 to 5 wt.‐% Si.
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