The mechanism of fume formation in oxygen steelmaking

Iron oxide fume, characteristic of oxygen steelmaking processes, has been measured when produced from approximately 12g of iron–carbon alloys contained in an alumina boat in a transparent silica reaction tube. Various oxygen–argon mixtures have been passed over the molten alloys and while a sufficiently high carbon content was present in the metal, surface decarburization occurred accompanied by vaporization of iron. [Continues.]