The wetting of liquid iron carbon on aluminate minerals formed during coke dissolution in iron

From previous studies by the authors on the effects of mineral layer formation at coke-iron boundary during coke dissolution it was found that the composition and morphology of the layer had a profound affect on the kinetics of reaction. Moreover it was found that the layer was primarily composed of calcium aluminate’s that over time (0-120 minutes) became progressively enriched with calcium. The minerals identified in the layer were alumina, CA6, CA2 and CA. Given that coke dissolution in iron is a heterogeneous reaction it can be expected that the wetting of iron on these minerals would have a significant effect on the rate of carbon transfer to the iron. In this paper the results of investigation of wetting of iron on alumina, CA6, CA2 and CA over the temperature range 1450 to 1550°C are presented. Preliminary analysis indicate that the effects of temperature were not as significant as the type of mineral in the layer and that the contact angle decreased with increasing calcium content of this mineral. These results are broadly consistent with experimental observations of how the mineral layer adheres to the iron substrate in the aforementioned coke dissolution study.