Impurity formation mechanism of silicon carbide crystals smelted by Acheson process

In order to further promote the application of SiC refractories in modern steel metallurgy, the occurrence forms and formation mechanism of impurities in SiC crystals smelted by Acheson process were investigated. The techniques of inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectrometry, X–ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy were combined to examine the types and occurrence forms of impurities in smelted SiC crystals. The results showed that the main impurities in the SiC are free Si, free C, oxides (CaO·Al 2 O 3 ·2SiO 2 , 3Al 2 O 3 ·2SiO 2 , CaO·SiO 2 and SiO 2 ) and alloy phases (Fe x Si y , Fe x Si y Ti z and Fe x Al y Si z ). The formation process of impurities during the smelting of SiC can be described as follows: At high temperature, the SiO 2 and Fe, Ti related oxide impurities present in the raw materials are reduced to Si, Fe, and Ti metal melts. After the reduction process, the free Si, Fe x Si y and Fe x Si y Ti z are precipitated from the melt during cooling. Free Si primarily exists in aggregated form within the SiC crystal, while the alloy phase is predominantly found at the interface between SiC and free Si, with Fe x Si y Ti z embedded within Fe x Si y . Towards the end of the cooling process, other impurity oxides such as Al 2 O 3 , CaO, and some unreduced SiO 2 solidify to form calcium–aluminum–silicate glass phases, predominantly located between SiC grains. The remaining C from the reaction is mainly dispersed as free C within the SiC crystal and at the interface between SiC and free Si.