Electrical conductivity and corresponding specific energy consumption of new MgO-containing ESR-slags

Continuously increasing product requirements place constant demands on steel manufacturers with regard to innovation. Among them is the development of new Electro Slag Re-melting (ESR) slag concepts, where MgO is one of the basic components. The specific electrical conductivity of CaF ₂-based MgO-containing ESR slags is determined by a specially constructed measurement cell equipped with four electrodes. The analysed slags are composed either of CaF ₂-MgO with a maximum content of 15%MgO or of CaF ₂- 15%CaO with stepwise substitution of CaO by MgO. The results show that the conductivity decreases with rising MgO content. In order to provide a better evaluation of the effects of adding MgO, the results are compared to the specific conductivity of pure CaF ₂ and a CaF ₂-CaO-Al ₂O ₃ standard slag. The applicability of the laboratory results in industry was verified by re-melting experiments in an electro slag re-melting furnace.