Study of the Formation of Non‐metallic Inclusions by Ladle Glaze and the Effect of Slag on Inclusion Composition using Tracer Experiments

In the present work, BaO was used as tracer in the ladle slag to investigate the effect of slag on inclusion composition and the formation of non‐metallic inclusions by ladle glaze. Experiments were carried out at Uddeholm Tooling AB, Hagfors, Sweden. In the first heat of each series, about 20 mass% BaO was added to the ladle slag. In the next heat(s) using the same ladle, no BaO was added. BaO was detected in the inclusions. This observation showed strong evidence for the generation of non‐metallic inclusions by the ladle glaze. Even in the second and third heats, the fractions of BaO containing inclusions were still very high in all stages of the ladle treatment, indicating that ladle glaze was one of the major sources of inclusions. The sizes of the BaO containing inclusions were relatively big. The average size was 20 μm, while the biggest was around 100 μm. The increase of the fractions of BaO containing inclusions and their average content of BaO with the treatment stage suggested that the effect of slag on the composition of inclusions was a very slow process, due to the low solubility of Ba in the steel.