Synthesis of Fe-TiC In-Situ Composites by Plasma Smelting of Ilmenite

Abstract

This article illustrates the synthesis of Fe-TiC in-situ composites using cheaper raw materials, namely, mild steel scrap, ilmenite, and petroleum coke. The composite was prepared via two routes by carbothermic smelting of ilmenite and coke in a molten pool of mild steel scrap in an extended transferred arc plasma reactor. In one of the routes, the mixture of ilmenite and coke were thoroughly mixed and fed through powder feeder (in-flight plasma condition), while in the other route the mixture was fed directly into the molten mild steel scrap (static bed condition). The experiments were carried out in 50 kW DC thermal plasma reactor under argon atmosphere. The preliminary results indicate that the composite prepared by in-flight plasma processing showed a better dispersion of TiC particles in the matrix than the static bed plasma processing.