Measuring and testing – Gas content of a liquid or a solid – Of metal
Patent
1988-11-17
1991-03-12
Chapman, John
Measuring and testing
Gas content of a liquid or a solid
Of metal
G01N 714, G01N 2718
Patent
active
049984322
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an apparatus for measuring a gas content of liquid metal, which apparatus contains a probe which is designed to be immersed in the liquid metal and which has in its turn a gas supply line which debouches at the end of the probe designed to be situated at the bottom, a gas collection section for collecting the gas which flows out of the gas supply line, which section is situated opposite the debouchment of the gas supply line and is provided with a diaphragm which allows gas through but holds back liquid metal, and a gas removal line which connects to the gas collection section via the diaphragm, which apparatus further contains a gas circuit, one end of which connects to the gas supply line of the probe and the other end of which connects to the gas removal line of the probe, at least one gas detector installed in said circuit and means installed in or on said circuit for causing gas to flow through the circuit, through the gas detector and the probe.
The content of dissolved gases, and in particular hydrogen, in liquid metal has an important effect on the properties of the metal finally obtained. A high concentration of such gases not only results in brittleness of the metal but can also cause serious defects, such as "flakes or gas cavities".
For this reason it is necessary to track the hydrogen content accurately in the case of metal and in particular steel which has to meet high quality requirements, during the manufacturing process and, more particularly, during refining and casting, in order to be able to keep the gas content within defined limits.
Apparatuses of the abovementioned type are especially designed for such hydrogen determination and are intended to replace the current hydrogen determination which consists in collecting a sample of the liquid metal and analyzing it in the laboratory.
With such apparatuses, a small volume of carrier gas may be caused to bubble through the liquid metal. Said gas is collected and passed round a closed circuit several times until an equilibrium has established itself between the gas in the metal and said carrier gas. The gas detector installed in the gas circuit is used to determine the gas content, and more particularly the hydrogen content.
An apparatus of this type is known from British Patent No. 821,821.
In the apparatus according to said patent specification, however, the probe is permanently connected to the circuit and said probe is designed to be used for several consecutive measurements.
Said probe therefore has to be produced from special material which is resistant to long-term residence in a bath of liquid metal, as a result of which said probe is relatively expensive and in practice can only be used for measuring the hydrogen content in baths containing metal having a relatively low melting point.
Even in these cases the service life is limited and the replacment of the probe is fairly time-consuming and expensive.
Said probe has therefore not achieved a breakthrough for measuring the hydrogen content, for example, in liquid metal.
The object of the invention is to remedy said disadvantages and to provide an apparatus for measuring a content in a bath containing liquid metal, said apparatus being relatively cheap to use and making measurement readily possible.
For this object, the device for measuring a gas content of liquid metal contains a lance through which at least a section of the gas circuit extends, which lance contains one part of a quick-connection coupling having a male and a female part which can be coupled to each other, while the probe contains the other parts of the quick-connection coupling on the side facing away from the collection section and at a distance from said collection section, which quick-connection coupling ensures in its coupled state a gastight connection to the gas supply line and the gas removal line of the probe to the sections of the two abovementioned ends of the gas circuit.
The probe is thus constructed as a throwaway probe which is used only for one or at most a limited number of me
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patent: 4116475 (1978-09-01), Glaser et al.
patent: 4454748 (1984-06-01), Terai et al.
patent: 4624128 (1986-11-01), Pelton
patent: 4731732 (1989-03-01), Warchd et al.
patent: 4757707 (1988-07-01), Harvey et al.
patent: 4907440 (1990-03-01), Martin et al.
Maes Rudi
Plessers Jacques J.
Chapman John
Electro-Nite International N.V.
Roskos Joseph W.
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