Titanothermal reduction of oxides on iron and steel under conditions of self-evacuation

We study the process of contactless titanothermal reduction of oxides on Armco iron and Kh18N10T steel. The kinetic curves of oxide films thinning on iron and steel obtained in the work reveal two different mechanisms of these processes. Oxide reduction on iron runs at lower temperatures and the kinetic curves are characterized by a certain “incubation period” for which no oxide film thinning is observed. The appearance of this period can be explained by two processes that run either in the diffusion mode or in the kinetic mode. The contactless titanothermal reduction of oxide films on steel occurs at higher temperatures and oxide films are not completely reduced. Moreover, as temperature increases, its thinning becomes slower. The data of X-ray analysis indicate the presence of titanium sublimation with subsequent condensation on the steel surface. In this case, the composition of the film on the steel surface does not change.