Evaluation of Steel Cleanliness in a Ste

The study investigates the impact of magnesium content in aluminum deoxidizers on the cleanliness of steel during the production of thin slabs. Two types of deoxidizers with approximately 0.5 wt pct and 2 wt pct magnesium were analyzed throughout the steelmaking process. The research aimed to characterize the inclusion population at various stages, which was assessed through chemical composition, number, and size distribution of inclusions. The results indicated that solid Al2O3 and Al2O3-MgO inclusions formed during the early treatment phase were transformed into Al2O3-MgO-CaO liquid and MgO-Al2O3 liquid inclusions. Notably, while some minor variations were noted in the ladle furnace samples, the inclusion chemical compositions at the continuous casting mold remained largely consistent regardless of the deoxidizer employed. Additionally, statistical analyses using Gumbel, generalized extreme value (GEV), and generalized Pareto (GP) distributions helped effectively describe the inclusion size distribution evolution during steelmaking. Ultimately, the findings revealed no significant differences in inclusion size distributions due to the deoxidizer used.