FABRICATION OF RETICULATED IRON USING PIG-IRON POWDER

The fabrication process and the properties of the developed reticulated iron are as follows. 1) It is possible to make reticulated iron by sintering pig iron powder (chemical composition, 3 approximately 4 wt%O, 3 approximately 9 wt%O, <0.1 wt% Si, <0.3 wt%Mn, <0.04 wt%P, <0.04 wt%S, mean particle size 10 mum) coated on urethane-foam with several binders under a non-oxidizing atmosphere. 2) Most surface iron oxides in the powder are rapidly reduced by the carbon in the powder at a temperature between 600-degrees-C and 800-degrees-C. The sintering reaction proceeds relatively fast from 700-degrees-C because metallic iron reduced from iron oxides is active. If the O/C ratio of the powder composition is less than 1.2, it is impossible to make stable product because of partial melting due to eutectic reaction during sintering. The product properties mainly depend on the powder compositions, sintering conditions and urethane foam's porosity. Representative properties of the product are as follows ; bulk density (0.6 approximately 1.4 g/cm3), bending strength (1.3 approximately 9 MPa), pressure drop (80 approximately 170 Pa at a ventilation rate of 2.5 m/s) porosity rate (80 approximately 95 %) and specific surface area (0.1 approximately 1.0 m2/g).