Sampling molten metal baths

Claim 2

Method of determining the concentration of a constituent in a molten metal bath comprising the steps of obtaining a molten sample from the bath in a reaction zone, reacting said sample still in molten state in said zone to form gaseous product related to said constituent, removing said product directly to an analytical zone, and quantitatively analyzing for said product.

Claim 3

Method as recited in claim 1 for determining the concentration of active oxygen in a bath of molten steel.

Claim 4

Method as recited in claim 2 wherein the reaction zone comprises a carbonaceous environment whereby the carbon level in the molten sample builds up to the point where the equilibrium level of active oxygen in the sample is less than 15 p.p.m.

Claim 5

Method as recited in claim 3 wherein said step of reacting said sample comprises reacting the active oxygen in excess of said equilibrium level with carbon in said carbonaceous environment and the gaseous product formed is carbon monoxide.

Claim 6

Method as recited in claim 4 comprising allowing said sample to remain molten for 20 to 40 seconds.

Claim 7

Method as recited in claim 4 wherein the step of removing the gaseous product to an analytical zone comprises passing gaseous product to a removal zone, introducing a stream of carrier gas analytically distinct from the product gas into the removal zone and removing a stream of gas containing product gas from the removal zone utilizing the carrier gas stream as the driving force.

Claim 8

Method as recited in claim 6 wherein the step of analyzing comprises gas chromatographic analysis.

Claim 9

Method as recited in claim 7 wherein the carrier gas has a molecular weight substantially different from that of the gaseous product.

Claim 10

Method as recited in claim 8 wherein the carrier gas is selected from the group consisting of helium and argon.

Claim 11

System for determining the concentration of a constituent in a molten metal bath comprising a. sampler-reactor including i. means to isolate a sample of molten metal from said bath, ii. a source of reagent in means (i) which reacts to form gaseous product related to said constituent, iii. means to remove gaseous product including carrier gas inlet means and gas outlet means; b. first conduit means communicating with saId inlet means; c. a source of carrier gas communicating with said first conduit means; and d. means directly communicating with said gas outlet means for quantitatively analyzing gaseous product.

Claim 12

System for determining the concentration of a constituent in a molten metal bath comprising a. sampler-reactor including i. means to isolate a sample of molten metal from said bath, ii. a source of reagent in means (i) which reacts to form gaseous product related to said constituent, iii. means to remove gaseous product including carrier gas inlet means and gas outlet means; b. first conduit means communicating with saId inlet means; c. a source of carrier gas communicating with said first conduit means; and d. means directly communicating with said gas outlet means for quantitatively analyzing gaseous product.

Claim 13

System as recited in claim 10 wherein the source of reagent is a source of carbon.

Claim 14

System as recited in claim 11 wherein the carbon is in the form of spectrographically pure graphite.

Claim 15

System as recited in claim 10 wherein the source of carrier gas is a source of helium.

Claim 16

System as recited in claim 10 wherein said means (e) is a gas chromatograph.

Claim 17

Sampler-reactor comprising a. means defining a chamber for receiving a sample from a bath of molten metal comprising wall means composed of a source of reagent which reacts with a constituent of the sample to form gaseous product, said chamber means having a forward end and a rearward end; b. means defining said forward end including molten metal inlet means; c. means defining said rearward end including outlet means for gaseous product; d. means defining a chamber for receiving gaseous product from the outlet means of element (c) and including gaseous product inlet means, carrier gas inlet means and gas outlet means.

Claim 18

Sampler-reactor comprising a. means defining a chamber for receiving a sample from a bath of molten metal comprising wall means composed of a source of reagent which reacts with a constituent of the sample to form gaseous product, said chamber means having a forward end and a rearward end; b. means defining said forward end including molten metal inlet means; c. means defining said rearward end including outlet means for gaseous product; d. means defining a chamber for receiving gaseous product from the outlet means of element (c) and including gaseous product inlet means, carrier gas inlet means and gas outlet means.

Claim 19

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 15 wherein the rearward end of the sampler-receiving chamber is a wall common to the gaseous product-receiving chamber.

Claim 20

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 16 wherein said wall contains a multiplicity of orificies providing the outlet means of element (c) and communication between the sample-receiving chamber and the gaseous product-receiving chamber.

Claim 21

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 17 wherein the forward end of the sample-receiving chamber is a wall containing orifice means providing the molten metal inlet means of element (b).

Claim 22

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 18 wherein the wall at the forward end of the sample-receiving chamber has its exterior protected by a cap which melts off when inserted into a molten metal bath.

Claim 23

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 18 wherein the sample-receiving chamber is substantially cylindrical comprising sidewall in addition to the walls at the forward and rearward ends and said sidewall and forward and rearward walls are composed of carbon.

Claim 24

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 20 wherein the carbon is in the form of spectrographically pure graphite.

Claim 25

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 18 wherein the gaseous product-receiving chamber is substantially cylindrical having a wall at its rearward end containing orifice means providing the carrier gas inlet means of element (d) and other orifice means providing the gas outlet means of element (d).

Claim 26

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 15 additionally comprising a first conduit means communicating with the carrier gas inlet means of element (d) and a second conduit means communicating with the gas outlet means of element (d)

Claim 27

Sampler-reactor as recited in claim 15 having an elongated cylindrical exterior configuration with the cylinder sidewall comprising refractory material and a forward end protected by a melt-off cap.

Claim 28

System for determining the concentration of a constituent in a molten metal bath comprising a. sampler-reactor including i. means defining a chamber for receiving a sample from a bath of molten metal comprising wall means composed of a source of reagent which reacts with a constituent of the sample to form gaseous product, said chamber having a forward end and a rearward end; ii. wall means defining said forward end, containing orifice means providing molten metal inlet means; iii. wall means defining said rearward end containing means providing outlet means for gaseous product from means (i); iv. means defining a chamber for receiving gaseous product from the outlet means of means (iii) and including gaseous product inlet means, carrier gas inlet means and gas outlet means; b. first conduit means communicating with the carrier gas inleT means of means (iv); c. a source of carrier gas communicating with said first conduit means; d. second conduit means communicating with the gas outlet means of means (iv); and e. means communicating with said second conduit means for quantitatively analyzing gaseous product.

Claim 29

System for determining the concentration of a constituent in a molten metal bath comprising a. sampler-reactor including i. means defining a chamber for receiving a sample from a bath of molten metal comprising wall means composed of a source of reagent which reacts with a constituent of the sample to form gaseous product, said chamber having a forward end and a rearward end; ii. wall means defining said forward end, containing orifice means providing molten metal inlet means; iii. wall means defining said rearward end containing means providing outlet means for gaseous product from means (i); iv. means defining a chamber for receiving gaseous product from the outlet means of means (iii) and including gaseous product inlet means, carrier gas inlet means and gas outlet means; b. first conduit means communicating with the carrier gas inleT means of means (iv); c. a source of carrier gas communicating with said first conduit means; d. second conduit means communicating with the gas outlet means of means (iv); and e. means communicating with said second conduit means for quantitatively analyzing gaseous product.