The Mechanism of Atomic Emission at a Hotspot and Its Application to the On-line Analysis of Molten Iron

The mechanism of atomic emission at the hotspot was investigated, and the measurement of the atomic emission was applied to the on-line analysis of molten iron. The atom-radiating zone is found to be formed on the surface of molten iron by abserving the atomic emission and absorption of phenomena of Cu. The measured atomic emission is affected by the self-absorption effect, but fortunately it can be eliminated by the self-absorption factor. The emission of atoms is essentially governed by their vapor pressure and excitation efficiency. It is found that the elements such as Ni, Cr, Cu, and Pb, which have higher vapor pressure than that of iron and almost the same excitation efficiency as that of iron, radiate at the hotspot. On the contrary, the elements such as Mo and V, which have lower vapor pressure and almost the same excitation efficiency, are not found to radiate at the hotspot. The atomic emission intensity at the hotspot is linearly proportational to its concentration in molten iron. The direct measurement of the atomic emission at the hotspot is able to be applied to an on-line and real-time analysis of the former kind of elements in molten iron.