Oxygen removal during electron beam drip melting and refining

The release of oxygen from metals and alloys is an important aim of numerous electron-beam melting applications. The extraction of non-metallic inclusions involves a better understanding of mass transport and chemical interactions among the alloy components, the contaminants and the residual gases in the technological vacuum chamber. In this paper, some research results on the partial processes during electron-beam refining, using 60 and 250 kW melting plants, gained during more than two-decade experience, are discussed.