Solid Reference Electrode of Metallurgical Oxygen Sensor

The thermal equilibrium state of the reference electrode was investigated. The results show that the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of zirconia tube was very small and the Seebeck effect can be ignored after the sensor was dipped into liquid steel for more than 2 s. A special sensor was designed to test the relation between the EMF (electromotive force) of sensor and the thermal equilibrium state of the reference electrode. Based on these results, it is suggested that the peak in EMF curve was caused by the change of oxygen potential in reference electrode before the thermal equilibrium was reached. If NiO was added by 2%-5% to the Cr/Cr2O3 reference electrode, the peak in EMF curve could be eliminated.