TiO2 nanoparticle addition into molten steel: From lab scale to Industrial scale: From lab scale to industrial scale

In this work, the design of a new technology for nanoparticle addition into molten steel that improves the mechanical properties of the material, as well as the upscale of the process, was pursued. The process was scaled from laboratory to industrial level starting from first experiments carried out in pure iron bath, in order to analyze the behavior of nanoparticles in molten metal environment, and finishing with the addition of nanoparticles into microalloyed steel bath as industrial trials. The first steps of the research were performed in the levitation furnace at Tecnalia R&I installations that can cast samples up to 1 kg, continuing with a high vacuum furnace with a capacity up to 35 Kg. By the end of the investigation, the process was scaled up to industrial level at Gerdau facilities.