Method and apparatus for determining oxygen in a metal

摘要

The invention provides an apparatus and a method of determining trace amounts of oxygen in a metal, in particular steel. The analysing apparatus comprises a preliminary reducing furnace with a tubular graphite crucible and an analysing furnace with a conventional graphite crucible. The furnaces are connected via a communication passage (isolated from the ambient air) that contains means for transferring the sample from the preliminary reducing to the analysing furnace. The preliminary reducing furnace is used for reducing oxides on the surface of the sample prior to introducing it into the graphite crucible located in the analysing furnace. The oxygen content is determined by analysing the gas generated by the sample in the heated graphite crucible using Infra-Red spectroscopy. A metal flux is used for determining a reference value for the generated gas amount.