METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REFINING MOLTEN METAL

摘要

This invention relates to a refining method of a molten metal, which comprises the steps of refining a molten metal at a reduced pressure in a container having a heater, tapping it to its container or a separate re-refining container (27), adding a new slag-forming agent, conducting inert gas plasma heating (23), and re-refining the molten metal with stirring, whenever necessary. A refining apparatus according to the present invention comprises two independent airtight chambers (2), which are adjacent and connectable to each other and have an exhaust system. One of the chambers includes an induction heating refining furnace while the other includes an inert gas plasma heating apparatus (23). A re-refining container is disposed in such a manner it moves between them, and a feeder (9) is disposed to supply a slag forming agent to the re-refining container (27). The present invention is free from the problem of pickup of carbon, and can effectively remove impurities in the molten metal.