Oxygen solubility in liquid nickel containing zirconium

Abstract

The solubility of oxygen in liquid nickel containing zirconium at 1873 K has been experimentally studied for the first time. It has been shown that zirconium is a rather strong deoxidizing agent in liquid nickel. The equilibrium constant of the reaction of zirconium and oxygen dissolved in liquid nickel (logK_(1)(Ni) =–6.788), the interaction parameters characterizing these solutions (e_Zr(Ni)^O =–2.01; e_O(Ni)^Zr =–0.35; e_Zr(Ni)^Zr = 0.24), and the activity coefficient of zirconium in nickel at infinite dilution (γ_Zr(Ni)^o = 1.03 × 10^–8) have been determined. The zirconium content at the minimum of the oxygen solubility curve and the corresponding oxygen concentration have been determined.