The nitrogen solubility in molten stainless steel

Nitrogen solubility in the austenitic stainless steel melts was measured in the laboratory by bubbling nitrogen gas under different partial pressures of nitrogen and temperatures. A new thermodynamic model for the calculation of nitrogen solubility in molten stainless steel in a wide range of alloy concentrations, temperatures, and pressures has been successfully established by introducing a new term for the effect of pressure on the nitrogen activity coefficient. The calculation results were in good agreement with the measured values. The influences of temperature, nitrogen partial pressure and chemical composition on the nitrogen solubility in molten stainless steel are discussed based on the calculated results. It is possible to produce high nitrogen steels at normal pressure by optimizing the design of the alloy composition and controlling the lowest melting temperature from a thermodynamic point of view.