Decarburizing

Decarburization (or decarbonization) is the process opposite to carburization, namely the reduction of carbon content.

The term is typically used in metallurgy, describing the reduction of the content of carbon in metals (usually steel). Decarburization occurs when the metal is heated to temperatures of 700 °C or above when carbon in the metal reacts with gases containing oxygen or hydrogen. The removal of carbon removes hard carbide phases resulting in a softening of the metal, primarily at the surface which are in contact with the decarburizing gas.

Decarburization can be either advantageous or detrimental, depending on the application for which the metal will be used. It is thus both something that can be done intentionally as a step in a manufacturing process, or something that happens as a side effect of a process (such as rolling) and must be either prevented or later reversed (such as via a carburization step).

The decarburization mechanism can be described as three distinct events: the reaction at the steel surface, the interstitial diffusion of carbon atoms and the dissolution of carbides within the steel.

The most common reactions are:

also called the Boudouard reaction

Other reactions are

Electrical steel is one material that uses decarburization in its production. To prevent the atmospheric gases from reacting with the metal itself, electrical steel is annealed in an atmosphere of nitrogen, hydrogen, and water vapor, where oxidation of the iron is specifically prevented by the proportions of hydrogen and water vapor so that the only reacting substance is carbon being made into carbon monoxide.

Because the components (like chromium and molybdenum) of some stainless steels are very oxidizable, these steels can only be decarburized by reacting with dry hydrogen, which has no water content, unlike wet hydrogen, which is produced in a way that includes some water and can otherwise be used for decarburization.

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