Process for producing a high cleanliness steel

Abstract

A process for producing a high-cleanliness steel is provided which can produce, without relying upon a high-cost remelting process, steel products having cleanliness high enough to satisfy requirements for properties of mechanical parts used under severe environmental conditions. The production process comprises the steps of: transferring a molten steel produced in an arc melting furnace or a converter to a ladle furnace to refine the molten steel; subjecting the molten steel to circulation-type degassing; and casting the molten steel into an ingot, wherein, in transferring the molten steel to the ladle furnace, a deoxidizer including aluminum and silicon, is added to previously deoxidize the molten steel, that is, to perform tapping deoxidation before refining in the ladle refining furnace.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.