Oxidation of AISI 304L and 348 stainless steels was investigated in water at 1000 – 1350 °C by TGA, SEM, EDS, and Raman spectroscopy. Linear-Parabolic kinetics and multilayer oxide scales with voids were found for both alloys. Based on the experimental results, AISI 304L presented higher oxidation resistance and higher activation energy. Zircaloy-4 kinetic results were used for validation and performance comparison. In severe accidents conditions, stainless steel might lead to a faster hydrogen production comparing to Zircaloy.

Iron-carbon nuggets can be obtained by high temperature reduction of iron ore by carbonaceous material when both are agglomerated together as a carbon composite pellet. During this process, the stable oxides contained in the materials will form a slag. This work investigates the effect of this slag composition on iron nugget formation. Pellets were prepared with iron ore and two different carbonaceous materials. Through the addition of Portland® cement, silica and alumina the slag composition was varied to adjust the expected liquidus temperature to 1573 and 2273 K. It has been shown that the formation of iron nuggets is favored for slags presenting low liquidus temperature. In order to further investigate this phenomenon, pellets containing iron powder and carbonaceous material, together with previously prepared slags, were also submitted to high temperature, and it has been shown that iron carburization depends on slag composition.