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Carbon from steel rods interferes with carbon sequesterization research

2007

I am involved in agricultural research, looking at carbon sequestration into the soil.
I have a problem - the soil grinder we use is ancient. It uses steel rods to break our soil samples down to the point that we can further process them.

Here is the problem - I am finding metal filings in my ground sample from the steel rods. If the rods are low carbon stainless steel - I do not have a problem and can proceed. The filings can be picked up by a magnet but they are present throughout the sample.

So my question is - how do I identify what the carbon content is of the rods?

Chris Ullmann
Agriculture research technician - Lacombe, Alberta, Canada

Hardly could it be over 1%. That's considered a very high carbon steel. Typical for rolls is 0.50%.

Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2007