底吹方式对渣-钢界面影响规律的水模型

 利用水模试验方法模拟底吹方式对转炉吹炼过程中渣-钢界面搅拌与传质效果的影响,研究底吹强度、底吹枪个数等因素对渣-钢界面搅拌与传质的影响规律。试验研究结果表明,由于底吹搅拌作用,使渣-钢间传质速率呈规律性变化。不同底吹枪个数与底吹搅拌强度的组合,存在渣-钢界面传质速率的最大值。单支底吹枪的底吹强度为0.020～0.025 m3/（t·min）时,渣-钢间传质速率最大。     

Emulsification and mass transfer in ladle metallurgy

Measurements of slag emulsification in gas-stirred ladles were carried out in cold-model systems of different geometric sizes. Detaching of slag droplets – necessary for efficient emulsification – only takes place if the flow velocity at the slag/metal interface exceeds a certain level. The use of a centric nozzle leads at high gas flow rates to considerably larger degrees of emulsification than eccentric stirring. The reason of this phenomenon is that the recirculation flow during centric gas injection transports larger amounts of emulsified droplets into deeper regions of the melt while during eccentric stirring there is more time for reseparation of slag droplets into the top slag. Comparing emulsification results with mass-transfer measurements, the dependence between rate constants as well as degrees of emulsification and Froude number shows similar behaviour.     

Investigations on the fluiddynamic and thermal process control in ladles

Inert gas stirring of the melt in the ladle is a proven engineering process measure in secondary steelmaking. It is employed to ensure the specified homogeneity of the melt in terms of composition and temperature. The achievement of these objectives is essentially contingent on the flow conditions in the melt. The present paper deals with the results of numerical computations of the bubble movement and velocity field generated by such a gas stirring process. The distribution of alloy elements and the temperature field in the melt are computed on the basis of real temperature-dependent fluid properties. The results of the numerical computations are compared with corresponding results of model trials and expressed in a form usable for operating plants. In addition, recommendations are made with regard to the scale-up of model trial results to full-size ladles under actual operating conditions.     

Prediction of temperature in secondary steelmaking: mathematical modelling of fluid flow and heat transfer in gas purged ladle

As a first step towards prediction of temperatures in secondary steelmaking, mathematical modelling of fluid flow and heat transfer in ladle furnace was undertaken. A two‐dimensional quasi‐single phase model has been developed for turbulent recirculating flow by solving Reynolds averaged Navier‐Stokes equations along with a two‐equation k‐? model. The model was then extended to include thermal transport in a conjugate domain (i.e., molten steel + refractory shell + steel shell). The flow model was validated with water model data reported in literature by different researchers. Good agreement for velocity field and satisfactory agreement for turbulent kinetic energy field were obtained. The thermal model showed good agreement with results predicted in literature. The paper also presents findings of tests for sensitivity of flow on modelling and process parameters. By comparison with water model experiments, it has been demonstrated that the flow field in a ladle with a porous plug can be represented using a gas voidage fraction in the plume obtained from experiments with nozzles for axial gas injection from the bottom. Flow and thermal fields were insensitive to initial turbulence level at nozzle. Maximum temperature inhomogeneity in the melt was 2 °C after 1.5 min and negligible after 3 min of onset of gas purging.     

Measurement and modeling of turbulence in the gas/liquid two-phase zone during gas injection

Averaged and turbulent fluctuating liquid velocities in the gas/liquid plume zone of a gas-stirred water model ladle were measured with a combined laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) and elec-trical probe technique. The measured turbulence fields, void fraction distribution, and gas and liquid velocities in the plume zone were used for evaluation of various turbulence models. It was found that, among all of the turbulence models tested, only a modified k-ε model, with extra source terms to take into account the generation and dissipation resulting from the inter-action of the bubbles with the liquid, yielded good agreement with both the mean liquid flow field and the turbulent kinetic energy distribution. However, the values of the coefficients orig-inally proposed by their authors were found inapplicable to the bubbly plume situation; more appropriate values of the coefficients were determined based on comparison with experimental measurement.     

Model experiments on mass transfer in ladle metallurgy

Model experiments on mass transfer in gas-stirred ladles were carried out in reactors of different geometric dimensions. The model system consists of: water, cyclohexan as model slag, iodium as element to be extracted from water into slag phase, and compressed air as stirring gas. The experimental results show that when using an eccentric bottom nozzle, rate constants of mass transfer are always smaller than with centric gas injection. Centric stirring leads to comparatively larger increases of rate constants if a certain gas flow rate is exceeded. Both results can be explained by different emulsification conditions of slag phase. Theoretical calculations of residence times show that mainly the emulsification of small droplets taken along by the recirculation flow is responsible for accelerations of mass transfer in gas-stirred ladles.     

Mathematical Modeling of Fluid Flow in a Water Physical Model of an Aluminum Degassing Ladle Equipped with an Impeller-Injector

In this work, a 3D numerical simulation using a Euler–Euler-based model implemented into a commercial CFD code was used to simulate fluid flow and turbulence structure in a water physical model of an aluminum ladle equipped with an impeller for degassing treatment. The effect of critical process parameters such as rotor speed, gas flow rate, and the point of gas injection (conventional injection through the shaft vs a novel injection through the bottom of the ladle) on the fluid flow and vortex formation was analyzed with this model. The commercial CFD code PHOENICS 3.4 was used to solve all conservation equations governing the process for this two-phase fluid flow system. The mathematical model was reasonably well validated against experimentally measured liquid velocity and vortex sizes in a water physical model built specifically for this investigation. From the results, it was concluded that the angular speed of the impeller is the most important parameter in promoting better stirred baths and creating smaller and better distributed bubbles in the liquid. The pumping effect of the impeller is increased as the impeller rotation speed increases. Gas flow rate is detrimental to bath stirring and diminishes the pumping effect of the impeller. Finally, although the injection point was the least significant variable, it was found that the “novel” injection improves stirring in the ladle.     

Simulation and application of pulsating bottom-blowing in EAF steelmaking

Pulsating bottom-blowing was proposed to strengthen the electric arc furnace (EAF) molten bath stirring. The fluid flow characteristics and stirring effects of different pulsating bottom-blowing modes on EAF molten bath were studied through water model experiments and numerical simulations. The mixing time was measured by water model experiments and the flow field characteristics of EAF molten bath were simulated by numerical simulations. Compared with conventional bottom-blowing, pulsating bottom-blowing can accelerate the fluid flow velocity and improve the stirring of molten bath. With pulsating bottom-blowing, the molten bath fluid flow field is more disorder, the fluid flow velocity increases and the dead zone volume decreases. Compared with EAF steelmaking with conventional bottom-blowing conditions, pulsating bottom-blowing technology can improve the metallurgical effects and the molten steel quality in EAF steelmaking with lower FeO content of final slag, lower phosphorus content and carbon-oxygen equilibrium of final molten steel, and lower temperature deviation.     

Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling of Zinc Slag Fuming Process in Top-Submerged Lance Smelting Furnace

Slag fuming is a reductive treatment process for molten zinciferous slags for extracting zinc in the form of metal vapor by injecting or adding a reductant source such as pulverized coal or lump coal and natural gas. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was developed to study the zinc slag fuming process from imperial smelting furnace (ISF) slag in a top-submerged lance furnace and to investigate the details of fluid flow, reaction kinetics, and heat transfer in the furnace. The model integrates combustion phenomena and chemical reactions with the heat, mass, and momentum interfacial interaction between the phases present in the system. A commercial CFD package AVL Fire 2009.2 (AVL, Graz, Austria) coupled with a number of user-defined subroutines in FORTRAN programming language were used to develop the model. The model is based on three-dimensional (3-D) Eulerian multiphase flow approach, and it predicts the velocity and temperature field of the molten slag bath, generated turbulence, and vortex and plume shape at the lance tip. The model also predicts the mass fractions of slag and gaseous components inside the furnace. The model predicted that the percent of ZnO in the slag bath decreases linearly with time and is consistent broadly with the experimental data. The zinc fuming rate from the slag bath predicted by the model was validated through macrostep validation process against the experimental study of Waladan et al. The model results predicted that the rate of ZnO reduction is controlled by the mass transfer of ZnO from the bulk slag to slag–gas interface and rate of gas-carbon reaction for the specified simulation time studied. Although the model is based on zinc slag fuming, the basic approach could be expanded or applied for the CFD analysis of analogous systems.     

CAS-OB钢包底吹排渣效果的实验研究

在CAS－OB工艺中,下罩前底吹排渣面积直接影响钢水处理的可靠性,作采用水力学模型实验对300t钢包底吹排渣效果进行了研究,主要考察了底吹气体流量和顶渣层厚度对排渣效果的影响,同时测试了底吹位置对排渣直径的影响程度,结果表明：底吹气体流量和渣量对排渣效果有显影响。     

Transient Fluid Flow in a Continuous Casting Tundish during Ladle Change and Steady‐state Casting

Transient effects occur during both steady‐state casting as well as transient casting, e.g. a ladle change. These effects are caused by transient boundary conditions at the inlet of the tundish. A time‐dependent inlet temperature causes a free convection flow during steady‐state casting. During transient casting, such as during a ladle change, the mass flow at the inlet is time‐dependent and thus a transient flow develops. In general, transient flow is unwanted because transient flow means a change of conditions for the separation of non‐metallic particles. The analysis of the flow in the tundish is carried out by numerical as well as physical simulations. In this case experimental investigations are carried out on a water model. The results of laser optical investigations using Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) and Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) serve as a validation of the numerical results. The numerical results are then used for the investigation of the thermal melt flow. The effects caused by a changing bath level during transient casting (ladle change) are investigated using the Volume‐of‐Fluid (VoF) model. Beyond this, the interaction between the melt and slag is taken into account, by using the three phase system melt‐slag‐air. In addition to the classical methods a new zonal approach is introduced in this paper. The integral balance localises high turbulence mixing regions as well as the development and intensity of back flows. The levelling of the momentum flux between the inlet and the outlet can also be described.     

Measurements of bubble plume behaviour and flow velocity in gas stirred liquid Wood's metal with an eccentric nozzle position

The distribution of gas fraction and the flow field of gas-stirred liquid metal in steel ladles at eccentric injection of the stirring gas through the bottom of the vessel were measured in melts of 437 kg liquid Wood's metal. The melts had a temperature of 100°C. The bath height was 37 cm and the vessel diameter 40 cm. The blowing nozzle was positioned at half of the vessel radius. Gas flow rates were between 100 and 800 cm³(STP)/s. The gas fractions were measured by electrical resistance probes. The flow velocity of the liquid metal was determined by magnet-probes. The gas fraction and the velocity distribution in the plume were found to have a Gaussian shape. The cross-section of the plume is ellipsoid, as the plume width in the direction of the radius was a little smaller than the width in the direction perpendicular to it. Moreover the plume was inclined to the wall. The results which were found for the plume are mathematically described. The flow field at eccentric gas-stirring consists of one great loop, which fills almost the entire vessel. This is contrary to centric blowing, where for aspect ratios of the ladle in the order of 1, a toroid is formed in the upper and a dead zone exists in the lower part of the vessel. The consequences of this behaviour, especially for mixing in the melt, are discussed.     

Cold model investigations of fluid flows and mixing within top and combined blowing in metallurgical processes

Cold model investigations were performed during top and combined blowing in metallurgical processes. The investigations include 2- and 3-phase systems with gas, water and oil phase. The results of top blowing tests can be used to arrange and optimise the fluid flow. Further, conclusions can be drawn for the spraying and emulsification process, if the slag thickness is known. Under combined blowing conditions a small amount of stirring gas injected from the bottom has a great influence on mixing. According to the slag thickness, in combination with the power of the top blowing momentum, the fluid flow is dominated by top or bottom blowing. If bottom blowing is added as a stirring mechanism, a better mixing can not be guaranteed by this means. The bottom blowing conditions have to be adapted to the top blowing conditions and to the reactor geometry.     

Numerical Simulations of Inclusion Behavior in Gas-Stirred Ladles

A computation fluid dynamics–population balance model (CFD–PBM) coupled model has been proposed to investigate the bubbly plume flow and inclusion behavior including growth, size distribution, and removal in gas-stirred ladles, and some new and important phenomena and mechanisms were presented. For the bubbly plume flow, a modified k-ε model with extra source terms to account for the bubble-induced turbulence was adopted to model the turbulence, and the bubble turbulent dispersion force was taken into account to predict gas volume fraction distribution in the turbulent gas-stirred system. For inclusion behavior, the phenomena of inclusions turbulent random motion, bubbles wake, and slag eye forming on the molten steel surface were considered. In addition, the multiple mechanisms both that promote inclusion growth due to inclusion–inclusion collision caused by turbulent random motion, shear rate in turbulent eddy, and difference inclusion Stokes velocities, and the mechanisms that promote inclusion removal due to bubble-inclusion turbulence random collision, bubble-inclusion turbulent shear collision, bubble-inclusion buoyancy collision, inclusion own floatation near slag–metal interface, bubble wake capture, and wall adhesion were investigated. The importance of different mechanisms and total inclusion removal ratio under different conditions, and the distribution of inclusion number densities in ladle, were discussed and clarified. The results show that at a low gas flow rate, the inclusion growth is mainly attributed to both turbulent shear collision and Stokes collision, which is notably affected by the Stokes collision efficiency, and the inclusion removal is mainly attributed to the bubble-inclusion buoyancy collision and inclusion own floatation near slag–metal interface. At a higher gas flow rate, the inclusions appear as turbulence random motion in bubbly plume zone, and both the inclusion–inclusion and inclusion-bubble turbulent random collisions become important for inclusion growth and removal. With the increase of the gas flow rate, the total removal ratio increases, but when the gas flow rate exceeds 200 NL/min in 150-ton ladle, the total removal ration almost does not change. For the larger size inclusions, the number density in bubbly plume zone is less than that in the sidewall recirculation zones, but for the small size inclusions, the distribution of number density shows the opposite trend.     

Physical and Mathematical Modeling of Inert Gas-Shrouded Ladle Nozzles and Their Role on Slag Behavior and Fluid Flow Patterns in a Delta-Shaped, Four-Strand Tundish

Inert gas shrouding practices were simulated using a full-scale, four-strand water model of a 12-tone, delta-shaped tundish. Compressed air was aspirated into the ladle shroud to model volumetric flow rates that range between 2 and 10 pct of steel entry flows. Bubble trajectories, slag layer movements, and flow fields, were visualized. Flow fields were visualized using particle image velocimetry (PIV). A numerical model also was developed using discrete phase modeling (DPM) along with the standard k-ε turbulence model with two-way turbulence coupling. Predicted flow fields and bubble trajectories corresponded with the water model experiments.     

Fundamental Mathematical Model for AOD Process. Part I: Derivation of the Model

This paper presents a new simulation model for the AOD process that takes the local variations into account but is still computationally efficient. The new idea here was to model AOD reactor as a combination of a plug flow reactor for the plume zone and a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for the bath and surface slag. This approach adopted has many advantages compared with the previous models. At first, it offers an effective method for considering the locally varying conditions as the gas bubbles rise in the plume. The model can be built computationally very effective compared to CFD due to significantly smaller amount of variables. The validation of the model is also easier as it has features that can be experimentally determined. The model is based on the simultaneous solution of conservation equations of mass, species and energy in all the vertical cells of the plug flow reactor, and a single volume in bath and surface slag. A novel method was developed and used for solving the rates in a mass transfer controlled multi‐component reaction system. In this Part I of this paper, the model is presented and its features discussed by few illustrative examples. In the following Part II, the model is broadly validated with new full scale industrial AOD process measurements for carbon release rate, melt composition, slag composition and bath temperature rise during final stages of carbon removal.     

Emulsification of Top Slags during Argon Stirring through a Porous Plug in the Ladle of Si Deoxidised Carbon Steels

Intensive experiments with 170‐t heats of carbon steels in the LD steel plant of Saarstahl AG were performed to study the emulsification of an acid top slag during different stirring conditions in this research project. During ladle treatment samples were taken from steel for the analysis of the composition of the inclusions together with the top slag. Within these investigations gas flow rates and stirring times were systematically varied in order to study their influence on the entrapment of top slag in the steel melt. At the same time a model was developed for the evaluation of the performance of the porous plug with regard to gas flow rate and gas pressure or finally for blockades and leakages. According to the experiments of this project the following results were established. Small top slag particles are discovered nearly in all steel samples together with endogenous SiO₂‐Al₂O₃ deoxidation products. But emulsified phases or parts of the top slag generating larger inclusions with a size of 30 – 60 μm show the low melting eutectic composition. On the other hand, this emulsification process leads simultaneously to CaO depletion and SiO₂ accumulation of the top slag particularly when a longer stirring period is applied as shown during these experimental trials. The whole process requires low melting top slags and low melting emulsified inclusions in combination with a low viscosity level. To meet the emulsification requirements the gas flow is characterised by high gas flow rates in the order of 30 – 40 STP m³/h and high pressures with 8 – 12 bar indicating a blockade of the porous plug and the existence of a gas jet.     

Numerical Simulation of Gas and Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Gas-Stirred Systems Based on Euler–Euler Approach

Based on the Euler–Euler approach, a mathematical model is established to describe gas and liquid two-phase flow in the gas-stirred system for steelmaking, and the influences of the interphase force including turbulent dispersion force, drag force, and lift force are investigated. The modified k–ε model with extra source terms to account for the bubble-induced turbulence is adopted to model the turbulence in the system, and the simulation results of gas volume fraction, liquid velocity, and turbulent kinetic energy are compared with the measured data. The results show that the turbulent dispersion force dominates the bubbly plume shape and is responsible for successful prediction of the gas volume fraction. The bubble-induced turbulence has a significant influence on the liquid turbulence, and the conversion coefficient C _b, which denotes the fraction of bubble-induced energy converted into liquid turbulence, should be in the range of 0.8 and 0.9. The drag force also strongly influences the bubbly plume dynamics, and the coefficient model proposed by Kolev performs the best for determining the drag force; however, the lift force and bubble diameter do not have much effect on the current bubbly plume system. For different gas flow rates, the current Euler–Euler approach predictions are more consistent with the measured data than the Euler–Lagrange approach and the early Euler–Euler model.     

Study on Desulphurization in Molten Iron Pretreatment Process Based on a New Stirring Method

In this work, numerical simulations for the flow characteristics in a tank of KR mechanical stirring or/and gas injection are performed using the Fluent software. The Eulerian multi-fluid model is employed along with the standard k-ε turbulence model to simulate the gas-liquid flow in the stirring tank. A multiple reference frame approach is used to model the impeller rotation. Combined the KR mechanical stirring method and gas injection method, a new gas injection plus mechanical stirring method is proposed. The present results show that the gas phase distributes widely in the eccentric gas injection plus mechanical stirring tank. Therefore, the gas holdup would be increased and the better gas-liquid mixing effect can be obtained in the gas injection plus mechanical stirring case.     

Steel dissolution in quiescent and gas stirred Fe/C melts

The dissolution rates of commercial black iron rods in iron/carbon melts under isothermal conditions were measured. The effect of melt carbon content, temperature, natural convection, and gas stirred forced convection conditions were investigated. The experimental data under natural convection conditions (no external stirring) were fitted with a dimensionless correlation for vertical cylinders: Sh = 0.13(Gr . Sc)^0.34, representing mass transport control dominated by turbulent natural convection. Under bottom injection gas stirring conditions, it was found that the kinetic power input had little effect on the rod dissolution rates which were controlled by the total gas flow rate. Derived mass transport coefficients under gas stirring conditions were found to have the following dependence on the gas injection rates:k _m ∝Q ^0.21, wherek _m = mass transport coefficient andQ = gas flow rate. A comparison of the experimental results with previously measured mass transfer coefficients under forced convection conditions gave a plume velocity flow rate dependence ofU ∝Q ^0.3. A general discussion of gas stirring fluid dynamics and resulting mass transport effects is presented.