Turbulent Fluid Flow Phenomena in a Water Model of an AOD System

Experimental measurements are reported regarding fluid flow and turbulence property measurements in a water model of an AOD vessel. Laser velocimetry was used to determine the time smoothed velocities, the turbulent kinetic energy, and the Reynolds stresses in the system; in addition, the rate of melting of immersed ice rods was also measured to determine the local heat transfer rates. The measurements have shown that for the model AOD studied both the velocity fields and the distribution of the turbulent kinetic energy were quite uniform; the absence of inactive or dead zones would render these systems ideal for mixing and for a range of ladle metallurgical operations. The rate at which immersed ice rods dissolved depended on both the local velocities and on the turbulence levels; a previously developed correlation could be employed to predict the appropriate heat transfer coefficients. Finally, the rate of turbulent energy dissipation per unit volume in real industrial AOD vessels was found to be much higher than in any other ladle metallurgy operations. This could raise interesting possibilities regarding the more widespread use of these systems for molten metals processing.