Numerical Simulation of the Melting Behavior of Steel Scrap in Hot Metal

Abstract

The current study focuses on the melting behavior of a scrap bar with low carbon content in hot metal which contains high carbon concentration by applying experiments and mathematical modelings. The experiments suggest that higher temperature is favorable for the melting of the bar and the melting rate of the bar is initially high while decreased to a relative stable level after 90 s in the current conditions. It can be found from the mathematical results that the bar temperature is increased near to bath temperature in about 20 s after it was immersed into the bath, and the temperature in the axis of the bar is not distributed evenly during the temperature increase stage. Moreover, the mathematical results shows that a bath circulation flow would be formed in the bath under the effects of temperature and carbon distribution during the melting process. The bath flow near the melting interface would influence the carbon concentration of the molten phase, in turn, affects the melting rate of the bar in the vertical direction. Both the experimental and mathematical results show that the melting rate in the upper part, which is in the upstream of the bath flow, is higher than that of the middle part, followed by the down part of the bar in the downstream of the flow, in which the carbon concentration is much lower than that of the bath. At this period, the main factor that dominate the bar melting is not the temperature but the carbon distribution at the melting interface after the bar temperature is increased to the bath temperature.