Numerical Study on Interfacial Structure and Mixing Characteristics in Converter Based on CLSVOF Method

Abstract

The blowing flow is a key factor in molten bath stirring to affects the steel-bath interface fluctuation and chemical reaction in the top-bottom-blowing converter. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is widely used to capture the gas-liquid interface. However, some limitations exist in dealing with the interface curvature and normal vectors of the complex deformed slag-bath interface. The Coupled Level-Set and Volume of Fluid (CLSVOF) method uses the VOF function to achieve mass conservation and capture interface smoothly by computing the curvature and normal vector using the Level-Set function to overcome the limitations in the VOF model. In the present work, a three-dimensional (3D) transient mathematical model coupled CLSVOF method has been developed to analyze the mixing process under different injection flow rates and bottom-blowing positions. The results show that when the bottom-blowing flow rate increases from 0.252 kg/s to 0.379 kg/s, the mixing time in the molten bath gradually decreases from 74 s to 66 s. When the bottom-blowing flow rate is 0.252 kg/s, it is recommended to distribute the outer bottom-blowing position on concentric circles with Dtuy,2/D2 = 0.33.

Effect of Gas Distribution Mode on Bath Stirring and Mixing in a Bottom‐Blown Converter

“…There were many numerical simulations to study the mixing behavior in the converter bath, but the number of monitors in the numerical model was not consistent. Three monitoring points were used in the simulation of Qi et al [ 42 ] In the simulation of Yao et al, [ 12 ] Chu et al, [ 34 ] and Singh et al, [ 43 ] two monitoring points were used in their work, and in the simulation of Li et al, [ 44 ] five monitoring points were applied in the study. Based on the aforementioned literature study, five monitoring points were used in the numerical model for this article.…”

Simulation of Fluid Flow in the Top–Bottom Combined Blowing Converter

“…For the bottom blowing, arranging the tuyeres in the corner region of scattered cavities would exacerbate the nonuniformity of the velocity and splashing, resulting in a large dead zone and high kinetic energy dissipation, which is not favorable to the mixing of a molten bath. Qi et al [18] developed a three-dimensional (3D) transient mathematical model coupled with CLSVOF method to analyze the mixing process under different injection flow rates and bottom blowing positions. The findings indicate that managing the bottom blowing flow rate is an essential aspect of optimizing the converter performance.…”