Physical and Numerical Simulation of the Optimum Nozzle Radial Position in Ladles with One Nozzle and Bottom Gas Injection

Abstract

The effect of the nozzle radial position on both mixing time and slag eye due to bottom gas injection in metallurgical ladles was investigated using physical and mathematical modelling. Previous research has extensively investigated the effects of the nozzle radial position on mixing time, however, the few available results with respect to ladle eye indicate contradictory results. To identify the optimum nozzle radial position with respect to both mixing time and slag eye area a systematic investigation has been carried out. A water model with a geometric scale ratio 1:8 was employed to study the influence of different nozzle radial positions on both the slag eye area and mixing time. A mathematical model was developed using the Euler-Lagrangian approach considering multiphase flow. In previous investigations the optimum nozzle radial position has been defined considering only mixing time.The experimental results from this work show a clear trend indicating a large influence of the nozzle radial position on the slag eye. Two new equations are proposed to describe the effect of the nozzle radial position on both mixing time and slag eye. An optimum nozzle radial position is suggested which yields high mixing conditions and also a lower slag eye area. Additionally, the best drag force model capable to predict large slag eye areas has been identified.

Effect of Salt Solution Tracer Dosage on the Transport and Mixing of Tracer in a Water Model of Asymmetrical Gas-Stirred Ladle with a Moderate Gas Flowrate

“…Presently, argon stirring ladles are widely employed in secondary refining [1][2][3][4][5], where they facilitate the uniform temperature and composition of molten steel [3,6], accelerate metallurgical reactions [7][8][9][10][11], promote alloy and scrap melting [12][13][14][15][16], eliminate non-metallic inclusions in the steel [16][17][18][19][20][21], effectively enhance steel product quality [22][23][24], improve ladle refining efficiency [3], and reduce production costs. Over the past several decades, numerous physical models [2,4,7,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] and numerical models [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] have been established to investigate fluid flow [41,…”

“…Asymmetrical stirring is widely used in small-weight ladles. The effects of the gas flow rate, location, number, size, and separation angle of stirring plugs on the fluid flow and mixing process in gas-stirred ladles have been studied via water models [25][26][27][28].…”

Process optimization of bottom-blown argon for 130t ladle furnace

“…Most studies of ladle bottom-blowing argon have focused on the effect of various process conditions on mixing time and slag eye formation [15]. Feng [16], nozzle diameter [17], tracer addition location [18], electromagnetic stirring [19], fluid-dynamic structure [20], and different purging plug designs [21] [6], slag layer thickness [22], fluid flow turbulence [23], and physical parameters of slag (density, viscosity) [24,25] on open eye formation, respectively. Tang et al [26] and Villela-Aguilar et al [27] proposed a new blowing mode with different flow rates designed for each plugs, which can reduce the mixing time and open eye area with the same blowing flow rate.…”

“…Most studies of ladle bottom-blowing argon have focused on the effect of various process conditions on mixing time and slag eye formation [15]. Feng et al, Terrazas et al, Herrera-Ortega et al, Sand et al, González-Bernal et al, and Tan et al investigated the effects of nozzle radius position [16], nozzle diameter [17], tracer addition location [18], electromagnetic stirring [19], fluid-dynamic structure [20], and different purging plug designs [21] on mixing time, respectively. Ramasetti et al, Morales et al, Calderón-Hurtado et al, and Amaro-Villeda et al investigated the effects of argon gas flow rate [6], slag layer thickness [22], fluid flow turbulence [23], and physical parameters of slag (density, viscosity) [24,25] on open eye formation, respectively.…”