Simulation and application of post-combustion oxygen lance in a top-blown converter

Abstract

Flow field characteristics of conventional four-hole oxygen lance and single-flow post-combustion (PC) oxygen lance at steelmaking temperature are studied by numerical simulation, and the industrial trials are carried out in the 120 t top-blown converter to evaluate their metallurgical effects. The simulation results indicate that with the increase of ambient temperature, the potential core length of oxygen jet, jet velocity and radial width (jet diameter) increase. And the jet characteristics of PC oxygen lance are better than those of conventional lance in the radial and axial directions. The industrial trials show that, compared with the conventional lance, using the PC oxygen lance can shorten blowing time by 93 s, reduce actual oxygen consumption by 3.56 m 3 t −1 and increase dephosphorization rate by 1.67%. Meanwhile, PC oxygen lance is better for slagging and solves the problem of splashing or drying caused by increasing the oxygen flow rate of the conventional lance.