Study of Solid Accretion Formation inside Pyrometallurgical Vessels by a Wax Model and Similarity Conversion for Gas Bottom-Blown Process

Abstract

In this study, a wax model with an extra low temperature (À110 C) gas blown-in system was established to simulate the phenomena inside ironmaking and steelmaking vessels and investigate the effects of gas bottom-blown conditions on the shape and dimensions of solid accretion sitting on the refractory lining near gas tuyeres.The experiments were conducted with the gas flow rate set in the range of 30-90 Nl/min. The results show that increasing gas flow rate or decreasing wax temperature increases the sizes of the wax accretion. Not only accretion size but also formation time and growth rate increase with gas flow rate and decreases with wax temperature. The results also show that final height of accretion is directly proportional to its growth rate and square of the formation time.In addition, Accretion Similarity Conversion Method (ASCM) was developed for correlating conditions of the accretion formation in the similar systems. A cone-shaped accretion was assumed to increase the accuracy of ASCM. The results indicate that the accretions sizes inside the wax model under a specific condition can be reasonably estimated by modified ASCM with the observed results of the water model from a previous study.