Numerical modelling studies of flow and mixing phenomena in gas stirred steel ladles

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the fluid flow and mixing phenomena in a gas stirred ladle. Particular attention was paid to incorporate the effect of slippage between rising gas bubbles and surrounding fluid in the numerical model, to capture the relevant flow physics in a more effective manner. Various parametric studies were undertaken to examine the effects of gas flow rate, bottom nozzle configurations and tracer addition locations on mixing time. It was observed that the arrangement of bottom nozzles has a great effect on the mixing behaviour in a gas stirred ladle, with off centric gas injection producing shorter mixing time. Mixing time was found to be sensitive to the tracer addition position, particularly for the axisymmetric bottom gas injection system. The predicted results were compared with reported experimental observations and a very good agreement was observed in this regard, thereby establishing the authenticity of the proposed formulation.