Influence of Gas Density and Plug Diameter on Plume Characteristics by Ladle Stirring

The paper presents new results concerning the influence of the gas density and porous plug diameter on the nature of liquid steel stirring with an inert gas in the ladle. The tests were carried out on a cold model of a 30t ladle using particle image velocimetry (PIV) with a high-speed camera to analyse the plume zone formed during the supply of argon and helium as a stirring gas. The similarity criteria for the investigation of stirring processes in cold model in the past were discussed and compared. The modified Morton number was used in this paper to relate the gas flow rate in the model with real objects. The presented results constitute complete documentation of the influence of the plug diameter and gas density on the size of formed gas bubbles and the velocity of gas bubbles rising in different zones of the plume, plume, and spout geometry, including the expansion angle, spout height, open eye area, and gas hold-up.

Automated summary

The paper presents new findings on the influence of gas density and porous plug diameter on liquid steel stirring with an inert gas in the ladle. The experiments on a cold model show that different gas stirring conditions affect the size and velocity of gas bubbles, as well as the geometry of the plume and spout.