A CFD Study on Refractory Wear in RH Degassing Process

In order to assess the wear damage of the lining refractory in the RH degasser, a transient 3D numerical model has been established using volume of fluid approach-discrete phase model (VOF-DPM) technology. The gas-oil-water three-phase flow in a RH degasser water model was evaluated. The breakup and coalescence of gas bubble was taken into account, and moreover the bubble diameter changed with static pressure. The wall shear stress and turbulence intensity were employed to predicate the erosion rate of the lining refractory, while the diffusion coefficient of the refractory material and the slag property at high temperature were used to consider the corrosion rate. The effects of the operational parameters on the refractory wear rate were clarified. A careful comparison between the experimental and the numerical results was conducted for the model validation. The results show that the wear behavior of the lining refractory at the up snorkel wall is the most severe due to the rapidly rising bubble. The vacuum chamber wall that near the up snorkel is also subjected to a serious wear damage. Besides, a higher wear rate is observed at the ladle wall that close to the oil/water interface, since both the physical erosion and chemical corrosion contribute to the wear damage of the lining refractory here. The developed model could help smelters to estimate the remaining thickness of the refractory in the RH degasser under different operational conditions.