Modeling of Gas-Steel-Slag Three-Phase Flow in Ladle Metallurgy: Part I. Physical Modeling

To obtain a better understanding the gas-steel-slag three-phase flow in ladle metallurgy with eccentric gas bubbling, both the single-plug-stirred and dual-plug-stirred water model systems were employed. The plume Froude number derived from the buoyancy of the bubble plume was used to characterize the plume two-phase flow. The elctrical conductivity measurement technique was applied to measure the mixing time. A video technique was used to monitor the slag eye and the open software called ImageJ was taken to quantify the slag eye area. Some experiments were carried out to determine the location of the probe in the ladle where the measured mixing times can be interpreted as the bulk mixing times. The eccentric gas injection in the ladle bottom can improve the mixing efficiency in the ladle. Shorter mixing times can be achieved by injecting gas through two porous plugs, located diametrically opposite at mid-bath radius position (alpha=180 degrees). A critical gas flow rate is proposed based on the formation of slag eye. The mixing time will decreases sharply at the condition of slag eye formation and collapse alternately. The critical gas flow rate increases with increasing the slag layer thickness and decreasing the porous plug angles. Four fators effect on the slag eye area were investigated: the gas flow rate, slag layer thickness, porous plug locations and angles. A semi-empirical model was developed based on the experimental data of the present work to describe the slag eye area as a function of the heights of the two liquids and the gas flow rate. The present correlation for slag eye area was reviewed against many previous different liquid-liquid systems.