Abstract
This article presents a review of the research into gas stirring in ladle metallurgy carried out over the past few decades. Herein, the physical modeling experiments are divided into four major areas: (1) mixing and homogenization in the ladle; (2) gas bubble formation, transformation, and interactions in the plume zone; (3) inclusion behavior at the steel–slag interface and in the molten steel; and (4) open eye formation. Several industrial trials have also been carried out to optimize gas stirring and open eye formation. Approaches for selecting criteria for scaling to guarantee flow similarity between industrial trials and physical modeling experiments are discussed. To describe the bubble behavior and two-phase plume structure, four main mathematical models have been used in different research fields: (1) the quasi-single-phase model, (2) the volume of fluid (VOF) model, (3) the Eulerian multiphase (E–E) model, and (4) the Eulerian–Lagrangian (E–L) model. In recent years, the E–E model has been used to predict gas stirring conditions in the ladle, and specific models in commercial packages, as well as research codes, have been developed gradually to describe the complex physical and chemical phenomena. Furthermore, the coupling of turbulence models with multiphase models is also discussed. For physical modeling, some general empirical rules have not been analyzed sufficiently. Based on a comparison with the available experimental results, it is found that the mathematical models focusing on the mass transfer phenomenon and inclusion behaviors at the steel-slag interface, vacuum degassing at the gas–liquid interface, dissolution rate of the solid alloy at the liquid–solid interface, and the combination of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics need to be improved further. To describe industrial conditions using mathematical methods and improve numerical modeling, the results of physical modeling experiments and industrial trials must offer satisfactory validations for the improvement of numerical modeling.
Highlights
PRODUCTION of clean steel requires strict control of impurity elements, such as O, H, and N, during ladle metallurgy
Depending on the research goal, the previous physical modeling experiments in lab scale have been divided into four major groups: (1) mixing and homogenization in the ladle; (2) gas bubbling formation, transformation, and interaction in the plume zone; (3) inclusion behaviors at the steel–slag interface and in the molten steel; and (4) open eye formation
Many of the investigations into ladle metallurgy reported over the past few decades have been reviewed
Summary
PRODUCTION of clean steel requires strict control of impurity elements, such as O, H, and N, during ladle metallurgy. Gas bubbling plays an important role in the steel metallurgy. This process is usually applied in the ladle, tundish, and continuous casting processes. A large number of articles have been published on the study of gas stirring in ladles, and mathematical models and physical models have been used either separately or together according to the research focus. Based on previous review works, the present article presents a review of the physical and numerical approaches used in the study of gas stirring in ladle metallurgy over the past 3 decades to give some options and find new and meaningful research directions, as well as desired experimental results for simulation validation. Section II: physical modeling experiments, Section III: industrial trials, Section IV: criteria for scaling between physical modeling experiments and industrial trials, and Section V: numerical models to study the gas–liquid zone in ladle refining
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