Bubble formation at nozzles in pig iron

Abstract

An experimental study was undertaken to determine how several variables affect the size of gas bubbles formed at nozzles in liquid pig iron. The frequency of bubble formation was measured by an acoustic device, which could detect the vibrations produced by the bubble release. Accurate knowledge of the gas flow rate then enabled the calculation of bubble volumes. The use of large baths (60 Kg), melted by induction heating, permitted a wide range of experimental parameters: gas flow rate (0.5 to 1000 cc/s), outside nozzle diameter (0.64 to 5.1 cm), inside diameter (0.16 to 0.64 cm), chamber volume (23 to 2200 cc), nozzle depth (7.6 to 20 cm), surface tension (700 to 1500 dynes/cm) and nozzle orientation (up, down and sideways). The resulting bubble volumes were between 0.5 and 100 cc. The bubbles were found to form at the outer diameter of the nozzles due to the nonwettability of the nozzles. Furthermore, the bubbles were of a uniform size at low flow rates, but increased in volume with the flow rate, so that a constant frequency was established. In addition, the bubble volume was strongly dependent on the chamber volume upstream from the nozzle. This is known as a “capacitance” effect and is due to compressibility of the gas. “Doublets” or “double bubbles” at small chamber volumes and bubble “pairs” at large chamber volumes were also observed. These phenomena result in smaller bubbles, which make precise predictions of bubble size difficult. The results are compared with those obtained by other investigators in aqueous and metallic systems.