Abstract
The Isa/Ausmelt smelting technology with a top submerged lance (TSL) has been extensively used in copper smelting processes. However, the TSL is extremely vulnerable to damage and failure because of bending and tip burning. Frequent lance replacement is time-consuming and limits the copper production capacity. Here, a numerical simulation method is used to study the influence of lance failure on the flow field, splashing of slag, and wall shear of the lance as well as furnace body for exploring the factors that limit the service life of the lance. The simulation results reveal that the fluid flow is weak on the reverse bending side, which is is not conducive to mixing of raw materials when the lance is bent, resulting in a significant amount of slag splashing. After the lance tip is burned out, the utilization of agitation energy decreases because of an increase in the lance outlet area, resulting in poor stirring of the molten bath and a considerable loss of heat. In addition, this study shows that the lance wall shear varies because of slag splashing, implying that the wall shear can be reduced by reducing slag splashing.
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