Bubbling to Jetting Transition during Argon Injection in Molten Steel

Bubbling to Jetting Transition is of the outmost importance in metallurgical processes given that the flow regime influences the refining rates, the refractory erosion, and the blockage of injection nozzles. Bubbling to jetting transition during subsonic bottom injection of argon in molten steel is studied here. The effect of the molten steel height, the injection velocity, the nozzle diameter, and the molten steel viscosity on the jet height and the bubbling to jetting transition is numerically analyzed using Computational Fluid Dynamics. Five subsonic argon injection velocities are considered: 5, 25, 50, 100 and 150 m/s. Three values of the metal height are taken into account, namely 1.5 m, 2 m and 2.5 m. Besides, three values of the nozzle diameters are considered: 0.001 m, 0.005 m and 0.01 m. Finally, three values of the molten steel viscosity are supposed: 0.0067, 0.1 and 1 kg/(m·s). It is observed that for the argon-molten steel system, the bubbling to jetting transition occurs for an injection velocity less than 25 m/s and that for the range of viscosities considered, the molten steel viscosity does not exert significant influence on the jet height and the bubbling to jetting transition. Due to the jet instability at subsonic velocities, a second transition, namely jetting to bubbling, is appreciated.