Water modeling on fluid flow and mixing phenomena in a BOF steelmaking converter

A 1∶8 physical water model was constructed to investigate the fluid flow and mixing phenomena in the basic oxygen furnace(BOF)converter.The particle image velocimetry was employed to measure the velocity distribution of the bath and the high-speed camera was applied to capture the cavity shape in the combined blowing BOF converter.The mixing time for varied operating conditions was measured by the stimulus-response approach.The cavity depth increased with the decrease in the lance height and the increase in the top gas flow rate while the bottom blowing gas had little influence on the cavity depth.The minimum cavity depth was obtained under the condition of a 69.8 m^(3)/h top gas flow rate,a 287.5 mm lance height and a 0.93 m^(3)/h bottom blowing gas flow rate,which was 161.2 mm.The mixing time decreased as the lance height decreased and the top blowing gas flow rate increased.The mixing time was first decreased and then increased with the increase in the bottom gas flow rate.With the condition of 69.8 m^(3)/h gas flow rate of top blowing,the 287.5 mm lance height and the 0.93 m^(3)/h gas flow rate of bottom blowing,the mixing time in the converter was 48.65 s.The empirical formula between the stirring power and the mixing time in the converter was calculated.

Population Evolution of Oxide Inclusions in Ti-stabilized Ultra-low Carbon Steels after Deoxidation

Population density function （PDF）, which can eliminate the arbitrariness caused by the choice of the num- ber and the size of bins compared to the well-used histograms, was introduced to analyze the amount of inclusions. The population evolution of oxide inclusions in forms of PDF in Ti-stabilized ultra-low carbon steels after deoxidation during industrial RH refining and continuous casting processes was analyzed using an automated SEM-EDS system. It was found that after deoxidation till the early stage of casting, the alumina inclusions exhibited a lognormal PDF distribution, and three factors including the existence of a large amount of alumina clusters, the generation of alumi- na from the reduction of Al-Ti-O inclusions and the reoxidation of molten steel were estimated as the reasons. The shape parameter σ was high after deoxidation and then decreased after Ti treatment, indicating that in a short period after deoxidation, the size of alumina inclusions was widely distributed. After Ti treatment, the distribution of inclu- sion size was more concentrated. The scale parameter m decreased with time during the whole refining process, indi- cating that the proportion of large inclusions decreased during refining. Contrarily, the Al-Ti-O inclusions presented a fractal PDF distribution except at the end of casting with fractal dimension D of 4.3, and the constant of propor- tionality C decreased with time during RH refining and increased during casting process. The reoxidation of steel by slag entrapped from ladle was considered as the reason for the lognormal PDF behavior of Al-Ti-O inclusions at the end of casting.

Distribution of TiN inclusions in Ti-stabilized ultra-pure ferrite stainless steel slab

In order to clarify and control the silver defect on surface of cold-rolled sheet of the Ti-stabilized ultra-pure ferrite stainless steel, the distribution of TiN inclusions on the cross section of hot-rolled plate was studied using automated scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy inclusion analysis (ASPEX 1020 system). It was found that the number density decreases sharply from the surface to the center of the hot-rolled plate, whereas the average size increases. Then, the distribution of TiN inclusions on the cross section of continuously cast slab was investigated. Similarly, numerous small-sized TiN inclusions were generated at the subsurface of the slab. The average size rapidly increased and the number density dramatically decreased from the subsurface to 1/4 thickness, while from 1/4 thickness to 1/2 thickness, the increase in average size and the decrease in number density were slight. Thermodynamics results showed that TiN inclusion was formed below the liquidus temperature, which indicated that TiN inclusions could not be formed during secondary refining. Considering the microsegregation of solute elements and the equilibrium of TiN formation during solidification, TiN precipitated in the mushy zone when the solid fraction was close to 0.2. The growth of TiN was analyzed based on the diffusion-controlled growth model. With the increase in cooling rate, the time for TiN growth decreased and the size of TiN inclusions was diminished, which revealed the size distribution of TiN inclusions in the cast slab qualitatively.

A boundary layer model for capture of inclusions by steel-slag interface in a turbulent flow

A boundary layer model was developed to predict the capture of inclusions by steel-slag interface in a turbulent fluid flow,which is based on the detailed analysis of inclusion trajectories.The effective boundary layer for inclusion removal was proposed by a statistical method.It is noticed that the capture of inclusions by steel-slag interface is not only dependent on the diameter of inclusions but also related to the local turbulent conditions.In high turbulent flow fields,the transport of inclusions is mainly dominated by the turbulent flow,and thus,the effective boundary layer thickness is mainly affected by the level of turbulent kinetic energy and is almost independent of the inclusion diameter.The inertia of inclusions gradually takes over the stochastic effect of turbulent flow,and the effect of inclusion diameter on effective boundary layer thickness becomes more noticeable with the decrease in the level of turbulent kinetic energy.Besides,the effective boundary layer thickness is more susceptible to the inclusion diameter for larger inclusions due to its greater inertia under the same turbulent condition while it principally depends on the level of turbulent kinetic energy for smaller inclusions.As the characteristic velocity increases,the time for inclusions transport and interaction with steel-slag interface decreases,and thus,the effective boundary layer thickness decreases.Moreover,the graphical user interface was developed by using the cubic spline interpolation for ease of coupling the current boundary layer model with the macro-scale model of a turbulent fluid flow in the metallurgical vessel.