Dissolution behavior of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions into CaO-MgO-SiO_(2)-Al_(2)O_(3)-TiO_(2)system ladle slags

To investigate the dissolution behaviors of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions in CaO-5wt%MgO-SiO_(2)-30wt%Al_(2)O_(3)-TiO_(2)system ladle slags,confocal scanning laser microscopy was conducted on the slags with different TiO_(2)contents(0-10wt%),and scanning electron microscopy was performed to study the interfacial reaction between Al_(2)O_(3)and this slag system.The results disclose that the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions does not result in the formation of new phases at the boundary between the slag and the inclusions.In TiO_(2)-bearing and TiO_(2)-free ladle slags,there is no difference in the dissolution mechanism of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions at steelmaking temperatures.Boundary layer diffusion is found as the controlling step of the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3),and the diffusion coefficient is in the range of 4.18×10^(-10)to 2.18×10^(-9)m^(2)/s at 1450-1500℃.Compared with the solubility of Al_(2)O_(3)in the slags,slag viscosity and temperature play a more profound role in the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions.A lower viscosity and a lower melting point of the slags are beneficial for the dissolution.Suitable addition of TiO_(2)(e.g.,5wt%)in ladle slags can enhance the dissolution of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions because of the low viscosity and melting point of the slags,while excessive addition of TiO_(2)(e.g.,10wt%)shows the opposite trend.

Numerical simulation on the multiphase flow and reoxidation of the molten steel in a two-strand tundish during ladle change

A 3D mathematical model was proposed to investigate the molten steel–slag–air multiphase flow in a two-strand slab continuous casting(CC)tundish during ladle change.The study focused on the exposure of the molten steel and the subsequent reoxidation occurrence.The exposure of the molten steel was calculated using the coupled realizable k–εmodel and volume of fluid(VOF)model.The diffusion of dissolved oxygen was determined by solving the user-defined scalar(UDS)equation.Moreover,the user-defined function(UDF)was used to describe the source term in the UDS equation and determine the oxidation rate and oxidation position.The effect of the refilling speed on the molten steel exposure and dissolved oxygen content was also discussed.Increasing the refilling speed during ladle change reduced the refilling time and the exposure duration of the molten steel.However,the elevated refilling speed enlarged the slag eyes and increased the average dissolved oxygen content within the tundish,thereby exacerbating the reoxidation phenomenon.In addition,the time required for the molten steel with a high dissolved oxygen content to exit the tundish varied with the refilling speed.When the inlet speed was 3.0 m·s^(-1)during ladle change,the molten steel with a high dissolved oxygen content exited the outlet in a short period,reaching a maximum dissolved oxygen content of 0.000525wt%.Conversely,when the inlet speed was 1.8 m·s^(-1),the maximum dissolved oxygen content was 0.000382wt%.The refilling speed during the ladle change process must be appropriately decreased to minimize reoxidation effects and enhance the steel product quality.

3D numerical investigation of effects of density and surface tension on mixing time in bottom-blown gas-stirred ladles

In molten phase metallurgical processes,mixing via gas injection has a vital role in obtaining a homogeneous product.The efficiency of mixing depends on operational variables such as gas flow rate and slag height as well as physical properties of the molten phases.A numerical simulation is conducted to study the above parameters in the flow behavior of a bottom-blown bath.The molten metal and the slag are modeled by water and oil,respectively.The numerical results,particularly the mixing time,are validated against experimental data.The results show that mixing time increases as the slag height increases and decreases as the density of the slag material increases.The mixing time decreases with an increase in the density of the primary phase;however,it increases as the surface tension between air and water increases.A case with properties close to a real molten metal is also modeled.The performance of the system is influenced by the momentum rather than the dissipative forces.Thus,the effect of the density of the molten phase on the mixing process is more pronounced compared to the effect of the surface tension between the air and the molten phase.

Predicting the alloying element yield in a ladle furnace using principal component analysis and deep neural network

The composition control of molten steel is one of the main functions in the ladle furnace(LF)refining process.In this study,a feasible model was established to predict the alloying element yield using principal component analysis(PCA)and deep neural network(DNN).The PCA was used to eliminate collinearity and reduce the dimension of the input variables,and then the data processed by PCA were used to establish the DNN model.The prediction hit ratios for the Si element yield in the error ranges of±1%,±3%,and±5%are 54.0%,93.8%,and98.8%,respectively,whereas those of the Mn element yield in the error ranges of±1%,±2%,and±3%are 77.0%,96.3%,and 99.5%,respectively,in the PCA-DNN model.The results demonstrate that the PCA-DNN model performs better than the known models,such as the reference heat method,multiple linear regression,modified backpropagation,and DNN model.Meanwhile,the accurate prediction of the alloying element yield can greatly contribute to realizing a“narrow window”control of composition in molten steel.The construction of the prediction model for the element yield can also provide a reference for the development of an alloying control model in LF intelligent refining in the modern iron and steel industry.

Intelligent optimization method for the dynamic scheduling of hot metal ladles of one-ladle technology on ironmaking and steelmaking interface in steel plants

The one-ladle technology requires an efficient ironmaking and steelmaking interface. The scheduling of the hot metal ladle in the steel plant determines the overall operational efficiency of the interface. Considering the strong uncertainties of real-world production environments, this work studies the dynamic scheduling problem of hot metal ladles and develops a data-driven three-layer approach to solve this problem. A dynamic scheduling optimization model of the hot metal ladle operation with a minimum average turnover time as the optimization objective is also constructed. Furthermore, the intelligent perception of industrial scenes and autonomous identification of disturbances, adaptive configuration of dynamic scheduling strategies, and real-time adjustment of schedules can be realized. The upper layer generates a demand-oriented prescheduling scheme for hot metal ladles. The middle layer adaptively adjusts this scheme to obtain an executable schedule according to the actual supply–demand relationship. In the lower layer, three types of dynamic scheduling strategies are designed according to the characteristics of the dynamic disturbance in the model:real-time flexible fine-tuning, local machine adjustment, and global rescheduling. Case test using 24 h production data on a certain day during the system operation of a steel plant shows that the method and system can effectively reduce the fluctuation and operation time of the hot metal ladle and improve the stability of the ironmaking and steelmaking interface production rhythm. The data-driven dynamic scheduling strategy is feasible and effective, and the proposed method can improve the operation efficiency of hot metal ladles.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION ON FLOW AND MIXING PROCESSES IN BOTTOM BLOWN LADLES

An improvement on the flow and mixing conditions in bottom blown ladles may be made by either shifting the nozzle from centre to off-centre or changing from one to two nozzles. Thus the shorter time for homogeneous mixing in ladle seems to be available.

Flow field research on bottom argon blowing in a 40 ton ladle

In order to improve argon blowing efficiency in a 40 ton ladle, numerical simulation and water simulation experiments of the bottom argon flow were performed. Relationships among the ladle mixing time, slag eye area, different blowing flow rates, and different blowing positions （0,0.56R, 0. 62R, 0. 67R） are discussed. Results showed that the ladle mixing time decreased when the argon blowing brick distance （from bottom center of the ladle） increased, and decreased significantly when the blowing flow increased from 70 to 130 L/h. When the blowing flow increased and exceeded 130 L/h,the stirring effect tended to be stable, and there was little effect on the ladle mixing time. The slag eye area increased as the argon brick distance increased, and was larger when the argon blow brick was near the ladle wall. Wall shear stress significantly increased as the brick distance increased and was concentrated at the slag wall near the argon flow brick;this is called the most serious erosion wall. The average wall shear increased exponentially with increasing argon blowing brick distance.

Numerical Simulation of an Argon Stirred Ladle with Top and Bottom Injection

The stirring of a molten steel ladle with argon injection through a top submerged lance and a bottom nozzle is numerically studied here through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Three lance submergence depths and three injection velocities are considered in the CFD numerical experiments. The turbulent dissipation rate is employed to characterize the stirring phenomenon. The mixing times are determined from the gas flow rate, ladle geometry and bath depth using an empirical correlation.

Discussion on Abnormal Corrosion and Material Selection of Hot Iron Ladles with Steel Scrap Addition

The abnormal corrosion of hot iron ladles was investigated.The performance,the composition and the structure of bricks for hot iron ladles were analyzed.The results show that(1)compared with the alumina-silicon carbide-carbon bricks for the ladle bottom,those for the ladle wall have more pyrophyllite and the Al2O3 content of 36.32 mass%;their bulk density,apparent porosity and cold compressive strength are lower than the requirement of industry standard;they have poor anti-oxidation performance and are oxidized to form a porous layer during service,which loosens the brick lining structure thus leading to fracture,local wear and structural damage of bricks;(2)without preheating,steel scraps are not completely melted,resulting in slag or steel attachment at the mouth or the bottom of ladles thus increasing damage of ladles;(3)and the residual bricks react with the attached slag to form low melting point phases affecting their hot properties.The refractories for the lining of hot iron ladles must be improved in combination with process changes,not entirely by raw materials replacement to reduce costs.

Novel Brick Technology for Carbon Reduction Footprint in Steel Shop Linings

Clean steel encompasses a multitude of concepts that are based on fulfilling customer requirements and can be produced in many ways depending on the existing equipment and detailed customer demands.A common feature of all clean steel production is tight process control along with continuous monitoring.To meet an increasing demand for cold-rolled(CR)steel sheets of improved mechanical properties,and to cope with the change of the annealing process from a batch-type to a continuous process,it is necessary to establish a technique for making ultralow carbon(ULC)steel with a C-concentration lower than 20 ppm for the steelmaking process associated with a major challenge to guarantee the competitiveness with observance of environmental requirements.Steel ladle lining plays an important role on the energy consumption during the production and the refractory lining design contributes to minimize thermal bath loss,carbon pick up and shell temperature.A new generation of unfired zero carbon refractories was developed with two specific approaches:(1)replacement of firing bricks reducing CO_(2) footprint and(2)replacement of carbon containing with performance increasing.Bricks can be used in working and safety linings with a unique microstructure with better heat scattering and similar thermomechanical properties.This work presents customers’performance compared to traditional products highlighting energy savings.

Steady State Heat Transfer of Ladle Furnace During Steel Production Process

The heat transfer analysis was performed for an industrial ladle furnace （LF） with a capacity of 55-57 t in Turkey. The heat losses by conduction, convection and radiation from outer and bottom surfaces, top and electrodes of LF were determined in detail. Finally, some suggestions about decreasing heat losses were presented.

Ladle Furnace Temperature Prediction Model Based on Large-scale Data With Random Forest

In ladle furnace, the prediction of the liquid steel temperature is always a hot topic for the researchers. The most of the existing temperature prediction models use small sample set. Today, the precision of them can not satisfy practical production. Fortunately, the large sample set is accumulated from the practical production process. However, a large sample set makes it difficult to build a liquid steel temperature model. To deal with the issue, the random forest method is preferred in this paper, which is a powerful regression method with low complexity and can be designed very quickly. It is with the parallel ensemble structure,uses sample subsets,and employs a simple learning algorithm of sub-models. Then, the random forest method is applied to establish a temperature model by using the data sampled from the production process. The experiments show that the random forest temperature model is more precise than other temperature models.

Mass Balance Modeling for Electric Arc Furnace and Ladle Furnace System in Steelmaking Facility in Turkey

In the electric arc furnace （EAF） steel production processes, scrap steel is principally used as a raw material instead of iron ore. In the steelmaking process with EAF, scrap is first melted in the furnace and then the desired chemical composition of the steel can be obtained in a special furnace such as ladle furnace （LF）. This kind of furnace process is used for the secondary refining of alloy steel. LF furnace offers strong heating fluxes and enables precise temperature control, thereby allowing for the addition of desired amounts of various alloying elements. It also provides outstanding desulfurization at high-temperature treatment by reducing molten steel fluxes and removing deoxidation products. Elemental analysis with mass balance modeling is important to know the precise amount of required alloys for the LF input with respect to scrap composition. In present study, chemical reactions with mass conservation law in EAF and LF were modeled altogether as a whole system and chemical compositions of the final steel alloy output can be obtained precisely according to different scrap compositions, alloying elements ratios, and other input amounts. Besides, it was found that the mass efficiency for iron element in the system is 95.93%. These efficiencies are calculated for all input elements as 8. 45% for C, 30.31% for Si, 46.36% for Mn, 30.64% for P, 41.96% for S, and 69.79% for Cr, etc. These efficiencies provide valuable ideas about the amount of the input materials that are vanished or combusted for 100 kg of each of the input materials in the EAF and LF system.

Development of an improved CBR model for predicting steel temperature in ladle furnace refining

In the prediction of the end-point molten steel temperature of the ladle furnace, the influence of some factors is nonlinear. The prediction accuracy will be affected by directly inputting these nonlinear factors into the data-driven model. To solve this problem, an improved case-based reasoning model based on heat transfer calculation(CBR-HTC) was established through the nonlinear processing of these factors with software Ansys. The results showed that the CBR-HTC model improves the prediction accuracy of end-point molten steel temperature by5.33% and 7.00% compared with the original CBR model and 6.66% and 5.33% compared with the back propagation neural network(BPNN)model in the ranges of [-3, 3] and [-7, 7], respectively. It was found that the mean absolute error(MAE) and root-mean-square error(RMSE)values of the CBR-HTC model are also lower. It was verified that the prediction accuracy of the data-driven model can be improved by combining the mechanism model with the data-driven model.

Thermal analysis control of in-mould and ladle inoculated grey cast irons

The effect of addition of 0.05wt.% to 0.25 wt.% Ca,Zr,Al-FeSi alloy on in-ladle and in-mould inoculation of grey cast irons was investigated.In the present paper,the conclusions drawn are based on thermal analysis.For the solidification pattern,some specific cooling curves characteristics,such as the degree of undercooling at the beginning of eutectic solidif ication and at the end of solidifi cation,as well as the recalescence level,are identif ied to be more influenced by the inoculation technique.The degree of eutectic undercooling of the electrically melted base iron having 0.025% S,0.003% Al and 3.5% Ce is excessively high(39-40℃),generating a relatively high need for inoculation.Under these conditions,the in-mould inoculation has a more signif icant effect compared to ladle inoculation,especially at lower inoculant usage(less than 0.20 wt.%).Generally,the eff iciency of 0.05wt.% -0.15wt.% of alloy for in-mould inoculation is comparable to,or better than,that of 0.15wt.% -0.25wt.% addition in ladle inoculation procedures.In order to secure stable and controlled processes,representative thermal analysis parameters could be used,especially in thin wall grey iron castings production.

Effect of Additives on Melting Point of LATS Refining Ladle Slag

To avoid slag sticking on the ladle immersion cover during the LATS refining and alloying process, the effect of Al2O3 on the melting point of the ladle slag was studied and the additives including CaF2, B2O3, Li2O, and CaO were used to decrease the melting point of the ladle slag. The melting point was measured using the hemisphere method. The results show that the addition of Al2O3 to the ladle slag increases the melting point. The fluxing action is not remarkable if only CaF2 or CaO is used as the additive. The fluxing action of the composite additive obtained by the mixing of CaO and CaF2 in the mass proportion of ωCaO：ωCaF2=2 ： 1 is preferred. The fluxing action of B2O3 is also notable. When the B2O3 content in mass percent is in the range from 2% to 10%, the corresponding melting point is 1 380 ℃ to 1 290℃. The fluxing action of Li2O is the most remarkable. When the Li2O content is up to 5%, the melting point of the slag is lower than 1 300 ℃.

Element yield rate prediction in ladle furnace based on improved GA-ANFIS

The traditional prediction methods of element yield rate can be divided into experience method and data-driven method.But in practice,the experience formulae are found to work only under some specific conditions,and the sample data that are used to establish data-driven models are always insufficient.Aiming at this problem,a combined method of genetic algorithm(GA) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system(ANFIS) is proposed and applied to element yield rate prediction in ladle furnace(LF).In order to get rid of the over reliance upon data in data-driven method and act as a supplement of inadequate samples,smelting experience is integrated into prediction model as fuzzy empirical rules by using the improved ANFIS method.For facilitating the combination of fuzzy rules,feature construction method based on GA is used to reduce input dimension,and the selection operation in GA is improved to speed up the convergence rate and to avoid trapping into local optima.The experimental and practical testing results show that the proposed method is more accurate than other prediction methods.

Behaviors of fine bubbles in the shroud nozzle of ladle and tundish

Fine bubbles will create when the inert gas is introduced to the high rapidsteel stream within the shroud nozzle between ladle and tundish. The collision and attachment amongthe bubbles and fine inclusions will promote the floatation efficiency of inclusions in the tundish.The behaviors of the bubbles, such as the dispersion in shroud, coalescence and floatation intundish, are studied. The results show that the maximum sizes of the bubbles in the water and steelflow within the shroud in the length of 1.2 m are 0.70-1.44 mm and 1.53-3.16 mm respectively whenthe flow rates are 0.006-0.016 m^3/s; the terminal velocities of fine bubbles in the water andmolten steel within the tundish are 0.02-0.2 and 0.05-0.6 m/s.

CaCO_3 film synthesis from ladle furnace slag: morphological change, new material properties, and Ca extraction efficiency

A rapidly air-cooled ladle furnace slag(RA-LFS), which is a type of steelmaking slag discharged from a steel mill, was used to synthesize CaCO_3 film. The CaCO_3 film with 35 cm^2 of surface area was synthesized under atmospheric conditions, and the surface morphology of the CaCO_3 films was changed by using additives(CaCl_2 and ethylene glycol). Especially, the addition of CaCl_2 changed the surface morphology of CaCO_3 film with pore and induced new material properties, such as water adsorption. The(012) face of CaCO_3 film(calcite) was rapidly decreased by the addition of CaCl_2. The major components of RA-LFS were calcium(type of CaO, 53.9 wt%) and aluminum(type of Al_2 O_3, 37.9 wt%), and the major crystal phases of RA-LFS were C_3 S, C_(12) A_7, and C_3 A. The calcium extraction efficiency of RA-LFS was significantly increased after the CaCO_3 film synthesis. The material properties(hardness and elastic modulus) and the thermal characteristics of the CaCO_3 films were analyzed by nano-indentation and thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis. The synthesized CaCO_3 films from RA-LFS and Ca(OH)_2(reagent) showed similarities in terms of their material properties and the decomposition temperature.

Effect of ladle outlet geometry on internal porosity in gravity casting automotive brackets: An experimental investigation

This study investigated whether the pouring ladle's outlet shape could reduce the porosity of aluminum alloy casting products and whether it could be applied to mass production of automotive brackets based on computer simulations and experiment.The filling behaviors of the melt were simulated to compare the flow characteristics of the molten metal poured from the conventional ladle and the proposed ladle.Results show that for the conventional ladle,the pouring metal is V-shaped,while it is relatively circular and poured at a more constant rate in the proposed ladle.CT scans reveal that the proposed ladle reduces the porosity of the cast product.The proposed ladle resulted in an average of 30 fewer pores,a 299.56 mm3 smaller average total pore volume,and a 0.041% lower difference in average porosity.It is concludes that the proposed ladle can be used in the gravity casting process.By changing the ladle outlet shape can reduce the casting failure rate of massproduced automobile bracket.