Turbulent measurements within a gas stirred three-phase bubble column with multiple aeration plugs.

Description

Within the process of converter stirring three major problems triggered by the turbulent convective flow are the subject of investigation. These are the request of fast and efficient mixing, minimising the erosion of refractory material, and the flushing of non-metal inclusions. Therefore, the vessel is equipped with porous plugs located at the bottom and aerated with inert gas. By increasing the amount of aeration gas (for improved mixing) higher velocities are enforced which erode the refractory material faster and may induce beneficial conditions for slag entrainment. To optimise the mixing behaviour while reducing the negative effects this work illustrates measurements from a lab scale air/water/oil experiment. The measurements are based on a PIV method utilising three cameras and two different wavelength lasers. This separation permits the investigation of the complete flow field with reduced resolution while monitoring a special area of interest at higher temporal and spacial resolution while the phase separation is achieved with subsequent image processing. The complete technique is introduced and applied to the big lab scale facility to investigate the phenomena in a scaled process environment. Considerations on selecting a liquid as a substitute for the slag layer are presented and the corresponding similarity is presented. Comparisons between different aeration periods concerning the erosive potential are illustrated and an estimation of the mixing behaviour based on the turbulent kinetic energy is provided.

Period	13 May 2015
Event title	The 6th International Congress on the Science and Technology of Steelmaking (ICS2015)
Event type	Conference
Location	ChinaShow on map