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Mixing phenomena inside the ladle during RH decarburization of steel melts
Author(s) -
Ahrenhold Frank,
Pluschkell Wolfgang
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
steel research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1869-344X
pISSN - 0177-4832
DOI - 10.1002/srin.199905646
Subject(s) - decarburization , ladle , mixing (physics) , steelmaking , metallurgy , work (physics) , materials science , mechanics , computation , flow (mathematics) , thermodynamics , mechanical engineering , engineering , mathematics , physics , quantum mechanics , algorithm
The RH (Rheinstahl‐Heraeus) process is in widespread use to produce ultra‐low carbon steel by vacuum treatment. Among other factors, the decarburization rate is effected by mixing phenomena inside the ladle. Thus, supervisory control of the RH treatment requires an adequate and precise representation of the mixing conditions. In this work, mixing is characterised by concepts of chemical reaction engineering. Different sizes and geometries of RH installations are taken into account using similarity criteria. A simple model is derived from the experimental results and detailed numerical flow computations. For this model, a mathematical function of mixing is developed which can be incorporated into supervisory control systems.