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A Mathematical Model to Optimise Aluminium Wire Injection in Steel Melts
Author(s) -
Sanyal Sarbendu,
Saha J. K.,
Chandra Sanjay
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
steel research international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.603
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1869-344X
pISSN - 1611-3683
DOI - 10.2374/sri08sp128
Subject(s) - aluminium , ladle , metallurgy , materials science
A mathematical model was developed at the R&D Division of Tata Steel to simulate the process of aluminium wire injection into steel melts and utilised to assess the influence of various operating parameters on the efficiency of aluminium wire injection and, thereby, arrive at an optimum operating condition. The present paper deals, in detail, with the mechanism of heat transfer at the interface between the aluminium wire and the steel shell which is formed on the original wire. The present work revealed that a secondary shell could also be formed based on the operating parameters. This secondary shell delays the melting of the wire until it reaches deeper into the ladle, thereby increasing the residence time of the released aluminium. The model was applied to the on‐line purging station of the steel melting shop producing slabs at Tata Steel and based on the model outputs, recommendations made to enhance the utilisation of aluminium injection. An improvement of 10% in the average utilisation of aluminium was obtained during the trial period.