DECEMBER 15, 2017
As a part of the management group of the Genome of Steel project, I visited the MAX IV syncrotron laboratory in Lund, Sweden. The site features two storage rings. The larger has a circumference of 528 meters and operates at 3.0 GeV, while the smaller ring has a circumference of 96 meters and operates at 1.5 GeV.

DECEMBER 1, 2017
A paper entitled "Numerical Study of Multiphase Flows in a Ladle for Different Closure Models" by E. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, A. Kärnä and T. Fabritius was published in the Proceedings of the 11th Pacific Symposium on Flow Visualization and Image Processing. The PSFVIP-11 conference was held in Kumamoto, Japan from December 1 to December 3, 2017. The paper was presented by E. Ramasetti, whose doctoral thesis I instruct together with Prof. T. Fabritius and Dr. P. Sulasalmi.

Bibliographical information
E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, A. Kärnä, and T. Fabritius, "Numerical Study of Multiphase Flows in a Ladle for Different Closure Models", Proceedings of the 11th Pacific Symposium on Flow Visualization and Image Processing, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan, no. 19, 2017.

NOVEMBER 30, 2017
I attended the seminar "Value creation by digitalization in the metals industry" at Jernkontoret in Stockholm, Sweden from November 30 to December 1, 2017. The two-day seminar provided presentations and a panel discussion on the impact of digitalisation on the metals industry.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
MIMESIS is a European Industrial Doctorate (EID) project in the programme Innovative Training Networks (ITN) and part of Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions within the Horizon 2020 programme. The mid-term meeting of the MIMESIS project was held at WIAS in Berlin on September 18–19, 2017. The progress of the eight doctoral students, which work on different mathematical problems related to processing of steel, was reviewed by the EU officials with positive feedback. The project is scheduled to end in 2019.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
A joint paper with Mr. Ari Kruskopf (Aalto University) on mathematical modelling of the BOF process was published recently in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B. The paper presents a dynamic reaction model, which makes use of the Partitioning of Gibbs Energy (PGE) method.

Bibliographical information
A. Kruskopf and V.-V. Visuri, "A Gibbs Energy Minimization Approach for Modeling of Chemical Reactions in a Basic Oxygen Furnace", Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 3281–3300, 2017.
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AUGUST 28, 2017
University of Oulu has launched a new concept for providing research profiles of individual researchers. My profile can be seen here.

JULY 7, 2017
Hosted by Mr. Tim Haas, I visited the Department of Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering at RWTH Aachen in Aachen, Germany together with Dr. Matti Aula to see their physical modelling equipment. The weather was really nice and we had a barbeque event at the evening.

JUNE 12, 2017
A conference paper on improving material and energy efficiency in reduction and refining metallurgy was published in the Proceedings of the 2nd ISIJ-VDEh-Jernkontoret Joint Symposium held in Stockholm, Sweden. The paper presents several examples of recent research conducted at the Process Metallurgy Research Unit.

Bibliographical information
E.-P. Heikkinen, V.-V. Visuri, H. Suopajärvi, A. Kemppainen, M. Aula, P. Sulasalmi, and T. Fabritius, "Selected research focus areas for energy and material improvements in reduction and refining metallurgy"', Proceedings of the 2nd ISIJ-VDEh-Jernkontoret Joint Symposium, Jernkontoret, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 24–33, 2017. 
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JUNE 9, 2017
The doctoral thesis of my colleague Mr. Mikko Iljana entitled "Iron ore pellet properties under simulated blast furnace conditions: investigation on reducibility, swelling and softening", was examined successfully on June 9, 2017 at University of Oulu. The thesis is available here.

The thesis includes a joint publication entitled "Dynamic and Isothermal Reduction Swelling Behaviour of Olivine  and Acid Iron Ore Pellets under Simulated Blast Furnace Shaft  Conditions", which was published in ISIJ International in 2012. The paper is available here

JUNE 5, 2017
The kickoff meeting of the research program "Flexible and Adaptive Operations in Metal Production" (FLEX) was held today at University of Oulu. The program has a total budget of EUR 4.4 million and it is divided into three work packages (WP). My role was to prepare the budjet as well as to coordinate the preparation of WP3 (Adaptive Metal Refining).

MAY 30, 2017
T. Palovaara's Master's thesis "Physical Modelling of Gas Injection in a Ladle" was published today. The thesis was instructed by V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi and T. Fabritius. The aim of the thesis was to study gas injection in a 1:5 scale water model of a steelmaking ladle. The results illustrate the effect of gas injection rate on the mixing time, formation of the so-called open eye and emulsification of the top phase.

MAY 26, 2017
The final report of the DIMECC SIMP project has been released. SIMP stands for System Integrated Metals Processing. The aim of the project was to develop wew and innovative models and measurement technologies to optimise the production processes. Valued at EUR 24 million, SIMP gathered all the major companies and research institutes in the metals industry. The project started in January 2014 and will end by June 2017 as scheduled.
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MAY 18, 2017
P. Lehtonen's Master's thesis, entitled "An Experimental Study on Desulfurization of Hot Metal with Lime-based Reagents" has been finished. The thesis was instructed by V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi and O. Mattila. The experiments were conducted in a crucible and were directed at studying desulphurisation via permanent phase contact. The lime-based reagent was found to perform slightly better.

APRIL 12, 2017
I participated in a computational thermodynamics course on the use of FactSage software in Luleå, Sweden from April 11 to April 12, 2017. The course was organised by Luleå University of Technology and lectured by Prof. Dr. Klaus Hack from GTT Technologies, Germany.

APRIL 4, 2017
A Master's thesis written by T. Vuolio and instructed by V.-V. Visuri, S. Tuomikoski and T. Fabritius has been published. In his thesis, Vuolio studied the improvement potential of hot metal desulphurisation. More specifically, his aim was to study the effect of the reagent properties on the efficiency and predictability of the desulphurisation. In conclusion, it was postulated that the many of the problems of the plant practice are related to the presence of a coarse reagent fraction, and that further steps should be taken to ensure a more homogeneous reagent.

MARCH 27, 2017
A comprehensive mathematical model for reactions during top-blowing in the AOD process was published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, a joint peer-reviewed journal of ASM International and the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (USA). The results of the modelling work suggest that the rate of decarburisation in the studied stage is controlled essentially by mass transfer of dissolved carbon.

Bibliographical information
V.-V. Visuri, M. Järvinen, A. Kärnä, P. Sulasalmi, E.-P. Heikkinen, P. Kupari, and T. Fabritius, “A Mathematical Model for Reactions During Top-Blowing in the AOD Process: Validation and Results”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 1868–1884, 2017.
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V.-V. Visuri, M. Järvinen, A. Kärnä, P. Sulasalmi, E.-P. Heikkinen, P. Kupari and T. Fabritius, “A Mathematical Model for Reactions During Top-Blowing in the AOD Process: Derivation of the Model”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 1850–1867, 2017.
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JANUARY 24, 2017
A Master's thesis written by J. Luomanen and instructed by V.-V. Visuri, S. Louhenkilpi, J. Moilanen and T. Fabritius has been published. In her thesis, Luomanen studied continuous casting of stainless steel using Interdendritic Solidification (IDS) simulator developed at Aalto University. The aim was to study whether the IDS software can be used to predict the most common surface defects of austenitic and ferritic steel grades. The results suggest that slag inclusions may originate from bleeds. The cracking behaviour could not be associated with the composition of the steel. Consequently, it was postulated that the cracking behaviour is likely to be bulging related.