DECEMBER 28, 2018
Preliminary results on CFD modelling of gas injection in a physical model of a steelmaking ladle were published in Journal of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer, a new open access journal.

Bibliographical information
E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, and T. Fabritius, "A CFD and Experimental Investigation of Slag Eye in Gas Stirred Ladle", Journal of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 5, pp. 78–86, 2018.

DECEMBER 17, 2018
Mr. Eshwar Ramasetti presented our latest work on CFD simulation of steelmaking ladles at two conferences:

1. 2nd International Symposium on Computational Particle Technology & 13th International Conference on CFD in the Minerals and Process Industries held in Melbourne, Australia
2. 21st Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference 2018 held in Adelaide, Australia.

• E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, and T. Fabritius, ”Modelling of Effect of Gas Flow rate on Open-eye Formation and Mixing Time of Nickel Alloy in Argon Stirred Industrial Ladle”, Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Computational Particle Technology & 13th International Conference on CFD in the Minerals and Process Industries, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 251, 2018.
  
• E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, and T. Fabritius, ”Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Slag Thickness Effect on the Formation of Slag Eye in a Water Model of a Steel Making Ladle”, Proceedings of the 21st Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference 2018, Australasian Fluid Dynamics Society, Australia, 2018.

NOVEMBER 24, 2018
The doctoral thesis of my colleague Aki Kärnä was examined on November 23, 2018 at University of Oulu. The thesis introduces new mathematical approaches for modelling the CAS-OB process. The article-based thesis includes two joint publications and is available here.

NOVEMBER 20, 2018
I was invited to held a presentation entitled "Modelling of pyrometallurgical processes" at the POHTO seminar course "Modelling and simulation of steelmaking processes". The presentation provided an overview of computational fluid dynamics, physical modelling, computational thermodynamics and process modelling relevant to metallurgy of steelmaking.

NOVEMBER 11, 2018
The Master's thesis of J. Paso, entitled "Reactivity of coke in molten ferrochrome slag", was completed on November 8, 2018. In this work, a new crucible method was developed for testing reactivity of coke with molten ferrochrome slag. The thesis was instructed by me, Prof. Timo Fabritius and J. Kunelius.

NOVEMBER 3, 2018
Symbiosis of Metals Production and Nature (SYMMET) project aims to facilitate the improvement of material and energy efficiency in the materials production, recycling and reuse of materials in the metals manufacturing ecosystem.

The focus is on the side-streams, most importantly slags, sludges, scales, waste heat and process waters. Furthermore, the project aims to promote creation of research-based innovations and new business. University of Oulu benefits the project with its know-how on treatment of dusts, sludges and process waters as well as on novel measurement technologies to be used for process control.

The total budget of the two-year project is approximately €6.9 million, of which the budget of University of Oulu accounts for approximately €1.9 million. The project is funded by Business Finland and partners of the consortium. The project preparation was coordinated by me and professor Timo Fabritius.
See press release at University of Oulu
See press release at Tekniikka & Talous

OCTOBER 23, 2018
I presented our latest research and an overview of the work package "Adaptive Refining Metallurgy" at the FLEX Final Seminar held in Meeting Park, Forum Campus, Helsinki today from 16 to 19.  The FLEX project had an overall budget of €4.4 million and was funded by Business Finland. The public report will be available soon.

OCTOBER 18, 2018
A study entitled "On the heterogeneity of AOD slags in different stages of blowing" was published at the 8th European Oxygen Steelmaking Conference held in Taranto, Italy from October 10 to 12, 2018. The presentation was delivered by Docent Eetu-Pekka Heikkinen.

Bibliographical information
E.-P. Heikkinen, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, ”On the heterogeneity of AOD slags in different stages of blowing”, Proceedings of the 8th European Oxygen Steelmaking Conference, Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia, Taranto, Italy, 2018.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018
The Master's thesis of J. Kaisto, entitled "The effect of CRC slag MgO content on the penetration of slag into refractory lining", was completed on September 24, 2018. A higher MgO content of the slag was found to bring significant technico-economic benefits. The thesis was instructed by myself and Docent Eetu-Pekka Heikkinen.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
The Master's thesis of T. Veijola, entitled "Improving the control of electric arc furnace by combining optical emissions with process data", was completed on September 17, 2018. The results of the thesis indicate that if the EAF is not forming the bottleneck of the meltshop, the main performance indicators of the EAF process can be improved significantly by introducing alternative savings profile for the arc voltage steps. The thesis was instructed by myself and Dr. Matti Aula.

AUGUST 30, 2018
I visited the Department of Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering at RWTH Aachen for two days to discuss possibilities for extending our existing research cooperation to new areas.

JULY 8, 2018
A journal paper of mathematical modelling of the CAS-OB process was published recently in Steel Research International. The paper presents an improved model for the heat-up stage of the CAS-OB process along with validation and modelling results.

Bibliographical information
A. Kärnä, M. Järvinen, P. Sulasalmi, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, "An Improved Model for the Heat-up Stage of the CAS-OB Process: Development and Validation", Steel Research International, vo. 89, no. 10, article 1800141, 2018.

JUNE 26, 2018
A journal paper of data-driven modelling of hot metal desulphurisation was published recently in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B. The paper presents a parametrised reaction model for the transitory reactions between reagent particles and metal bath. The model makes use of a genetic algoritm to train the model to plant data.

Bibliographical information
T. Vuolio, V.-V. Visuri, S. Tuomikoski, T. Paananen, and T. Fabritius, "Data-Driven Mathematical Modeling of the Effect of Particle Size Distribution on the Transitory Reaction Kinetics of Hot Metal Desulfurization", Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 2692–2708, 2018.

JUNE 18, 2018
I visited the 7th International Congress on Science and Technology of Steelmaking (ICS 2018) together with my colleagues Dr. Matti Aula, Mr. Aleksi Laukka and Mr. Henri Pauna. The conference was held in Venice, Italy from June 13 to 15, 2018. I delivered presentations for two conference papers.

The first paper, entitled "A comparative study on refractory wear associated with fluxes for AOD slags", I discussed the results of high-temperature crucible experiments, which were directed at observing the refractory wear associated with fluorspar and a synthetic flux. The results of the study indicated that the synthetic flux penetrates the refractory material more effectively than fluorspar. 

The second paper, entitled "Physical modelling of gas injection in a ladle", considered physical modelling of gas injection and emulsification with a 1:5 scale model of a 150 t steelmaking ladle. This paper presented regression equations for the mixing time and size of the open eye as a function of gas flow rate. The mathematical size distribution of the emulsified top phase was discussed on the basis of the results obtained.

Bibliographical information
V.-V. Visuri, R. Mattila, P. Kupari, and T. Fabritius, "A comparative study on refractory wear associated with fluxes for AOD slags", Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Science and Technology of Steelmaking, Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia, Venice, Italy, 2018.
T. Palovaara, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, "Physical modelling of gas injection in a ladle", Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Science and Technology of Steelmaking, Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia, Venice, Italy, 2018.

JUNE 07, 2018
A conference paper entitled "A CFD and Experimental Investigation of Slag Eye in Gas Stirred Ladle" was published in the Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer held in Niagara Falls, Canada. As a first step towards modelling a full size steelmaking ladle, a 1:5 scale physical model was employed for studying open eye behaviour during gas stirring in a ladle. The ladle was simulated using Ansys Fluent CFD software using volume of fluid (VOF) approach. The simulated open eye was found to be in good agreement with the values measured using the physical model. The presentation was delivered by Mr. Eshwar Ramasetti.

Bibliographical information
E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, and T. Fabritius, ”A CFD and Experimental Investigation of Slag Eye in Gas Stirred Ladle”, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer, Niagara Falls, Canada, 2018.

MAY 16, 2018
Deutsches Elektronen-Syncrotron (DESY) is a national research centre in Hamburg, Germany that operates particle accelerators. I visited DESY as a two-day trip with Adj. Prof. Mahesh Somani and Adj. Prof. Wei Cao to study possible applications of syncrotron radiation for steel research.

APRIL 26, 2018
A report entitled ”Dephosphorization in ironmaking and oxygen steelmaking” was published by Aaalto University. This report considers different management strategies for phosphorus in steelmaking as well as its removal in the main unit processes, including blast furnace (BF), basic oxygen furnace (BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF) and argon oxygen decarburization (AOD). 

Bibliographical information
M. Saqlain, M. Owais, M. Järvinen, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, ”Dephosphorization in ironmaking and oxygen steelmaking”, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, 2018.

MARCH 25, 2018
Vuorimiespäivät, the annual meeting of the Finnish Association for Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, was held in Scandic Marina Congress Center, Helsinki on March 23, 2018. I visited the event together with my father Mr. Mauri Visuri (Sotkamo Silver AB) and Adj. Prof. Esko Korkiakoski (Geological Survey of Finland). Several excellent presentations were held in the meeting, focusing on the future prospects of the metallurgical industry. Following the long traditions of the association, a white tie event was held in the evening in Dipoli, Espoo, while a lunch event was held on the following day in Crowne Plaza Helsinki.

MARCH 25, 2018
The FLEX programme is a national research programme funded by Business Finland. The programme is divided in three work packages (WPs). The WP3, entitled Adaptive Refining Metallurgy, focuses on research and development efforts at meltshop area and is set to continue until June 2018. The WP3 has a budget of EUR 1.2 million and it is administered by Agne Bogdanoff (chair) and myself (secretary). A description of the FLEX WP3 project activities was published recently in the latest issue of Materia.

Bibliographical information
V.-V. Visuri and A. Bogdanoff, "FLEX WP3 – Adaptive Refining Metallurgy – Joustava metallien jalostus", Materia, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 74–75, 2018.

JANUARY 26, 2018
The doctoral thesis of my colleague Mr. Ari Kruskopf at Aalto University was examined on January 26, 2018 at Aalto University. The thesis introduces new mathematical approaches for modelling the Basic Oxygen Furnace and is available here. The thesis includes one joint publication, which is available here.