NOVEMBER 12, 2019
In relation to our on-going work on hot metal desulphurisation, I conducted a review of related modelling studies, which is to be published in Steel Research International. Another paper was written in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University on modelling of electric arc furnaces.

Bibliographical information

• V.-V. Visuri, T. Vuolio, T. Haas, and T. Fabritius, “A Review of Modeling Hot Metal Desulfurization,” Steel Research International, vol. 91, no. 4, 2020. 1900454.
  [View publication]
• T. Hay, T. Echterhof, and V.-V. Visuri, “Development of an Electric Arc Furnace Simulator Based on a Comprehensive Dynamic Process Model,” Processes, vol. 7, no. 11, 2019, 852.
  [View publication]

OCTOBER 25, 2019
Mr. Eshwar Ramasetti defended his doctoral thesis "Modelling of open-eye formation and mixing phenomena in a gas-stirred ladle for different operating parameters" successfully at University on October 25, 2019. The opponent of the thesis was adjunct professor Mikko Helle from Åbo Akademi University. The thesis was instructed by Professor Timo Fabritius, Dr. Petri Sulasalmi and me. The thesis is available here.

OCTOBER 18, 2019
A seminar entitled "A fossil-free society – what role can the industrial symbiosis play?" was held at Jernkontoret in Stockholm, Sweden on October 18, 2019. The seminar involved presentation and panelists from Nordic countries, Germany and China. I held a presentation entitled "Closing material and energy loops in metals production – examples from the SYMMET project", which discussed the ongoing activities regarding internal recycling in the hot metal desulphurisation at Process Metallurgy Research Unit as well as geopolymerisation experiments of zinc residue slags conducted in the Particle and Fibre Engineering Research Unit at University of Oulu.

OCTOBER 11, 2019
I visited the 2. Aachener Ofenbau- und Thermoprozess-Kolloquim, which was held at RWTH Aachen University from October 10 to 11, 2019. The colloquim included numerous examples on recent efforts to strive towards CO2-lean heat treatments in steelmaking.

OCTOBER 7, 2019
The series on thermodynamic assessment of Fe–B–X systems was continued with Fe–B–Ti and Fe–B–Si systems, which were published as two journal papers in the Archives of Metallurgy and Materials.

Two further papers were published on the simulation of gas-stirred ladles. In the first paper, we used an Euler–Euler model coupled with VOF to study a 150 ton ladle. The predictions were found to be in good agreement with open eyes recorded using an IR camera. In the second paper, the bath mixing in a 150 ton ladle was studied by introducing a scalar transport equation for tracer species.

Bibliographical information

• J. Miettinen, V.-V. Visuri, T. Fabritius, N. Milcheva, and G. Vassilev, “Thermodynamic description of ternary Fe–B–X systems. Part 6: Fe–B–Ti,” Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 1249–1255, 2019.
• J. Miettinen, V.-V. Visuri, T. Fabritius, N. Milcheva, and G. Vassilev, “Thermodynamic description of ternary Fe–B–X systems. Part 5: Fe–B–Si,” Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 1239–1248, 2019.
• E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, T. Fabritius, J. Savolainen, M. Li, and L. Shao, “Numerical Modelling of the Influence of Argon Flow Rate and Slag Layer Height on Open-Eye Formation in a 150 Ton Steelmaking Ladle,” Metals, vol. 9, no. 9, 2019. 1048.
• E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, T. Fabritius, T. Saatio, M. Li, and L. Shao, “Numerical Modeling of Open-Eye Formation and Mixing Time in Argon Stirred Industrial Ladle,” Metals, vol. 9, no. 8, 2019. 829.

OCTOBER 1, 2019
I visited the annual meeting of Steel Institute VDEh, which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany on October 1, 2019. The meeting was followed by presentations by Prof. Harald Peters (BFI), Prof. Dierk Raabe (MPIE) and Dr. Peter Dahlmann (VDEh). Dahlmann is the CEO of Steel Institute VDEh and serves also in the Scientific Advisory Board of the Genome of steel profiling project at University of Oulu.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
I held an invited presentation on modelling of hot metal desulphurisation at "Latest in modelling symposium" held on September 12, 2019 in Espoo, Finland. Visuri presented recent work on fundamental and data-driven mathematical modelling of chemical reactions as well as numerical and physical modelling of fluid flows in hot metal desulphurisation using lance injection. The symposium was held in honour of the 65th birthday of professor Pertti Koukkari, who is known best for his pioneering work on constrained free energy minimisation.

AUGUST 30, 2019
Following the successful completion of a four-part test taken at Goethe-Institut Düsseldorf, I was awarded with the Goethe-Zertifikat C2: Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom, the highest level certificate for German as a foreign language.

JUNE 28, 2019
I attended the 4th European Steel Technology and Application Days in Düsseldorf, Germany together with my colleagues Dr Matti Aula (Luxmet Oy), Dr Anne Heikkilä, Dr Aki Kärnä, and Henri Pauna. The conference ran from June 24 to 28, 2019.

On June 25, I held a presentation on mathematical modelling of hot metal desulphurisation. This work represents a work step towards a phenomena-based mathematical model for hot metal desulphurisation. The model was applied for modelling two sets of data on hot metal desulphurisation with lime. The preliminary results suggest that the model is capable of predicting the final sulphur content with high accuracy.

A paper entitled "Modifying the EAF voltage tap profile for lowering electrode tip consumption and increased energy efficiency" was delivered by Dr Matti Aula on June 26. In this work, a new EAF voltage tap profile was derived with the aim to provide an alternative "economy mode" for scenarios where the EAF is not the bottleneck of meltshop activities. The paper is based on the Master´s thesis (T. Veijola) completed at the Process Metallurgy Research Unit.

A paper concerning the numerical modelling of slag cooling was presented by Dr Aki Kärnä on June 27. This paper presents a 1-D heat transfer model for cooling of AOD slag under the conditions of ambient or water cooling. The results suggest that above a certain threshold value of water flow rate, the cooling rate becomes controlled by the heat conductivity of slag and the cooling rate cannot be expedited by increasing the water flow rate further.

Bibliographical information

• A. Kärnä, P. Sulasalmi, V.-V. Visuri, T. Fabritius, P. Torvinen, and J. Koskinen, “Numerical modelling of slag cooling,” Proceedings of the 4th European Steel Technology and Application Days, Düsseldorf, Germany, Stahlinstitut VDEh, 2019.
• T. Veijola, M. Aula, N. Hyttinen, V.-V. Visuri, M. Jokinen, and T. Fabritius, “Modifying the EAF voltage tap profile for lower electrode tip consumption and increased energy efficiency,” Proceedings of the 4th European Steel Technology and Application Days, Düsseldorf, Germany, Stahlinstitut VDEh, 2019.
• V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, T. Vuolio, T. Paananen, T. Haas, H. Pfeifer, and T. Fabritius, “Mathematical Modelling of the Effect of Reagent Particle Size Distribution on the Efficiency of Hot Metal Desulphurisation,” Proceedings of the 4th European Steel Technology and Application Days, Düsseldorf, Germany, Stahlinstitut VDEh, 2019.

JUNE 23, 2019
It was a great opportunity present our research on together with my colleague Dr Tuomas Alatarvas at the joint 5th International Conference on Advances in Solidification Processes / 5th International Symposium on Cutting Edge of Computer Simulation of Solidification, Casting and Refining (ICASP-5/CSSR-5) held in Salzburg, Austria on June 17-21, 2019. The conference was well-organised and we enjoyed the beautiful weather throughout the week.

I presented two papers on modelling of heat transfer, solidification and microstructure in continuous casting. The papers were published by an open access journal IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering.

Bibliographical information

• S. Louhenkilpi, J. Miettinen, J. Laine, R. Vesanen, I. Rentola, J. Moilanen, V.-V. Visuri, E.-P. Heikkinen, and A. Jokilaakso, “Online Modelling of Heat Transfer, Solidification and Microstructure in Continuous Casting of Steel,” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 529, 012051, 2019. [View publication]
• J. Miettinen, S. Louhenkilpi, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, “Advances in Modeling of Steel Solidification with IDS,” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 529, 012063, 2019. [View publication]

JUNE 16, 2019
I visited to Department of Materials at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium on June 14, 2019, where I held an invited presentation entitled “An overview of the modelling methods in primary and secondary metallurgy of steelmaking” The presentatio was followed by a lively technical discussion with colleagues from the university and steel industry. Finally, I was introduced to the physical modelling equipment at KU Leuven.

JUNE 10, 2019
A book entitled "Thermodynamic description of the Fe–Al–Mn–Si–C system for modelling solidification of steels" was published in the Acta Universitatis Ouluensis publication series. This work presents a thermodynamic assessment of the Fe–Al–Mn–Si–C system and 19 subsystems. The results suggest a good agreement between thermodynamic descriptions and the measured data.

Bibliographical information
J. Miettinen, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, "Thermodynamic description of the Fe–Al–Mn–Si–C system for modelling solidification of steels", Acta Universitatis Ouluensis C Technica, no. 704, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, 2019.
[View publication]

JUNE 9, 2019
In the first paper, entitled "Direct Measurement of the Direction, Size and Velocity of Droplets Generated by Top-blowing", a direct measurement method for splashing droplets was developed to obtain the number of droplets, the splashing angle, the droplet velocity and diameter simultaneously.

In the second paper, entitled "Physical and CFD Modelling of the Effect of Top Layer Properties on the Formation of Open-eye in Gas-stirred Ladles with Single and Dual-plugs", a transient Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model based on Eulerian Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach was developed for numerical modeling of the effect of the effect of gas flow rate and top layer thickness on the open eye in a 1:5 scale physical model of a steelmaking ladle.

The third paper, entitled "Identification of Rate, Extent and Mechanisms of Hot Metal Resulfurization with CaO–SiO2–Na2O Slag Systems", presents an experimental and mathematical modeling study of resulfurization in thermodynamic and kinetic point of view.

The fourth paper, entitled "Genetic Algorithm-Based Variable Selection in Prediction of Hot Metal Desulfurization Kinetics", presents an automatic variable selection procedure for prediction of hot metal desulfurization is executed based on an industrial scale data set.

The fifth paper is entitled "Vibrations of a laboratory-scale gas-stirred ladle with two eccentric nozzles and multiple sensors" and presents the measured vibrations from an experimental cold water ladle with two eccentric nozzles and eight mono-axial accelerometers.

Bibliographical information

• T. Haas, A. Ringel, V.-V. Visuri, M. Eickhoff, and H. Pfeifer, “Direct Measurement of the Direction, Size and Velocity of Droplets Generated by Top-blowing”, Steel Research International, vol. 90, no. 9, 2019, 1900177.
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• E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, T. Palovaara, A. K. Gupta, and T. Fabritius, “Physical and CFD Modelling of the Effect of Top Layer Properties on the Formation of Open-eye in Gas-stirred Ladles with Single and Dual-plugs”, Steel Research International, vol. 90, no. 8, 2019, 1900088, 2019.
  [View publication]
• T. Vuolio, V.-V. Visuri, T. Paananen, and T. Fabritius, “Identification of Rate, Extent and Mechanisms of Hot Metal Resulfurization with CaO–SiO2–Na2O Slag Systems”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 1791–1807, 2019.
  [View publication]
• T. Vuolio, V.-V. Visuri, A. Sorsa, T. Paananen, and T. Fabritius, “Genetic Algorithm-Based Variable Selection in Prediction of Hot Metal Desulfurization Kinetics”, Steel Research International, vol. 90, no. 8, 2019, 1900090.
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• N. Alia, M. Pylvänäinen, V.-V. Visuri, V. John, and S. Ollila, “Vibrations of a laboratory-scale gas-stirred ladle with two eccentric nozzles and multiple sensors”, Journal of Iron and Steel Research International, 2019.
  [View publication]

JUNE 6, 2019
Workshop on the Mathematics and Materials Science for Steel Production and Manufacturing (MIMESIS) project will be held in Skien, Norway on June 4-5, 2019.

The workshop features presentations by the doctoral students of the project as well as by invited speakers from IWT Bremen, Luleå University of Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Thermo-Calc Software AB, University of Bremen, University of Oulu, and University of Santiago de Compostela.

MIMESIS is a three-year 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 research work is divided into eight doctoral thesis projects, which focus on induction heating, phase transformations in steel alloys, and gas stirring in steelmaking ladles.

The partners of the project are EFD Induction, SSAB Europe, Outokumpu Stainless, University of Oulu and Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics.

The project has been successful both in scientific and industrial terms, and is scheduled to end in September 2019.

JUNE 2, 2019
The webpages were revised from ground up to enable compatibility with mobile devices.

MAY 30, 2019
Two reports regarding our on-going SYMMET and MIMESIS projects were published recently in Materia journal.

The first report discusses the first experiences from the SYMMET project, which 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.

The second report provides examples of results obtained in the MIMESIS project. MIMESIS is a three-year 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 research work is divided into eight doctoral thesis projects, which focus on induction heating, phase transformations in steel alloys, and gas stirring in steelmaking ladles.

Bibliographical information

• T. Fabritius and V.-V. Visuri, “Energiatehokkuutta ja metallien kiertoa – uusia tutkimushankkeita (SYMMET – Symbiosis of metal production and nature)", Materia, vol. 77, no. 2, pp. 31–32, 2019.
• V.-V. Visuri, E. K. Ramasetti, T. Fabritius, P. Das, L. Capone, N. Alia, M. J. Arenas Jaén, T. Petzold, D. Hömberg, V. Javaheri, S. K. Kolli, D. Porter, and S. Ramesh Babu, “MIMESIS – Mathematics and Materials Science for Steel Production and Manufacturing”, Materia, vol. 77, no. 2, pp. 45–53, 2019. 2019.

APRIL 23, 2019
A paper entitled "Thermodynamic Description of Ternary Fe-B-X Systems. Part 4: Fe-B-V" was published in Archives of Metallurgy and Materials. This paper represents a fourth part of a series of papers focussing on the thermodynamic description of Fe–B–X systems for modeling solidification of steels.

Bibliographical information
J. Miettinen, V.-V. Visuri, T. Fabritius, N. Milcheva, and G. Vassilev, "Thermodynamic Description of Ternary Fe-B-X Systems. Part 4: Fe-B-V", Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 451–456, 2019.
[View publication]

FEBRUARY 23, 2019
I was awarded a Medal of Merit III Class by the Student Union of the University of Oulu. The medal can be awarded to a present or former member of the student union, who has been an active member in the student union or in an organisation related to the student union.

FEBRUARY 23, 2019
A paper entitled "Modelling of the Effect of the Gas Flow Rate on the Fluid Flow and Open-Eye Formation in a Water Model of a Steelmaking Ladle" was published recently Steel Research International. In this paper, a 1:5 scale physical model of a 150 t ladle was set up to study the effect of gas flow rate on the open eye formation. The physical model was then simulated with an Eulerian VOF model. The simulation results were found to be in good agreement with the measured ones.

Bibliographical information
E. K. Ramasetti, V.-V. Visuri, P. Sulasalmi, R. Mattila, and T. Fabritius,"Modelling of the Effect of the Gas Flow Rate on the Fluid Flow and Open-Eye Formation in a Water Model of a Steelmaking Ladle", Steel Research International, vol. 90, no. 2, article 1800365, 2019.
[View publication]

JANUARY 31, 2019
To advance our on-going research on hot metal desulphurisation, I am working temporarily as a visiting researcher at RWTH Aachen until Autumn 2019. The work in Aachen focuses on physical modelling of reagent injection in hot metal desulphurisation. With its approximately 45000 students and 550 professors, RWTH Aachen University is as the largest technical university in Germany.

JANUARY 25, 2019
Succeeding Dr. Olli Nousiainen, I was appointed to vice-chairman of the Research Community for Steel Production, Fabrication and Applications, a cross-discipline organisation covering all steel research at University of Oulu. In this task I will support the new chairman Prof. Jari Larkiola.

JANUARY 15, 2019
In continuation of our recent collaboration, I visited the Institute of Metallurgy Multiphase Transfer and Reaction Engineering at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China, where Mr. Eshwar Ramasetti is conducting computational fluid dynamics modelling on open eye formation and mixing of alloying elements in ladle treatments. I serve as one of the instructors of his doctoral thesis work at University of Oulu.