Gas-stirred ladles

Gas stirring in a ladle is of one the basic processes of a steelmaking meltshop and serves to homogenise the composition and temperature of the metal bath. At the University of Oulu, we have studied the fluid mechanics of gas-stirred ladles using computational fluid dynamics and physical modelling. In addition, we have developed a dynamic thermal model of a ladle.

Highlights

• An Eulerian volume of fluid model was set up to model open eye formation in a 150-ton ladle and validated with a 1:5-scale physical model. The physical model was set up on the basis of dynamic, kinematic and geometric similarity. The predicted open eye area was found to be in close agreement with the observed open eye area both in the case of the industrial and physical modelling setups.
• A dynamic thermal model was developed to predict the evolution of bath temperature in secondary metallurgy area.

Selected publications

• M. Pylvänäinen, J. Nissilä, V.-V. Visuri, A. Sorsa, M. Hauru, J. Laurila, and T. Liedes, “Bath Vibration During Open Eye Formation in a Physical Model of a Steelmaking Ladle,” Steel Research International, forthcoming
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• I. Mäkelä, V.-V. Visuri, and T. Fabritius, "A Mathematical Model for the Thermal State of a Steel Ladle", Ironmaking and Steelmaking, vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 867–877, 2023.
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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, vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 1031–1040, 2019.
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• 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.
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• 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
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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. 80, 2019. 1900088.
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• 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.
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• 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, no. 55, 2018.