Title: A mathematical modelling study of fluid flow and mixing in full-scale gas-stirred ladles

Authors: Schalk W.P. Cloete, Jacques J. Eksteen, Steven M. Bradshaw

Addresses: Department of Process Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1 Matieland 7602, South Africa. ' Department of Process Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1 Matieland 7602, South Africa. ' Department of Process Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1 Matieland 7602, South Africa

Abstract: A full-scale, three-dimensional, transient mathematical model for application to gas-stirred ladles was developed. Multiphase aspects were accounted for by employing the Lagrangian Discrete Phase Model (DPM) in describing the bubble plume and the Eulerian Volume of Fluid (VOF) model for tracking the free surface of the melt. The standard k–ε (SKE) model was used for modelling turbulence. Further research is required to refine the turbulence modelling approach, but validation experiments showed that the present approach yielded accurate information on bulk fluid flow and mixing in the ladle. The resulting model is easily generalised and computationally efficient.

Keywords: mathematical modelling; gas-stirred ladles; DPM; discrete phase model; fluid model volume; mixing; swirl; buoyancy-driven flow; hydrodynamics; steelmaking; bubble plume; volume of fluid; VOF; turbulence modelling; bulk fluid flow; CFD; computational fluid dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2009.027365

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2009 Vol.9 No.6/7, pp.345 - 356

Published online: 21 Jul 2009 *

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