Factors affecting splashing in a cylindrical vessel

Gas jet impingement on a liquid bath is an important phenomenon in several metallurgical applications. Over the last 10 years, the use of slag splashing in basic oxygen furnaces, for example, has extended refractory campaigns. Slag splashing is the result of a gas jet impingement, so it is beneficial to industry to understand the relationship between various operational parameters and the resulting splashing. It is the purpose of this thesis to study the effects of such operational parameters, including the lance height, nozzle number and angle, bath depth, vessel bottom geometry, and bath viscosity, on splashing. Experiments were carried out in a model vessel, and the results were analyzed in a case-by-case manner. Increasing the axial height led to an increase in splashing mass flux on the wall of the vessel, up to a maximum, after which further increases in axial height gave a decline in mass flux. It was observed that changing the number of nozzles from one to six increased the mass flux for most locations on the wall except at the wall locations directly in line with the jet. Increasing the viscosity decreased the mass flux. It was shown that increasing the bath depth increases the mass flux, regardless of the number of nozzles or bottom geometry. Changing from a round to a flat bottom had an affect on mass flux that was largely dependent on the location on the wall being considered --Abstract, page iii