CFD analysis of oxygen steelmaking kinetics and slag foaming using IMPHOS pilot plant data

In oxygen steelmaking, a high velocity oxygen jet is injected in to the steelmaking converter which contains the hot metal that is to be refined into steel with a defined chemistry. This injected oxygen oxidises the elements in the liquid metal (silicon, carbon, manganese, phosphorus and iron) and a slag layer is formed from these oxides and dissolving fluxes (lime and dolomite) over the liquid metal bath. This slag traps the gas produced by carbon oxidation producing foam. Slag foaming in steelmaking has attracted much attention among steelmaking researchers [1-6], because it can be detrimental when formed in extensive amounts. Developing predictive models for foaming height and bath chemistry of oxygen steelmaking have been the centre of concern of researchers in the field in recent decades. Developing those models is generally accepted to be complicated and is of greater importance for optimising the process