CFD Modeling and Experimental Validation of Top-Submerged-Lance Gas Injection in Liquid Metal

Abstract In the present work, the dynamics of a downward gas injection into a liquid metal bath is studied using a numerical modeling approach, and validated with experimental data. As in a top-submerged-lance (TSL) smelter, gas is injected through the lance into the melt. By this means, the properties of the liquid are closer to the actual industrial process than the typically used water/glycerol–air/helium systems. The experimental activity was carried out in a quasi-2D vessel $$(144\times 144\times 12\,{\hbox {mm}}^{3})$$ ( 144 × 144 × 12 mm 3 ) filled with GaInSn, a metal alloy with eutectic at room temperature. Ar was used as the inert gas. The structure and behavior of the gas phase were visualized and quantitatively analyzed by X-ray radiography and high-speed imaging. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was applied to simulate the multiphase flow in the vessel and the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) model chosen to track the interface using a geometric reconstruction of the interface. Three different vertical lance positions were investigated, applying a gas flow rate of $$Q_{\text {gas}}=6850\,{\hbox {cm}}^{3}/{\hbox {min}}.$$ Q gas = 6850 cm 3 / min . The CFD model is able to predict the bubble detachment frequency, the average void fraction distributions, and the bubble size and hydrodynamic behavior, demonstrating its applicability to simulate such complex multiphase systems. The use of numerical models also provides a deep insight into fluid dynamics to study particular phenomena such as bubble break-up and free surface oscillations