Analysis of Agglomeration of Al2O3 Particles in Liquid Steel

The removal of non-metallic inclusions from liquid steel is a result of co-operation of fluctuation, adhesion and agglomeration effects, with emphasis on agglomeration which plays the most important role. It is based on a few types of collisions between non-metallic particles, where turbulent collisions are most prominent. As a result of agglomeration, nonmetallic inclusions are intensely removed through flotation and increase of different dimensions of inclusions, which manifests itself with the occurrence of clusters mainly composed of Al2O3 precipitations. Authors investigated the agglomeration effect by making computer simulations with the use of the PSG method. The calculations were performed for a definite population of spherical particles of radius r in the steel volume. The applied calculation method allows for analyzing the dynamics of the collision process. The assumed initial number of particles remains constant, only the number of particles in specific size-groups varies. It was also revealed that the process of agglomerates formation is much faster for particles having a bigger initial radius. In the case of very small precipitations (r=1 μm) their removal through agglomeration is very difficult because the probability those collisions can take place between them rapidly decreases