Two-Way PBM-Euler Model for Gas and Liquid Flow in the Ladle

Area of Science:

• Metallurgical Engineering
• Fluid Dynamics
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Ladle metallurgy is crucial for high-quality steel production.
• Argon gas stirring in ladles is a long-standing technique.
• Bubble breakage and coalescence remain significant unsolved challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate complex fluid flow in gas-stirred ladles.
• To accurately predict bubble size distribution.
• To understand bubble breakage and coalescence mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Coupling the Euler-Euler model for two-phase flow with the population balance model (PBM) for bubble size distribution.
• Incorporating a coalescence model considering turbulent eddy and bubble wake entrainment.
• Numerical simulation of gas-stirred ladle fluid dynamics.

Main Results:

• Ignoring bubble breakage leads to inaccurate bubble distribution predictions.
• Turbulent eddy coalescence is the dominant coalescence mode in ladles.
• Wake entrainment coalescence is a less significant contributor.
• The number of bubble-size groups is critical for accurate bubble behavior description.

Conclusions:

• Accurate modeling of bubble breakage is essential for predicting bubble distribution.
• The coupled Euler-Euler and PBM approach provides deep insights into gas-stirred ladle processes.
• A bubble-size group number of 10 is recommended for predicting bubble-size distribution.