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ABSTRACT
Low sulfur content is crucial in secondary steelmaking to enhance steel quality. The desulfurization rate is influenced by slag-steel interactions, including slag eye size and interfacial mass transfer coefficient. Gas-stirred ladles can impact the interaction through stirring conditions such as argon flow rate and dual plug separation angle. Using a 3D CFD simulation model, the effects of different stirring conditions on the desulfurization rates, molten steel flow, and slag-steel interfacial behaviors were investigated. Results showed that 180° separation angle leads to higher desulfurization efficiency than 90°. A higher argon gas flow rate increases desulfurization rate, and using 20 SCFM (8.92×10-3 Nm3/s) argon flow rate for both plugs resulted in higher desulfurization rate than using 5 SCFM (2.23×10-3 Nm3/s) for one plug and 20 SCFM for the other. The smallest desulfurization efficiency was observed when using 5 SCFM for both plugs.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank NSF-GOALI grant (CMMI-2113967), the Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium (SMSVC), the SMSVC Ladle Project Technical Committee members, and Nucor Steel for supporting this research and for permission to publish this work.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).