Desphosphorization in ironmaking and oxygen steelmaking

Steelmaking is an extensive industry based on modifying the physical properties of iron to fit a wide range of applications by either adding alloying elements or removal of impurities. Thus, the effects of various elemental components on final steel properties are at the heart of the steelmaking process whether in small concentrations coming from the raw materials or being in larger concentrations as alloying elements. Owing to increased demand of iron ore raw materials, the access to high-quality ores has been under stress and thus, increased usage of low-quality ores, which contains high concentrations of impurities such as phosphorus and sulphur has become more economical. Such impurities have been known to have adverse impacts on the final steel properties and need special management in conventional steel making operation. This report primarily focuses on the management strategies of phosphorus in steelmaking including the behavior of phosphorus and its removal strategies in several core components of the process: blast furnace (BF), basic oxygen furnace (BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF) and argon oxygen decarburization (AOD). The objective of the report is to review underlying research in the area giving a reference to the available literature and support propagation of future research projects addressing various aspects of dephosphorization in steelmaking

Vibrations of a laboratory-scale gas-stirred ladle with two eccentric nozzles and multiple sensors

During ladle stirring, a gas is injected into the steel bath to generate a mixing of the liquid steel. The optimal process control requires a reliable measurement of the stirring intensity, for which the induced ladle wall vibrations have proved to be a potential indicator. An experimental cold water ladle with two eccentric nozzles and eight mono-axial accelerometers was thus investigated to measure the vibrations. The effect of the sensors’ positions with respect to the gas plugs on the vibration intensity was analyzed, and experimental data on several points of the ladle were collected for future numerical simulations. It is shown that the vibration root-mean-square values depend not only on process parameters, such as gas flow rate, water, and oil heights, but also on the radial and axial positions of the sensors. The vibration intensity is clearly higher, close to the gas plumes, than in the opposite side. If one of the nozzles is clogged, the vibration intensity close to the clogged nozzle drops drastically ( −36 to −59 %), while the vibrations close to the normal operating nozzle are hardly affected. Based on these results, guidelines are provided for an optimized vibration-based stirring

Mathematical modelling of chemical kinetics and rate phenomena in the AOD Process

Abstract Argon-oxygen decarburisation (AOD) is the most common unit process for refining stainless steel. The AOD process consists of multiple stages, in which the rate of processing is determined by complex reaction mechanisms. The main objective of this work was to study the chemical rate phenomena in selected process stages. For this purpose, an extensive literature review was conducted to clarify the main assumptions of the existing reaction models. Based on the literature review, a new categorisation of the models was proposed. In addition, a literature review was conducted to identify the main phenomena that affect the reaction kinetics in the AOD process. In this work, based on the law of mass action, a novel kinetic approach and its application for modelling of parallel mass transfer controlled reactions were studied. The developed approach enables the simultaneous solution of the chemical equilibrium and mass transfer rate which controls it. A simplified reaction model was employed for studying the effect of mass transfer rates and residual affinity on the constrained equilibrium at the reaction interface. An earlier-proposed AOD model was extended with two phenomenon-based sub-models. The top-blowing model is based on the assumption that reactions take place simultaneously at the surface of the cavity formed by the momentum of the gas jet and on the surface of the metal droplets caused by the shear force of the gas jet. The reduction model describes the reactions during the reduction stage of the AOD process by assuming that all reactions take place between the metal bath and emulsified slag droplets. The results obtained with the models were in good agreement with the measurement data collected from a steel plant. Owing to their phenomenon-based structure, the developed models are well-suited for the analysis of both existing and new production practices.Tiivistelmä Argon-happimellotus (AOD) on yleisin ruostumattoman teräksen valmistamiseen käytettävä yksikköprosessi. AOD-prosessi koostuu useista vaiheista, joissa prosessointinopeutta määrittävät monimutkaiset reaktiomekanismit. Tutkimuksen päätavoitteena oli tutkia kemiallisia nopeusilmiöitä valituissa prosessivaiheissa. Tähän liittyen tehtiin kattava kirjallisuuskatsaus, jonka tavoitteena oli tunnistaa olemassa olevien reaktiomallien pääoletukset. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjalta esitettiin uusi mallien kategorisointi. Lisäksi tehtiin kirjallisuuskatsaus, jonka tavoitteena oli tunnistaa tärkeimmät reaktiokinetiikkaan vaikuttavat ilmiöt AOD-prosessissa. Tässä työssä tutkittiin uudenlaista massavaikutuksen lakiin perustuvaa lähestymistapaa sekä sen soveltamista rinnakkaisten aineensiirron rajoittamien reaktioiden mallinnukseen. Kehitetty lähestymistapa mahdollistaa kemiallisen tasapainotilan sekä sitä rajoittavan aineensiirron samanaikaisen ratkaisun. Aineensiirtonopeuksien ja jäännösaffiniteetin vaikutusta reaktiopinnalla vallitsevaan rajoitettuun tasapainotilaan tutkittiin käyttämällä yksinkertaistettua reaktiomallia. Aiemmin kehitettyä AOD-mallia laajennettiin kahdella ilmiöpohjaisella alimallilla. Lanssipuhallusmalli perustuu oletukseen, että reaktiot tapahtuvat samanaikaisesti kaasusuihkun liikemäärän muodostaman tunkeuman ja kaasusuihkun leikkausvoiman aiheuttamien metallipisaroiden pinnalla. Pelkistysmalli kuvaa AOD-prosessin pelkistysvaiheen aikana tapahtuvia reaktioita olettaen, että kaikki reaktiot tapahtuvat terässulan ja emulgoituneiden kuonapisaroiden välillä. Malleilla saadut tulokset vastasivat hyvin terästehtaalta kerättyä mittausaineistoa. Ilmiöpohjaisen rakenteensa ansiosta kehitetyt mallit soveltuvat hyvin sekä olemassa olevien että uusien tuotantopraktiikoiden analysoimiseen

Thermodynamic Description of Ternary Fe-B-X Systems. Part 8: Fe-B-Mo, with Extension to Quaternary Fe-B-Cr-Mo System

Thermodynamic optimizations of the ternary Fe-B-Mo system and its binary sub-system B-Mo are presented. The Fe-B-Mo description is then extended to the quaternary Fe-B-Cr-Mo system by assessing the ternary B-Cr-Mo system. The thermodynamic descriptions of the other binaries (Fe-B, Fe-Cr, Fe-Mo, B-Cr, and Cr-Mo) and the other ternaries (Fe-B-Cr and Fe-Cr-Mo) are taken from earlier studies. In this study, the adjustable parameters of the B-Mo, Fe-B-Mo, and B-Cr-Mo systems were optimized using the experimental thermodynamic and the phase equilibrium data from the literature. The solution phases of the system (liquid, bcc and fcc) are described with the substitutional solution model, and most borides are treated as stoichiometric phases or semistoichiometric phases, using a simple two-sublattice model for the latter. The system’s intermetallic phases, Chi, Mu, R, and Sigma (not dissolving boron) as well as boride M3B2, based on a formulation of (Cr,Fe)(Cr,Fe,Mo)2(B)2, are described with a three-sublattice model. Reasonable agreement is obtained between the calculated and measured phase equilibria in all four systems: B-Mo; Fe-B-Mo; B-Cr-Mo; and Fe-B-Cr-Mo

Thermodynamic Description of Ternary Fe-B-X Systems. Part 9: Fe-B-Cu

Thermodynamic descriptions of the ternary Fe-B-Cu system and its binary sub-system B-Cu aredeveloped in the context of a new Fe-B-X (X = Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Si, Ti, V, C) database. The thermodynamic parameters of the other binary sub-systems (Fe-B and Fe-Cu) are taken from earlier assessments. Experimental thermodynamic and phase equilibrium data available in the literature have been used for the optimization of the Fe-B-Cu and B-Cu systems’ thermodynamic parameters. The solution phases are described using a substitutional solution model and the compounds (two borides of the Fe-B system) are treated as stoichiometric phases. A good agreement was obtained between the calculated and the experimental thermodynamic and phase equilibrium data

A Gibbs energy minimization approach for modeling of chemical reactions in a basic oxygen furnace

Abstract In modern steelmaking, the decarburization of hot metal is converted into steel primarily in converter processes, such as the basic oxygen furnace. The objective of this work was to develop a new mathematical model for top blown steel converter, which accounts for the complex reaction equilibria in the impact zone, also known as the hot spot, as well as the associated mass and heat transport. An in-house computer code of the model has been developed in Matlab. The main assumption of the model is that all reactions take place in a specified reaction zone. The mass transfer between the reaction volume, bulk slag, and metal determine the reaction rates for the species. The thermodynamic equilibrium is calculated using the partitioning of Gibbs energy (PGE) method. The activity model for the liquid metal is the unified interaction parameter model and for the liquid slag the modified quasichemical model (MQM). The MQM was validated by calculating iso-activity lines for the liquid slag components. The PGE method together with the MQM was validated by calculating liquidus lines for solid components. The results were compared with measurements from literature. The full chemical reaction model was validated by comparing the metal and slag compositions to measurements from industrial scale converter. The predictions were found to be in good agreement with the measured values. Furthermore, the accuracy of the model was found to compare favorably with the models proposed in the literature. The real-time capability of the proposed model was confirmed in test calculations

Modeling the residence time of metal droplets in slag during BOF steelmaking

Abstract The ejection of metal droplets into slag due to top-blowing is characteristic of the BOF process. The residence time of the metal droplets in the slag plays a significant role in the kinetics of the metal–slag reactions. In this study, the residence time of ejected metal in slag during BOF steelmaking is investigated and various approaches, based on the blowing number theory and mass balances are compared. Previously published blowing number theories are evaluated in comparison with physically based upper and lower boundaries. The results illustrate that only some of the laboratory-scale blowing number correlations apply to industrial blowing conditions. A mathematical model is developed to predict mass fraction return rates and thus the residence time of droplets in the slag emulsion. Combined with a previously published model for ejected droplet size distribution, it is possible to predict dynamic changes in the interfacial area and mass transfer conditions for metal–slag reactions