Volumetric Flow Field inside a Gas Stirred Cylindrical Water Tank

Abstract

Ladle metallurgy serves as a crucial component of the steelmaking industry, where it plays a pivotal role in manipulating the molten steel to exercise precise control over its composition and properties. Turbulence in ladle metallurgy influences various important aspects of the steelmaking process, including mixing and distribution of additives, alongside the transport and removal of inclusions within the ladle. Consequently, gaining a clear understanding of the stirred flow field holds the potential of optimizing ladle design, improving control strategies, and enhancing the overall efficiency and steel quality. In this project, an advanced Particle-Tracking-Velocimetry system known as “Shake-the-Box” is implemented on a cylindrical water ladle model while compressed air injections through two circular plugs positioned at the bottom of the model are employed to actively stir the flow. To mitigate the particle images distortion caused by the cylindrical plexi-glass walls, the method of refractive matching is utilized with an outer polygon tank filled with a sodium iodide solution. The volumetric flow measurement is achieved on a 6 × 6 × 2 cm domain between the two plugs inside the cylindrical container while the flow rate of gas injection is set from 0.1 to 0.4 L per minute. The volumetric flow field result suggests double gas injection at low flow rate (0.1 L per minute) produce the least disturbed flow while highly disturbed and turbulent flow can be created at higher flow rate of gas injection.