Assessment of an Eulerian multi-fluid VOF model for simulation of multiphase flow in an industrial Ruhrstahl–Heraeus degasser

Abstract

An Eulerian multi-fluid VOF model, the coupling of the Eulerian model and the “VOF” interface tracking method, offered by ANSYS Fluent has been first applied to investigate the complex multiphase flow in an industrial Ruhrstahl–Heraeus (RH) degasser. The idea of this study is to use the Eulerian model in the regions of the domain where the argon bubbles are dispersed in molten steel; in the regions of the domain where the sharp interfaces between the steel and slag or argon are of interest, the “VOF” method is adopted. The calculated flow characteristic, mixing time and circulation flow rate of molten steel in the RH degasser agree well with the observations reported in literature. Compared with the widely accepted Eulerian method and the discrete phase model–volume of fluid (DPM–VOF) coupled method, the Eulerian multi-fluid VOF model demonstrates the suitability for modeling the multiphase flow in the RH degasser where both dispersed and sharp interfaces are present.