Aiming at the unsatisfactory removal rate of various inclusions in refining process of spring steel in a steel plant, this study proposes a unequal flow bottom blowing method with an inlet flow ratio of 2:1, and its effectiveness is verified by numerical simulation and actual production. The numerical simulation results show that under the 2:1 bottom blowing method, the molten steel has greater axial flow strength, which is conducive to the inclusion floating to the slag layer. The removal rate of inclusions under the 2:1 bottom blowing method is about 8% higher than that of the equal flow. The production results are consistent with the numerical simulation, when the inlet flow is 100 NL/min, the inclusion removal rate under 2:1 bottom blowing method is about 18% higher than that of equal flow, meanwhile, the total number of inclusions and large size inclusions are lower than that of equal flow.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ZhangBPengMZengBet al.Study on inclusion behavior of Mg-Al spinel in alloy spring steel 51CrV4. Steelmaking. 2017;33(06):57–61.
2.
DengZZhuMZhongBet al. Formation of Mg-Al spinel inclusions in refining process. Proceedings of the 9th China iron and steel annual conference; 2013. p.836–841.
3.
FuDHeCZhangG.Analysis on the control and removal of silicate inclusions in steel. Wide Thick Plates. 2016;22(03):29–31.
4.
LiuZSongGDengZet al.Effect of slag adjustment on inclusions in Si-Mn-killed steel during ladle furnace (LF) refining process. Ironmak Steelmak. 2021;48(8):893–900.
5.
ValdezMShannonGSSridharS.The ability of slags to absorb solid oxide inclusions. ISIJ Int. 2006;46(3):450–457.
6.
XuYErssonMJönssonPG.A numerical study about the influence of a bubble wake flow on the removal of inclusions. ISIJ Int. 2016;56(11):1982–1988.
7.
KajikawaKYamaguchiM.Effect of inclusion and structure on life of bearing steel. Tetsu To Hagane. 1966;52:747–750.
8.
LarssonMMelanderMNordgrenM.Effect of inclusions on fatigue behaviour of hardened spring steel. Mater Sci Tech-Lond. 2013;9(3):235–245.
9.
ZengYBaoYZhaoJet al.Formation and evolution of Mg-Al spinel in silica-Mn-deoxidized 55SiCr spring steel. Iron and Steel. 2022;57(5):1–11.
10.
LiuWYangSLiuJ. Design method of refining slag system for removal of Mg-Al spinel inclusions. CN112501390A; 2021.
11.
KangYSahebkarBMoritaKet al.Observation on physical growth of nonmetallic inclusion in liquid steel during ladle treatment. Metall Mater Trans B. 2011;42(3):522–534.
12.
MigasPSlezakMKarbowniczekMet al.Numerical investigation of outflow of non-metallic inclusions during steel refining in the ladle. Materials. 2022;15(9):3039.
13.
ZhangLTaniguchiSCaiK.Fluid flow and inclusion removal in continuous casting Tundish. Metall Mater Tran B. 2000;31:253–266.
14.
LeiHWangLWuZet al.Collision and coalescence of alumina particles in the vertical bending continuous caster. ISIJ Int. 2002;42(7):717–725.
15.
LiXLiBLiuZet al.In-situ analysis and numerical study of inclusion distribution in a vertical-bending caster. ISIJ Int. 2018;58(11):2052–2061.
16.
WangQQiFLiBet al.Behavior of non-metallic inclusions in a continuous casting tundish with channel type induction heating. ISIJ Int. 2014;54(12):2796–2805.
17.
NakanishiKSzekelyJFujiiTet al.Stirring and its effect on aluminum deoxidation of steel in the ASEA-SKF furnace: part I. Plant scale measurements and preliminary analysis. Metall Mater Trans B. 1975;6(1):111–118.
18.
ParkYGDooWCYiKWet al.Numerical calculation of circulation flow rate in the degassing Rheinstahl-Heraeus process. Tetsu To Hagane. 2000;40(8):749–755.
19.
ParkYGYiKWAhnSB.The effect of operating parameters and dimensions of the RH system on melt circulation using numerical calculations. ISIJ Int. 2001;41(5):403–409.
20.
CaoQNastacL.Numerical modelling of the transport and removal of inclusions in an industrial gas-stirred ladle. Ironmak Steelmak. 2018;45(10):984–991.
21.
LiuZLiLLiB.Modeling of gas-steel-slag three-phase flow in ladle metallurgy: part I. Physical modeling. ISIJ Int. 2017;57(11):1971–1979.
22.
MandalJPatilSMadanMet al.Mixing time and correlation for ladles stirred with dual porous plugs. Metall Mater Trans B. 2005;36(4):479–487.
23.
RamasettiEKVisuriVVSulasalmiPet al.Modeling of the effect of the gas flow rate on the fluid flow and open-eye formation in a water model of a steelmaking ladle. Steel Res Int. 2019;90(2):1800365.
24.
LiXHuSWangDet al.Inclusion removements in a bottom-stirring ladle with novel slot-porous matched dual plugs. Metals (Basel). 2022;12(1):162.
25.
LiLLiB.Investigation of bubble-slag layer behaviors with hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian modeling and large eddy simulation. JOM. 2016;68:2160–2169.
26.
LiLLiBLiuZ.Modeling of gas-steel-slag three-phase flow in ladle metallurgy: part II. Multi-scale mathematical model. ISIJ Int. 2017;57(11):1980–1989.
27.
Jardon-PerezLEAmaro-VilledaAMTrapaga-MartinezGet al.Utilization of the planar laser-induced fluorescence technique (PLIF) to measure temperature fields in a gas-stirred ladle. Metall Mater Trans B. 2020;51(6):2510–2521.
28.
ChenGHeSLiYet al.Modeling dynamic of agglomeration, transport, and removal of Al2O3 clusters in the RH degasser based on CFD-PBM coupled model. Ind Eng Chem Rea. 2016;55(25):7030–7042.
