Effect of snorkel shape and number of nozzles on mixing phenomena in the RH process by physical modeling

¹ University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, Beijing 100083, P.R. China
e-mail: zhanglifeng@ustb.edu.cn
² Morelia Technological Institute, Morelia 58120 México

Received: 9 May 2016
Accepted: 22 September 2016

Abstract

In the current study, the effect of snorkel shape and the effect of the number of nozzles on recirculation flow rate and the local mixing time in the RH process were investigated using physical modeling experiments and industrial trials. Meanwhile, the velocity fields were measured with a Particle Image Velocimetry technique. The results show that oval snorkels provided much better mixing conditions in comparison with round snorkels. The improvement in recirculation rate was found to be in the order of 25% and the increase in decarburization rate was about 50%. It was attributed to an increase in the cross-sectional area from round to oval snorkels. The best mixing conditions as a function of the number of nozzles was obtained with 12 nozzles for round snorkels and 18 nozzles for oval snorkels. For the same stirring conditions, oval snorkels are less sensitive to changes in mixing time by changing the number of nozzles. Finally, the treatment time using oval snorkels could be decreased by 50% in comparison with round snorkels according to the variation of the concentration of carbon.