An investigation into the effect of melting zone mixing intensity on refining in an attached refining launder

Steelmaking today is carried out in batch processes. However, in many industries it has been found that continuous processes are more efficient than batch processes. In the 1960's it was shown in the WORCRA, IRSID and other trials that it is possible to produce a high quality refined steel continuously. The WORCRA process utilised counter-current flow of the slag phase with respect to the metal phase. One of the failings of this process that has been cited by others is low productivity. This was due, in part, to low mixing intensity in the melting region of the furnace. The current study is focussed on understanding the relationship between the melting zone mixing intensity and axial dispersion in an attached refining channel for a geometry similar to that of the WORCRA process. An important finding of this work was that changes in the mixing intensity had little effect on the dispersion in the refining channel. Other findings include, (1) there was a decrease in axial dispersion in the launder as the fluid flow rate was increased, (2) tuyère gas injection in the channel had no apparent influence on waves travelling along the channel, and (3) that the discontinuous nature of the ejection of water from the exit of the model was caused by slopping in the melting zone.