Numerical simulation of a gas-stirred ladle

Abstract

In this paper we present three-dimensional, numerical simulations of the turbulent recirculatory flow in a gas-stirred vessel. The physical model consists of air injected in a water cylindrical vessel, corresponding to a one-seventh scale model of an industrial 35 tons steel-making ladle. Plume development and recirculation is investigated for air blowing through an eccentric porous plug placed at the bottom of the vessel. The experimentally observed plume behaviour and the mixing process due to recirculatory water motion within the ladle is qualitatively well reproduced by the numerical simulations. When the airflow rate is increased, the intensity of agitation and turbulence increases, thereby enhancing the mixing in the ladle.