A mathematical model of the heat transfer and fluid flow in AOD nozzles and its use to study the conditions at the gas/steel interface

Abstract

Knowledge of process gas parameters in the area where the gas leaves the nozzle and then enters the molten steel in AOD converters is necessary in order to determine the boundary conditions needed to model the converter process. Using a newly developed mathematical model for an AOD nozzle verified by comparison against laser Doppler anemometer measurements, the objective of this study was to predict characteristics of non-isothermal heat transfer and fluid flow at the nozzle for pure oxygen gas injected into an AOD converter. The inlet boundary conditions for the nozzle simulation were taken from plant data. The investigation showed that the thermodynamic and physical phenomena in the region where the gas enters the steel melt cannot be determined if the transformation of kinetic energy of gas into heat is not considered because this would amount to oversight of the influences of bubble frequency, temperature, etc. on the process. The possible ranges of bubble frequency and temperature for the nozzle conditions in the study were also determined.