Bubble and liquid flow characteristics during horizontal cold gas injection into a water bath

Abstract

In refining processes such as the AOD process cold gas is blown horizontally into the molten metal bath of the processes. The spatial distribution of bubbles in the bath is one of the important factors influencing the efficiency of the processes. In this study, a water model study was carried out to understand the characteristics of bubbles and liquid flow generated by horizontal gas injection. The bubble and liquid flow characteristics were measured using an electro-resistivity probe and a laser Doppler velocimeter, respectively. In the flow field near the nozzle the bubble characteristics for the horizontal cold gas injection can be predicted by empirical equations derived for isothermal gas injection systems. The liquid flow characteristics could not be measured in this region. On the other hand, in the region far from the nozzle the two characteristics for the cold gas injection became different from those for the isothermal gas injection because of enhanced buoyancy force acting on expanding cold bubbles due to heat transfer.