Resolving the Volumetric Flow Field Inside a Cylindrical Water Ladle Model with Gas Stirring

Although ladle metallurgy plays a critical role in steelmaking by stirring the molten steel to gain active control over the steel’s composition and properties, the physical processes of molten steel flow inside a ladle lack clarity due to its inherent difficulties of perceiving under the extreme conditions. Thus, improving our understanding of the flow processes, particularly inclusion formation and removal mechanisms in steel refining through the stirred flow field, would allow potential enhancement in steelmaking’s efficiency and quality. In this project, an advanced Particle-Tracking-Velocimetry system of Shake-the-Box was implemented on a cylindrical water ladle model, made of plexi-glass with compressed air injections through two circular plugs at the bottom, to resolve the three-dimensional flow field inside a 6 × 6 × 2 cm domain. To suppress the flow image distortion due to the curved plexi-glass wall, the method of refractive matching was utilized with an outer polygon tank and sodium iodide solution. Totally, eight conditions of compressed air injection were investigated revealing a highly unsteady and three-dimensional flow field inside the water ladle model.