Numerical Simulation of Multiphase Flow Behavior in Hot Metal Ladle Desulfurization with Bottom Powder Injection and Electric Field

A computation fluid-coupled discrete phase model (CFD-DPM) was used to predict the motion characteristics of gas, particle, and liquid phases in the hot metal ladle. The influence of different voltage loading modes, voltage values, and powder injection speeds on the particle motion trail was investigated, while the effects on the particle concentration maximum difference in the stagnation region were discussed. The optimal injection and voltage parameters were proposed. The results are shown as follows: the loading voltage before injection is beneficial to the diffusion of particles in the molten pool. With the increase of voltage and injection speed, the distribution of particles in the upper part of the molten iron tends to be uniform. The bottom of the ladle is the stagnation region. Optimum voltage and injection speed were determined. Under the optimum conditions, particles are evenly dispersed and the particle concentration difference in the stagnation region is small. This research work will benefit greatly to the hot metal ladle desulfurization technology.