ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5, pp.

426–435

A Mathematical Simulator for the EAF Steelmaking Process

Using Direct Reduced Iron

R. D. MORALES, H. RODRÍGUEZ-HERNÁNDEZ and A. N. CONEJO1)

Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Apdo. Postal 75-874, D. F., CP 07300
México. E-mail (RDM): rodolfo@ragnatela.net.mx 1) Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Materials Research Center, Av.
Tecnológico 1500, Morelia Michoacán México.
(Received on December 1, 2000; accepted in final form on February 13, 2001 )

A mathematical simulator for the melting operation of direct reduced iron in electric arc furnaces (EAF)
has been developed. The simulator takes into account the changes of physical properties of slag with time
as well as the operating aspects of the process by using different input types of the raw materials into the
furnace. Control of the bath oxidation is performed through the injection of carbon fines in the slag. Cost-op-
timized mass and energy balances are employed as generators of initial and boundary conditions to start the
solution of a set of ordinary differential equations whose solution allows to know the dynamic changes of
temperature and metal and slag chemistry with time. Simulation results indicate that the final bath oxidation
level is more dependent on the process routes than on the quality of the direct reduced iron (DRI) being
melted. High carbon wettability by slags and basic slags are the most suitable conditions to promote iron
oxide reduction in order to maintain a low bath oxidation. Process outputs influenced by complex EAF oper-
ations using different DRI metallizations, different sequences for feeding raw materials in the furnace, injec-
tion of carbon and oxygen and different types of inputs are well predicted by the present mathematical sim-
ulator.
KEY WORDS: EAF; direct reduced iron; melting; carbon injection; mass transfer; kinetics; slag.

the slag to control iron oxide levels, bottom stirring and so

1. Introduction
Various mathematical models for steelmaking process for
the BOF have been reported in the technical literature and
their capacity to predict actual refining rates and thermal
behavior of the bath are remarkable accurate.1–3) One of the
authors and his co-workers combined static mass and ener-
gy balances with a kinetic model to predict the dynamic
changes of metal and slag chemistry as well as bath temper-
ature.4) In this model static sub-models generate data such
as scrap/hot metal ratio, initial bath temperature, fluxes re-
quirements, total oxygen necessary to reach an end point of
carbon at a final bath temperature, etc. These data are em-
ployed as initial conditions to start up the dynamic BOF
model consisting in a set of differential equations derived
from mass and energy balances for the three phases, metal,
slag and gas. The same authors complemented this model
to simulate the bottom stirring process of BOF like the
well-known process called LD-KG with excellent agree-
ment between the mathematical predictions and actual data
of the process.5)
On the other hand mathematical models for the EAF
steelmaking process are rather scarce due to its complexity,
which does not easily allow to establish a set of differential
equations to describe the process dynamics. Current EAF
technologies include, in addition to electric energy as the
main source of energy, the employment of gas burners,
lances of oxygen, injection of carbonaceous materials into
on. Furthermore, melting of 100% charges of direct reduc-
tion iron (DRI) has become a usual procedure in order to
increase steel purity, with very low contents of residual ele-
ments, at high plant productivity.6) This trend of increasing
DRI percentages into the EAF brings on more difficulties in
pursuing reliable mathematical simulators of the process
because DRI melting rates and slag foaming play an impor-
tant role on the overall process dynamics. The approach fol-
lowed by some researchers to simulate this process has
been the employment of empirical methods based in statis-
tics,7) neural nets8) and few reports are related with phe-
nomenological approaches.9) In this work this later ap-
proach will be used.
In Mexico about 60% of the total production of steel
(currently about 15 million tons per year) is made through
the EAF process and approximately a 40% of this total pro-
duction (about 6 million tons) is produced via the DRI-EAF
processes. Then, in the specific case of this country and
others with similar steel production structures, a mathemat-
ical simulator for EAF steelmaking using DRI will be use-
ful for allowing an increase in fundamental understanding,
evaluation of operation results, and design of metallurgical
practices, control, and process optimization. A simulator
for DRI melting in EAF would be highly esteemed for all
practical purposes. In this work the theory of this simulator,
using fundamental knowledge published in the scientific lit-
erature, is presented. In order to observe its versatility some

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5
hypothetical cases are simulated. In a future publication its
application to the operations of a current EAF plant in
Mexico will be presented.
2. Description of the Mathematical Simulator
2.1. Static Mass and Energy Balances
Similarly to the procedure employed to simulate the BOF
process,4) in the present case static mass and energy bal-
ances were used to generate the initial boundary conditions
for the set of ordinary differential equations, explained in a
following section. Thermodynamic data such as heat capac-
ities, enthalpies of transformation of iron, and dissolution
heats of components in the slag, were taken from Ref. 10).
To minimize the cost per ton of steel, the following func-
tion was employed (see the list of symbols at the end of the
paper):
Min CostWDRICDRIWSCCSCWLIMECLIMEWCOKECCOKE
EECEWO2CO2CEL ...................................(1)
Subjected to:
[A][Wi][Di] ..............................(2)
Where [A] is a coefficient matrix formed by the results of
the mass and energy balances, Wi is a vector of unknowns
weights and Di is a vector of restrictions, for instance maxi-
mum mass% of residual elements, maximum amount of
DRI to be melted, etc. The costs of every raw material are
represented by the C’s, in Eq. (1) and the sub-indexes DRI,
SC, LIME, COKE, E, O2 and CEL hold for direct reduced
iron, scrap, lime, coke, electrical energy, oxygen and elec-
trodes, respectively (see Nomenclature).
This optimization problem was solved through the
Modified Simplex Method.11) This model allows then the
calculation of the amounts of DRI, different types of scrap,
lime, coke, electric energy per ton of steel under some
given restrictions which depend on the particular conditions
of a determined EAF plant.
2.2. Slag Properties
Physical properties of complex steelmaking slags like
density, viscosity and surface tension will be employed in
this mathematical simulator. Density and surface tension
data were correlated from the work of Mills and Keene,12)
as was done in a previous work,15) while viscosity data were
taken from Urbain.13)
2.3. Thermodynamic Models
A quantitative description of the thermodynamics of the
involved phases, slag, metal and gas is required in the pre-
sent mathematical simulator; in the later case the simple
ideal gas law was used. Thermodynamic models for the
condensed phases, metal and slag are more elaborated. For
the metallic phase, the Wagner’s interaction parameter
model was employed14,16) and for the slag phase the quasi-
chemical structural model17–19) was integrated as a subrou-
tine in the main program just as is explained in Ref. 15).
2.4. Chemical Reaction Subsystems
The present model assumes that the EAF bath is a semi-
continuous stirred tank reactor so that chemical composi-
427
Fig. 1. Chemical reaction subsystems during DRI melting in
EAF. ➀ metal–slag interface, ➁ carbon–slag interface, ➂
oxygen–slag interface, ➃ DRI melting.
tions of metal and slag are uniform throughout the bath at
some given time. Chemical reaction subsystems are shown
in Fig. 1, and these are the entry zone of DRI, the metal–
slag interface and the jetting zone of carbon injection to
control FeO contents and the slag foaming operation.
Mathematical models for these chemical reaction subsys-
tems are described in the following lines. At the end, all
these models are assembled into differential mass balances
to yield a system of ordinary differential equations that de-
scribe the process dynamics.
2.4.1. Kinetics of Iron Oxide Reduction by Injection of
Carbon, Carbon–Slag Interface
Metallization of DRI is the most important parameter to
control the metallic yield, plant productivity and economy.
When a DRI with low metallization (for example 87–89%)
is melted, the levels of FeO, at the end of a heat, can reach
values as high as 45–50 mass%. This condition leads to flat
baths, forming slags with very low capacity to foam, bring-
ing on very high consumption of electric energy and con-
sumption of furnace lining refractory. The later is due to the
direct radiation from the arc to the walls and the roof of the
furnace. To avoid this situation there is also a chemical
“window” where the slag composition, mainly iron oxide
concentrations, is suitable to maintain foaming properties in
order to shield the arc radiation.6) These are the reasons of
why is necessary to keep the iron oxidation under control
during DRI melting. To do so, during the last years the in-
jection of carbonaceous materials to reduce the iron oxide
in complex steelmaking slags has become a common prac-
tice. A mathematical model to simulate the kinetics of this
reaction is already published.15,20,21) These papers describe
with details the mechanisms of chemical reaction between
carbonaceous particles with FeO in complex steelmaking
slags injected through a lance using a carrier gas. Re-
duction rate kinetics of FeO is thus predicted as function of
lancing parameters and the physical–chemical properties of
slag, which are time dependent.
Finally, the rate kinetics of iron oxide reduction in com-
plex steelmaking slags by carbonaceous particles, in the jet-
ting zone is calculated through the expression,15)
© 2001 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5
Fig. 2. Chemical reactions at the metal–slag interface and the
role of silica as a surface-active component in steelmak-
ing slags.
Qs Fp0 M FeO   Rpf  
3
VR  1 ..................(3)
MC   Rpi  
 
This later Eq. (3) involves all the injection process parame-
ters of carbon particles such as the fraction of particles en-
trained into the slag, Fp0 and the mass flow of solids Qs.
Other factors such, as the chemical resistance to mass trans-
fer due to the activity of silica, which behaves as a surface-
active compound, is implicit in Eq. (3). Other variables
such as the iron oxide content, slag basicity, angle of lance
and its diameter, particle size, particle reactivity, etc. are
also implicit in the calculation of the final radius of the par-
ticle for a given residence time tR 15) (calculated by using a
Lagrangian approach22)). In this way the injection model
can be directly integrated in an overall kinetics model for
the EAF process as will be explained later.
2.4.2. Reduction Kinetics of FeO at the Metal–Slag
Interface
In the balance of carbon it is necessary to take into ac-
count the reduction kinetics of iron oxide by dissolved car-
bon at the metal–slag interface. The mechanism of this re-
action is essentially the same as that proposed for the reac-
tion between carbon particles and FeO in the slag
bulk15,20,21) as is illustrated in Figs. 2(a) and 2(b). A CO
bubble is nucleated at the metal–slag interface reacting,
during its ascending movement through the slag layer, with
FeO to form iron and carbon dioxide. The later reacts with
carbon to form again CO and actually the CO2 is the decar-
burizing agent of the bath. Naturally, also in this case silica
affects the available surface area of the bubble for the
chemical reaction of reduction due to its surface-active
properties in slags. The decarburization rate can be written
according to the expression
d (Wm [%C])
  M C AN CO ....................(4)
dt
© 2001 ISIJ
where A is the metal–slag interfacial area and NCO is the
mass flux of CO, which according to Sano23) can be ex-
pressed as,
2 DCO2 –COk f k 2a (1Θ ) K 2′ aFeO PCO
g–s
N CO  g–s
3PCO DK f K 2  (3DCO2 –CO  rc RTk f )k 2a (1Θ )
.........................(5)
This model and the precedent one for carbon injection in
complex steelmaking slags form the core for the simulation
of iron oxide reduction in the EAF process. The term (1–Q )
is the fractional surface area of the bubble available for
chemical reaction.
2.4.3. Interfacial Area for Chemical Reaction
To calculate the metal–slag interfacial area for chemical
reaction the following expression was employed,24)
A
 Kε 0.47 ................................(6)
A0
where A0 is the interfacial area in the static bath, K is a con-
stant and e is the stirring energy calculated by taking as
basis the water model of Themelis and Zhao,25)
V˙CO [( ρgΗ )sl  ( ρgΗ )steel ]
ε .................(7)
DS ( H sl  Η steel )
where Hsl and Hsteel are the time varying thickness of slag
and steel layers respectively, D is the furnace diameter and
S is the spacing of the gas injector for bottom stirred reac-
tors, which in this case are assumed to be the nucleating
sites of CO in the furnace bottom with a value equal to
0.01 m. Eventually this can be the only adjustable parame-
ter for the model. Thus the interfacial metal–slag surface
area is adjusted with the stirring energy through the con-
stant K in Eq. (6).24) Moreover, VCO is the evolution rate of
CO, which is also a time dependent variable and is calculat-
ed every time increment as will be explained in a next sec-
tion. This procedure allows accounting the interfacial area
as a time dependent variable, which depends, itself, on the
ratio of the formation rates of the condensed phases (steel
and slag) and the flow rate of CO produced by the steel-
making reactions.
2.5. Overall Kinetic Model of the EAF
In this section an overall mathematical model for DRI
melting in the EAF, which will assemble the previous mod-
els, already explained, will be developed. A fundamental
assumption to build up this simulator is to take the EAF as
a semi-continuous stirred tank chemical reactor subjected
to disturb including impulse and step input signals.
Differential mass balances will be established for every
species in the charge of the furnace.
2.5.1. The Slag Phase
Lime Balance: The changes of the mass of lime with
time include the addition of lime into the furnace at any
given time during the melting process plus the lime con-
tained in the DRI pellets,
428
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5

sl sl the first term of the RHS of Eq. (11) corresponds to the

d ( FCaO Wsl ) dECaO
 FCaO
lm
VCaO δ (τ τ add )1 amount of MgO contained in lime and its dissolution rate in
dt dt the slag is assumed to be the same. The second term is the
 dWDRI  melting of MgO contained in the DRI.
 ∑ F DR
CaO
dt
 ..................(8)

Silica Balance: In the precedent balance it has been im-
plicitly assumed that the magnesia contained in lime dis-
The first term in the right hand side, RHS, of this equation solves in the slag at the same rate as lime does. This as-
describes the melting kinetics of lime through the factor sumption is also applied to silica as follows,
VCaO that is a function that depends on the slag chemistry sl
and bath temperature.3,26) The addition of lime can be con- d ( FSiO Wsl ) dWCaOlm
2
 FSiO
lm
VCaO δ (τ τ )1
sidered as impulses to disturb the system and this is the rea- dt 2
dt
son to use Dirac’s d function. Then when the process time t
 DRI dWDRI 
becomes equal to a prescribed addition time of lime, t add,
this term acquires a finite value and the model starts the
 ∑  FSiO2
 dt 
 ..............(12)

calculation of the lime dissolution. Although, lime can be

also continuously fed together with the DRI and in such a
case the disturb will become in one of a step input type.
The second term, in the RHS of Eq. (8), corresponds to the
dissolution kinetics of lime contained in the DRI pellets
whose melting kinetics is a function of its metallization de-
gree according to,
Iron Oxide Balance: Iron oxide is reduced by graphite,
through the injection process and the metal slag-reaction at
the interface. And is generated by the oxidation of the bath
with the gaseous oxygen and by the addition of FeO con-
tained in the DRI. Thus, the mass balance for this oxide is
settled down as follows,

dWDRI sl
d (WFeO sl
FFeO ) dWDRI M
dt
226 403.57  5 016.66(% MET)
dt
 ∑F DRI
FeO
dt
 FeO 
MO ∑ KR 1 O2

27.83(%MET) .................................(9)
2
 M FeO AN CO VR ..............................(13)
This equation was derived statistically after thousands of
heats in the EAF’s of IMEXSA Steel in Lázaro Cárdenas where the third term of the RHS of Eq. (13) is linked to
City, Mexico. The physical meaning is the capacity of the Eqs. (4) and (5) and the last term in the RHS is the rate re-
furnace, with the current transformers to melt down DRI duction by the injection of graphite as expressed by Eq. (3).
pellets without the presence of slag overflows. Evidently, Total Mass Balance for the Slag Phase: The total mass
this a parameter that should be previously found for a given balance is the sum of all kinetic rates of the oxides that con-
furnace. The summation symbol in the RHS of Eq. (8) indi- form this phase,
cates that actually the feeding operation of DRI into the fur- sl
nace can be considered as a step input function. Since DRI dWsl sl
d ( FCaO Wsl ) d ( FAl2O3Wsl ) d ( FMgO
sl
Wsl )
  
can be fed in an intermittent way the summation is per- dt dt dt dt
formed over every feeding period of DRI. All the summa- sl
d ( FSiO Wsl ) sl
d ( FFeO Wsl )
tion terms in the following rate equations have the same  2
 ......................(14)
physical meaning. If any raw material is fed as an impulse dt dt
then the step-input function can be changed into a Dirac’s d
function. Naturally a mixed feeding pattern including im- 2.5.2. The Metal Phase
pulse and step inputs is also quite possible in the present In these balances manganese and phosphorus are ne-
mathematical simulator. These characteristics provide to glected, the first because 100% charges of DRI are assumed
this simulator a great versatility to make closer predictions and the second because its concentration is low enough to
of the EAF dynamics during DRI melting and steel refin- be neglected. Then a simple iron–carbon melt is considered
ing. here.
Alumina Balance: Alumina is mainly contained in DRI Iron Balance: Sources of iron units are those coming in
pellets, thus, its mass balance gives, the feed of DRI, the reduction of iron oxide through the
metal–slag reaction and the reduction of iron oxide by
d (Wsl FAlsl O )  dWDRI 
dt
2 3
 ∑ F DRI
Al2O3
dt
 ...........(10)

graphite injected through the lance, the sink is the iron oxi-
dized by the gaseous oxygen employed to decarburize the
bath. The mass balance is expressed by,
Magnesite Balance: Similarly, for magnesite contained
d ( FFeSteelWSteel ) dWDRI
∑F
in the DRI pellets the mass balance is,
 DRI
Fe  M CO N CO A  VR
dt dt
sl lm
d (Wsl FMgO ) dWCaO M Fe
 FMgO
lm
VCaO δ (τ τ add )1  K1RO2 ..............................(15)
dt dt M FeO
 DRI dWDRI 
 ∑  FMgO
 dt 
 ...............(11) Carbon Balance: The source of carbon units is that
coming in the feed of DRI and the sinks are the reaction of

429 © 2001 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5

carbon with FeO at the metal–slag interface and the decar-

burization reaction with gaseous oxygen.

d ( FCSteelWSteel ) dWDRI
dt
 ∑F DRI
C
dt
MC
 M C AN CO  K 2 RO2 ......(16)
M CO

Total Mass Balance of Metal Phase: Total mass balance

is,

dWSteel d ( FCSteelWSteel ) d ( FFeSteelWSteel )

  ......(17)
dt dt dt

2.5.3. The Gas Phase

In order to simplify these mass balances it was assumed
that the CO is the only chemical specie in the gas phase, ac-
cordingly the expression is,

dWCO M  d ( FCSteelWSteel ) 
 CO   .............(18)
dt MC  dt 

to change the mass rate of CO given by Eq. (18) into a vol-

ume rate of CO generated the ideal law of gases was em-
ployed;
dV 1 dWCO
V˙CO  CO  RTb ..............(19)
dt M CO dt
Fig. 3. Global computational mathematical model.
where Tb is the bath temperature. The evolution rate of CO
given by Eq. (19) is that employed in Eq. (7) to estimate the Table 1. Chemical composition of DRI and carbonaceous ma-
stirring energy. terials employed in the mathematical simulations.
2.5.4. Bath Temperature
Bath temperature is related to bath carbon content
through the melting point as given by the Fe–C phase dia-
gram adding a superheat of 100 K, consequently we have,
Tb1 90888[mass%C] (K) .............(20)
the term [mass%C] is calculated with the kinetic model and
substituting this value in Eq. (20) is possible to make an es-
timate of the temperature dynamics of the melt. Tempera-
ture estimation is used to calculate the thermodynamics of
the system as well as the dissolution rate of lime. types of disturbs, as mentioned above. Together with this
The set of ordinary differential Eqs. (8)–(18) together information the lancing pattern of carbonaceous materials
with all auxiliary equations and the auxiliary mathematical to control the bath oxidation and the slag foaming should
models, already explained, constitute the mathematical sim- also be fed as input data. This information includes the
ulator for the melting process of DRI in Electric Arc mass load ratio of carbon and the carrier gas, nozzle diame-
Furnaces. Figure 3 shows the flow-computing diagram for ter and the angle between the lance axis and the bath sur-
the complete mathematical simulator. First the static mass face. The simulator will yield the dynamic behavior, in time
and energy balances, described already, are solved for some domain, of the chemical composition of metal and slag
specific conditions, such as DRI metallization, chemical phases, weights of metal and slag, bath temperature and
composition of DRI gangue, initial weight and chemical control of the iron oxidation.
composition of the slag left from the previous heat, total
amount of oxygen to be injected, etc. The data provided by 3. Results of the Mathematical Simulations and Dis-
these models provide the initial and boundary conditions to cussion
solve the set of ordinary differential Eqs. (8)–(18) using a
Runge–Kutta algorithm. Previous to this solution the feed- 3.1. Effects of DRI Metallization on Metallic Yield
ing pattern of the raw materials, DRI and fluxes, should be Table 1 shows the chemical characteristics of two DRI
defined and the model will accept this information, either, metallizations, lime and carbon fines employed in the simu-
as impulse or step functions including a mixture of both lations described in the next paragraphs. Operation parame-

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5
Fig. 4. Model results of the effect of DRI metallization and
process routes and bath oxidation.
ters for carbon injection, DRI feeding and lime addition,
both (DRI and lime) as step inputs, were kept constant in
all cases simulated here. In the first case the lance angle
was 60° with a diameter of 0.052 m. High purity lime (97%
lime, 1.5% MgO and 1.5% SiO2) was fed together with
DRI with a flow of 115 kg/min. The type of carbon simulat-
ed is that with name Shell M in Table 1.
Figure 4 shows the concentration of FeO, in mass%, for
two cases including DRI metallizations of 87% and 95%,
(low and high metallizations), respectively. DRI and fluxes
are fed in a step-input pattern from the beginning of the
heat until its end. The plot illustrates several cases, namely
No carbon–No O2 injection and melting with carbon injec-
tion with a particle size of 300 m m (40 kg/min with a flow
rate of the carrier gas of 300 l/min) for both metallizations.
And a mix case where during the first 40 min low metalliza-
tion DRI is fed without carbon injection and later, until the
heat end, carbon is injected. It can be seen that when a low
metallization DRI is employed, and neither carbon particles
nor oxygen gas is supplied, the concentration of FeO rises
very fast during the first 2 min. This is due to the high
amount of iron oxide in this type of material but also due to
the low initial weight of slag (hot heel) of about 1.15 t. The
final concentration of FeO is 46%, which is a value report-
ed in actual melting operations6) when such a low metal-
lization DRI is charged into the EAF. On the other hand,
when a DRI of high metallization is fed under the same
conditions described above for low metallization, FeO
reaches a final concentration of 23%, that is half the value
when a DRI with low metallization is melted. Thus, by in-
creasing DRI metallization, from 87 to 95%, a theoretical
decrease in the oxidation state of the slag of 23% can be
achieved. When carbon injection is started since the first
minutes of the heat with a mass flow rate of 40 kg/min, the
concentration of FeO at the end of the melting operation is
decreased to 32%, when a low DRI metallization is being
employed. Then, according with the model, by injecting
carbon particles to an oxidized slag, FeO is decreased from
46 to 32% when a low metallization DRI is melted.
Similarly, for the melting of DRI of high metallization, with
carbon injection, FeO is decreased even further, from 23 to
12%. Such a low value of FeO is possible considering that
431
Fig. 5. Slag chemistry as affected by a DRI of low metallization
with and without carbon injection.
no oxygen is injected, however, this later case will leave a
high concentration of carbon in the melt making necessary
the injection of oxygen in order to decarburize it. Injection
of gaseous oxygen to a melt of high metallization (95%)
with a flow rate of 22 m3/min (10 m3/ton) will increase the
final concentration of FeO to 32%. These results show that
melting high quality DRI does not necessarily assure a low
concentration of FeO. A proper balance between O2, carbon
injection and DRI metallization is required. A melt pro-
duced by high quality DRI yields 23% FeO but is increased
to 32% with the addition of 10 m3/min of oxygen from the
beginning of the heat. Other case, shown in the same figure,
considers the melting of DRI batches with different metal-
lizations (mix case). The heat starts with melting a material
with 87% metallization during the first 40 min followed by
a batch of DRI with 95% metallization for the rest of the
heat without carbon injection neither oxygen injection. The
final FeO content reaches around 33%. It can be seen in
Fig. 4, how different procedures lead to different process
routes to reach similar FeO contents in the slag, indicating
the need to design optimized oxygen lancing, carbon injec-
tion and DRI feeding operations to improve the metallic
yield.
Figure 5 shows the slag chemistry dynamics, including
the concentrations of lime, magnesia, silica and alumina,
for the case when DRI of low metallization is melted with-
out the injection of carbon and with the injection of carbon
with a mass flow rate of 40 kg/min. The shapes of the
curves correspond to the step-input patterns for feeding
lime and DRI simulated in these cases. With the injection
of carbon the concentrations of the oxides other than FeO
increase. This result is the consequence of a lower concen-
tration of FeO when carbon particles are injected into the
slag. The increase in concentration of these oxides, other
than FeO, is a simple dilution effect. The plot also shows
the concentration of alumina and MgO, of 4 and 5%, re-
spectively, these oxides come from the DRI and flux com-
position employed. With carbon injection the slag V ratio
(Vmass%CaO/mass%SiO2) ends at about 1.7 for both
cases. Actually impulse feedings of lime would be suitable
to rise up the slag basicity to 2.0 in order to decrease the
slag line wear, by chemical attack, and to improve the de-
© 2001 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5

(a)

(b)

Fig. 6. Slag chemistry as affected by a DRI of high metalliza-

tion, without injection of carbon, injection of carbon and
oxygen.

phosphorizing capacity of the slag.

Corresponding slag chemistry behavior when DRI of
high metallization is melted is presented in Fig. 6. In the
case when carbon is injected the concentrations of oxides
CaO and SiO2 increase in relation to the case when oxygen
is injected because the dilution effect of iron oxide which is
being reduced by carbon. After 100 min of processing the V
ratios of the slag are about 1.45–1.6. It would be suitable to
increase the amount of lime with impulse type feeding to
rise up the slag basicity. The plot also illustrates the results Fig. 7. Metallic yield and slag weight variations during DRI
melting of (a) low metallization DRI and (b) high metal-
when oxygen is injected. As expected, FeO content increas- lization DRI.
es, diluting the concentration of the other species.
Figure 7(a) shows the evolution of metal and slag
weights for the step-input of a low metallization DRI with-
out carbon injection, from the beginning of the melting, and
with carbon injection using a mass flow rate of 40 kg/min.
The generation of slag reaches about 70 and 60 t for the
first and second case, respectively. That is, when carbon
particles are injected, FeO is reduced, decreasing the slag
volume and increasing the metallic yield. According to this
simulator these slags have, at the end of the melting, FeO
concentrations of 46% and 23%, respectively. Figure 7(b)
shows a similar plot for a DRI of high metallization. In this
case the injection of carbon makes a similar effect, though,
at a lower extent, regarding iron recovery units. It is also
seen the advantage of using high metallizations because the
melting of DRI to reach 220 t of liquid steel requires only
80 min instead of 100 min with all the savings of energy Fig. 8. Decarburization rate and temperature profile during DRI
and refractory involved in addition to the increases of plant melting in EAF.
productivity.
Carbon concentration and bath temperature for the case temperature reaches a flat profile.
when DRI of high metallization is used, injecting 22 m3/min
of oxygen, is shown in Fig. 8. The rate of decarburization is 3.2. Effects of Carbon Reactivity on the Reduction
quite high for the first 10 min but progressively decreases to Rate of Iron Oxide
reach 0.10% C. The rate of decarburization from 0.10 to Effects of carbon reactivity on the reduction of iron
0.03 % C is quite low (less than 0.1 points C/min; 1 point oxide was simulated by changing the frequency parameter
C0.01 mass% C). In this range the flow rate of oxygen in the Arrhenius Equation for the kinetics of carbon with
should be adjusted to avoid over-oxidation. Simultaneous FeO in slags15) by one and two orders of magnitude to val-
with the decrease in carbon content, temperature rises ues of 3.13106 and 3.13107. The results using these val-
rapidly the first 10 min of the heat, from 1 550 to 1 630°C. ues should be compared with the standard values of
In the region where the rate of decarburization is low, the 3.13105.15) Simulation results for this reaction kinetics are

© 2001 ISIJ 432

 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5
Fig. 9. Effect of carbon reactivity on iron bath oxidation during
DRI melting in EAF.
shown in Fig. 9 for a continuous step-input of DRI, with a
low metallization, and lime using an injection rate of
40 kg/min of carbon. For the standard kinetics the final iron
oxide reaches a value of 39% at the end of the melting op-
eration. For frequency parameters one and two orders of
magnitude higher the final iron oxide contents are about
34% and 32%, respectively. These values can be compared
with the case without carbon injection, Fig. 4, when the
iron oxide concentration reaches a high value of 46%.
Thus, as it would be supposed, carbon reactivity plays an
important role in controlling the bath oxidation in this
process; by increasing carbon reactivity by one order of
magnitude, FeO can be decreased from 39 to 34%.
3.3. Effects of Contact Angle on the Reduction Rate of
Iron Oxide
Contact angle between carbon and complex steelmaking
slags plays a very important role on the reduction rate of
iron oxides because the wettability of carbonaceous materi-
al influences directly its potential to cross over the
liquid–slag interface.15) This topic is very related also with
the advanced smelting reduction processes of iron ore.
Contact angles between carbon and steelmaking slags have
been reported27,28) with values from 100 to 140°. Simulation
effects of the contact angle, using the same conditions de-
scribed for Fig. 9, are shown in Fig. 10. The plot shows that
increasing the contact angle, i.e., a less wettable particle,
with a contact angle of 140° the rate of reduction of iron
oxide is lower and yields the higher values of FeO (35%).
With more wettable carbons provided by contact angles of
120° and 100°, the final iron oxide concentrations are 32%
and 27%, respectively. Comparing Figs. 9 and 10 is evident
that the contact angle has a larger influence on the reduc-
tion rate of iron oxide than carbon kinetics. Therewith the
physical–chemical characterization of a carbon with these
purposes should include the determination of the Arrhenius
kinetics and the contact angle between this carbon and slags
of the EAF process.
3.4. Effect of Slag Basicity on the Reduction Rate of
Iron Oxide
Lime and silica affect considerably the physical–chemi-
cal properties of the slags. On one side, silica, a powerful
433
Fig. 10. Effect of carbon wettability on iron bath oxidation dur-
ing DRI melting in EAF.
Fig. 11. Effect of slag basicity on iron bath oxidation during
DRI melting with different process routes.
tensoactive specie, drastically reduces the surface area frac-
tion of bubbles and the metal–slag interface available for
reaction between carbon particles, dissolved carbon in steel
and iron oxide. To counteract this behavior the total surface
area of carbon particles must be larger in acid slags, which
is achieved when the particle size is decreased, usually in
the range of 20–50 m m. On the other hand, in basic slags,
the resistance to be penetrated by carbon particles is larger;
to overcome this resistance, larger particles must be em-
ployed, in the range of 200–300 m m. Figure 11 illustrates
the effect of the binary basicity ratio (VCaO/SiO2) on the
rate of reduction of iron oxide. The plot indicates that acid
slags yield higher concentrations of FeO, therefore the pre-
dominance of the effect of a decrease in the fraction of sur-
face sites for reaction, due to the coverage by silica mole-
cules, over the carbon particles is stronger than the effects
of the dynamic forces. Recognizing that basic slags must be
employed in a current metallurgical practice, and in order to
eliminate its higher resistance to be penetrated by carbon
particles, both the flow rate of carrier gas and particle size
must be increased. This proposal is in agreement with the
results reported in Ref. 15). The effect of oxygen injection
is also illustrated in the same plot. As expected, the final
FeO concentration is increased when oxygen is injected.
© 2001 ISIJ
 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5
Fig. 12. Different process routes and their influence on slag
chemistry during DRI melting in EAF.
3.5. A Complex Operation of DRI Melting in EAF
Finally, a complex melting operation is simulated in
order to review the simulator response to any type of dis-
turb. Figure 12 shows a case where a DRI of low metalliza-
tion is fed in a step-input type from the starting time until
40th minute. After this time DRI with a higher metalliza-
tion of 95% is fed as step-input and at the same time oxy-
gen injection is started with a flow rate of 22 m3/min. After
1 h, i.e. 20 min after the starting of the injection of oxygen,
carbon injection with a mass flow rate of 40 kg/min, was
started and ended until the final stage of melting. Dynamic
changes of slag chemistry using this complex melting pro-
cedure is shown in Fig. 12 for oxides FeO, CaO and SiO2
together with the V ratio. Iron oxide increases up to 45%
and after the 40th minute starts a decrease because of the
effects of a DRI with a high metallization, in spite that oxy-
gen is being injected in order to decarburize the bath. The
simultaneous injection of carbon in the slag and oxygen in
the bath promotes a decrease in the iron oxide reaching
about 30% at the end of the melting process. Lime and sili-
ca concentration show a global increase due to the decreas-
ing diluting effects of the iron oxide that is being reduced.
Final V ratio is about 1.6. This type of melting process is
not rare in current EAF shops melting DRI and the simula-
tor shows a very good versatility to simulate any type of
metallurgical practice if it is previously fed with the right
operating data.
4. Model Validation
In order to validate the results of the model with industri-
al data, sampling of both metal and slag was made in a set
of industrial heats. Slag samples were taken 5 times per
heat, the first one at 50 t and the last one before tapping. At
the middle of each heat, three slag samples were taken, at
intervals of 10 min, while carbon injection was working.
Figure 13 shows the chemical composition as a function of
real time during a heat as predicted by the model as well as
the industrial data. It can be seen that the model predictions
are highly accurate.
© 2001 ISIJ
Fig. 13. Model predictions of variations in slag composition as
compared with industrial data.
5. Conclusions
(1) A mathematical model, which describes multiphase
flow, has been applied to predict actual performance of an
EAF. The results prove the great flexibility and robustness it
posses to simulate complex and coupled phenomena such
as decarburization, rate of reduction of iron oxide, dynam-
ics of slag chemistry and other process variables.
(2) The predictions of the model indicate the great ef-
fect that both carbon reactivity and carbon wettability have
on the rate of reduction of iron oxide. High reactivity and
low contact angles between carbon and steelmaking slags
favor FeO reduction.
(3) High quality materials do not ensure (from the
point of view of bath oxidation), necessarily, good results.
The model describes that the same results can be achieved
with different process routes even when a DRI with a low
metallization is melted.
(4) To obtain good metallic yields and low levels of
bath oxidation a good balance between policies of carbon
and oxygen injection, including DRI metallization should
be applied. The present simulator is useful to find out that
balance.
(5) If the oxidation level control of the bath is guaran-
teed, through the employment of this simulator, economical
profits can be expected due to lower consumption of electri-
cal energy, refractory and aluminum to deoxidize the liquid
steel.
Acknowledgements
The authors are very indebted to CoNaCyT for the schol-
arship granted to HRH and to the institutions S N I and
COFAA for the financial support to the Process Metallurgy
Group of IPN-ESIQIE. One of us, ACN, gives the thanks to
CoNaCyT for a grant received to perform a sabbatical stay
at IPN-ESIQIE.
Nomenclature
A : Instantaneous metal–slag interfacial area
A0 : Metal–slag interfacial area in a static bath
aFeO : Activity of FeO in slag
Ci : Cost or raw material “i”
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 ISIJ International, Vol. 41 (2001), No. 5

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435 © 2001 ISIJ