AISTech 2019 — Proceedings of the Iron & Steel Technology Conference

6–9 May 2019, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA

DOI 10.1000.377.114

Effect of Snorkel Shape on Refining Efficiency of RH Treatment

Chang Liu, Yanyu Zhao, Kaiyu Peng, Lifeng Zhang

University of Science and Technology Beijing

Beijing 100083, China
Phone: +86-10-62332267
Email: zhanglifeng@ustb.edu.cn

Keywords: Multiphase Flow, Oval Snorkel, Circulation Rate, Inclusions

INTRODUCTION
The improvement of the steel cleanliness is a vital issue to produce high quality steels[1, 2]. The RH (Ruhrstahl-Heraeus)
refining process is a high efficiency metallurgical reactor owing to its vacuum treatment and gas stirring effect, which was
widely used to manufacture the ultra-carbon steel, such as IF (Interstitial-Free) steel[3]. The finial purpose of those research is
to improve the refining efficiency of the RH treatment involved the decarburization[4, 5] effect and the inclusions removal[6-8]
effect. In recent years, some new ideas and designs of RH snorkels have been reported such as using oval snorkels[9], using
one single snorkel[10, 11] and using two asymmetric snorkels[12] based on their actual plant conditions. The numerical
simulation method provides a quick and easy way to realize the visualization of the interior transport phenomena, benefiting
to understand and research on the high temperature experiments[13, 14]. A lot of investigations focus on improving the
recirculation rate[15, 16] to enhance the decarburization rate[17] and increase the inclusions removal efficiency[18]. In the current
study, three types of RH reactors with different shapes of snorkels (the round up-leg and down-leg, the oval up-leg and oval
down-leg and the round up-leg and oval down-leg) were compared by the combined mathematical model and industrial
experiments. The minor axis of the oval snorkel is equal to the diameter of the round snorkel, so that the cross area of the
oval snorkel is larger than the round snorkel. The fluid flow and the recirculation rate were simulated using the coupled
VOF+DPM model, and the inclusions evolution of the actual molten steel was analyzed by the Aspex (Application Specific
Products employing Electron Beam and X-ray technology) method.

METHODOLOGY

Numerical Simulation
A three-dimension mathematical model coupled VOF (volume of fluid) and DPM (discrete phase model) model was
established to simulate the multiphase fluid flow, the turbulent features and the discrete bubbles distribution. For the steel and
argon in the current study, the continuity equations were solved as following Eqs.(1) and (2).

t
 q q     q quq   0 (1)


q 1
q 1 (2)

where α is the volume fraction, ρ is the density (kg/m3), u is the velocity (m/s) and q represents the liquid or the argon. The
averaged density(ρ) and viscosity(μ) in each cell were given by the volume fraction of each phase, as following Eqs.(3) and
(4).
   g  g   l l (3)

   g  g   l l (4)

where μ is the viscosity (kgꞏm-1ꞏs-1) and the subscripts l and g mean the liquid and the gas respectively.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1113

The trajectory of a discrete particle is predicted by integrating the force balance involved the drag force, the gravitational
force, the buoyancy force, the virtual mass force, the pressure gradient force, and the lift force on particle based on the
discrete phase model (DPM), shown as Eq.(5).
      
dub
 FD  FG  FB  FVM  FP  FL
dt
, (5)
3l CD Re    b  l   l db   l   l   
  u l  ub   ge  CVM  u  u  ul   ul  CL  ul  ub     ul
4  b d b2 b b dt l b b b

where CD, CVM, and CL are the coefficients for the drag force, the virtual mass force and the lift force; Re is Reynolds number;
db is the bubble diameter (m) calculated by Eq(6).
0.5 0.44
    4Q 
db  0.091   n2  (6)
 l    d n 
Where σ is the surface tension between the liquid and the argon gas (N/m), Qn is the gas flow rate for a single nozzle (m3/s),
dn is the nozzle diameter (m)
The modified momentum transport equation is given by Eq(7), considering the the exchange force between the injected
bubbles and the liquid.
      
l u     l uu   P     l  u  u T    g  Fb (7)
t
where Fb is the source force caused by bubbles given by following equation.
The turbulent kinetic energy and its rate of dissipation are obtained by the modified standard k-ε model as following Eqs.(8)
and (9).

 k      
 l l   ui k        l t  k    l Gk   l l   Sk
  (8)
 t   k  

         2
 l l   ui        l t

  
  l 1 C G   C 
l 2 l  S (9)
 
k
 t    k k

where k is the turbulent kinetic energy (m2/s2), ε is the turbulent dissipation rate (m2/s3), Sk is the source of the turbulent
kinetic energy, Sε is the source of the turbulent dissipation rate, and C1ε=1.44, C2ε=1.92, σk=1.0, σε=1.3.
The detailed model description and model validation could be found in the authors’ article published in another journal [12, 19].
Thus, the 3D mathematical model was used to predict the fluid flow of the steel-argon system in the RH refining process.
Figure 1 shows the mesh generation for three RH reactors with different snorkels. The total cell for each case is about half a
million. The operating condition was 1800 NL/min injected gas, 12 nozzles and 100 Pa in the vacuum chamber.

(a) Round legs (b) Oval legs (c) Round upleg + Oval downleg
Figure 1. Mesh of RH reactors with different shapes of snorkels.

1114 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

Industrial Trials on Steel Decarburization and Inclusion Evolution
Under the working conditions of 1800 NL/min lifting gas, 12 gas injection nozzles, samples were got during the RH refining
process. For the three RH reactors, three types of the snorkels were employed for comparison. The Figure 2 shows the top
views of the three RH snorkels: (a) is the two round snorkels; (b) is the oval snorkels; (c) is the round up-leg snorkel and the
oval down-leg snorkel.
For the three cases of RH reactors with different snorkels, the carbon content values were measured and some steel samples
were taken out during the RH refining process to evaluate the refining efficiency of the RH and the cleaning level of the steel.
The steel sampling position was located between the two snorkels and the ladle sidewall and 500 mm under the liquid top
surface in the ladle. And then samples were prepared in an epoxy mount and polished. The inclusions size, morphology,
chemical composition and distribution on the cross-section view were detected and analyzed using the automatic scanning
electron microscopy ASPEX Explorer. The total oxygen contents were measured by the infrared absorption method.

(a) Round legs (b) Oval legs (c) Round upleg + Oval downleg
Figure 2. Schematic of three shapes of snorkels from a top view.

FLUID FLOW IN LADLE AND VACUUM CHAMBER

Figure 3 shows the velocity vector distribution on the vertical center plane of the RH. The molten steel circulated among the
ladle and the vacuum chamber. The flow patterns are similar for the three snorkel conditions. The molten steel impact the
ladle bottom then spread around and some eddies are formed between the down-leg and the sidewall of the ladle. The
velocity distributions in the two snorkels have a little difference: the oval up-leg snorkel leads to a lower velocity in the up-
leg snorkel as shown in Figure 3(b); the oval down-leg snorkel results in a lower velocity in the down-leg snorkel as shown in
Figure 3(c).

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1115

 (a) Round legs (b) Oval legs

(c) Round upleg + Oval downleg

Figure 3. Velocity vector distribution for three shapes of snorkels.

If the employed two snorkels are the same, two round snorkels or two oval snorkels, the velocity reached the ladle bottom are
similar. The results indicate that the velocity impact on the ladle bottom is largest and much larger than that on the ladle
sidewall. The lowest impact effect on the ladle wall could be obtained when the oval down-leg snorkel was employed, which
is benefit to improving the serving life of the ladle.

1116 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

 100
98.8

Recirculation Rate (t/min)

80
77.5
67.7
60

40

20

0
R+R O+O R+O
Snorkel Design
Figure 4. Comparison of the recirculation rate for three shapes of snorkels.

The circulation rate represents the exposure time of the molten steel in the vacuum chamber who is a significate parameter to
evaluate the refining effect of the RH. To compare the recirculation rate for the three RH reactors, the exit velocity and the
cross-section area are used to calculate the circulation rate of the molten steel, and the results are shown in Figure 4. The RH
with two oval snorkels gets the largest recirculation rate, since the cross-section area of the oval snorkels are the greatest
among the three RH reactors. It means that the application of the oval snorkel could increase the circulation rate of the molten
steel whether the oval snorkel arranged in the down-leg or the two snorkel.

EFFICIENCY OF DECARBURIZATION

To compare the decarburization process of the three RH reactors with different snorkels, the variation of the carbon content
and the variation of the decarburization rate are plotted in the Figure 5. For the three cases, the carbon content decreases from
300 ppm to 50 ppm within 10 min, and then the decarburization rate is getting lower and lower. Although there is a very high
value of the round snorkel condition in the Figure 5(b), most of the decarburization rate values of the oval snorkel condition
are higher than that of the round snorkel condition, which indicates that the oval snorkels could enhance the decarburization
rate. During the 8-10 min, the decarburization rate of the RH with a round up-leg and an oval down-leg is the largest one,
considering that the carbon content is already very low.

400 100
Round Round
Decarburization rate (ppm/min)

(QAr = 3000 NL/min, QO2=1200 Nm3/h) (QAr = 3000 NL/min, QO2=1200 Nm3/h)
Oval
Carbon content (ppm)

Oval
300 (QAr = 3000 NL/min, QO2=1200 Nm3/h) (QAr = 3000 NL/min, QO2=1200 Nm3/h)
Round&oval Round&oval
(QAr = 2000 NL/min, QO2=2000 Nm3/h) (QAr = 2000 NL/min, QO2=2000 Nm3/h)
200

100

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25

Time (min) Time (min)

(a) Carbon content (b) Decarburization Rate

Figure 6. Comparison of the decarburization process for three shapes of snorkels.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1117

 EFFICIENCY OF INCLUSION EVOLUTION

Some typical inclusions on the solid samples from the IF steel production process were shown in Figure 7. After the
aluminum addition for deoxidation, as following Eq(10).

 Al + O   Al2 O3 , (10)

From the sample after aluminum addition 2 min, a great deal of Al2O3 clusters exist in the molten steel, as shown in Figure
6(a), while most of the large size inclusions floating and removed by the top slag. Some Al2O3 inclusions moved with the
molten steel and they would react with the titanium in the molten steel, when the Al2O3 inclusions moved into the high
titanium content region. Figure 6(b) shows the mapping of a Al-Ti-O inclusion.

(a) Al2O3 cluster

(b) Al-Ti-O inclusion

Figure 6. Typical inclusions during RH treatment.

The number density of inclusions of two samples, the 2 min after Al addition sample and the vacuum break sample, for
different diameters are shown in Figure 7. Both the two samples result shows that the number density of inclusions decreased
with the inclusions diameter increasing.

1118 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

 Number density of inclusions (#/mm )
1000

2
Round
Oval
100 Round&Oval

10

0.1

0.01
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Diameter of inclusions (m)
(a) 2 min after Al addition
Number density of inclusions (#/mm2)

1000
Round
Oval
100 Round&Oval

10

0.1

0.01

0.001
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Diameter of inclusions (m)
(b) Vacuum break
Figure 7. Comparison of the number density of inclusions for three shapes of snorkels.

Figure 8 shows the variation of the number density of inclusions for the three RH reactors with different snorkels. From the
comparison, the lowest number density of inclusions could reach 20 #/mm2 when the oval down-leg snorkel was employed.
Number denstiy of inclusions (#/mm2)

1600
Vacuum break

Round&Oval
Round
1200 Oval

800

400

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Sample
Figure 8. Variation of the number density of inclusions for three shapes of snorkels.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1119

The total oxygen contents were measured and shown in Figure 9. The variation rules are similar to that of the number density
of inclusions. The total oxygen decreases quickly within 10 min. The final total oxygen of the RH with the oval down-leg
snorkel was lower than that of the other two types of snorkels RH.

600
550 Round&Oval
Round
500 Oval
450
400
T.O. (ppm)
350
150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time after Al addition (min)
Figure 9. Comparison of the total oxygen for three shapes of snorkels.

CONCLUSIONS

The numerical simulation method was employed to compare the multiphase flow and wall shear stress for tree types RH with
different snorkels. The evolution of the inclusions size and total oxygen during the RH treatment process were measured.
Some conclusions were obtained:
1. The circulation rate of the RH increased with the total cross area of the two snorkels increasing. In the current working
conditions, the maximum circulation rate can reach to 98.8 t/min when the oval snorkels were employed.

2. During the RH refining process, the carbon content decreases from 300 ppm to 50 ppm within 10 min, after that the
decarburization rate is getting lower. The application of the oval snorkels could enhance the decarburization rate. The
decarburization rate of the RH with a round up-leg and an oval down-leg is the largest one during the 8-10 min.

3. The number density of inclusions decreased with the RH treating time increasing especially within 10 min after the
deoxidizer aluminum addition. The final total number density of inclusions of the RH with the oval down-leg snorkel
was lower than that of the other two types of snorkels RH.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful for support from National Science Foundation China (Grant No. 51725402, No. 51504020 and No.
51704018), Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Recycling and Extraction of Metals (GREM) and the High Qualit y steel
Consortium (HQSC) and Green Process Metallurgy and Modeling (GPM2) at the School of Metallurgical and Ecological
Engineering at University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), China.

1120 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

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