Liquid mixing in metallurgical baths covered with thick slag

Liquid mixing in bottom blown gas stirred reactors has a significant impart on the prow efficiency and product quality. Water modeling was used to simulate mixing behavior of the liquid batch covered with thick slag. The dependence of blending time on specific energy input rate, slag height, and physical properties of metal and slag representative liquids was studied. A new parameter, called the ''effective bath height' is defined to develop a unified correlation for blending time of slag-less and slag covered baths. Furthermore, the rate or interfacial energy dissipation has been evaluated. Droplet size distribution and metal-slag interfacial area increase in emulsified region, and their dependence on gas flow rate and physical properties of the liquids was studied. The total interfacial energy and the fraction dissipated in forms of surface energy are calculated, showing a significant increase in the interfacial area due to interphase mixing.