2007 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 73-79
In steelmaking, the top-blown oxygen jet is used in many different refining processes and its behavior is therefore an important factor in steel refining. Numerous studies have been conducted on jet behavior under atmospheric pressure conditions; however, its behavior under reduced pressure for vacuum refining processes is still not fully understood.
In this study, jet behavior under reduced pressure was investigated by measuring the dynamic pressure of the jet. Also, numerical simulation, which was used for jet simulation in recent studies, was carried out to clarify the details of the jet behavior. The simulated results were compared with the measured data and the numerical simulation method was validated.
As a result, the jet behavior was modeled using the numerical simulation, and the detailed effects of ambient pressure on the jet behavior were clarified. The potential core of the jet lengthened as the ambient pressure decreased, indicating that jet attenuation under reduced pressure is smaller than that under atmospheric pressure. Using this model, the effect of the nozzle shape on the post combustion behavior of the actual RH top-blown process could be explained.
