Effect of the injection position on mixing time in a centric gas-stirred ladle water model assisted by a systematic CFD study

Abstract

Mixing time is a parameter that describes the degree of agitation in a gas-stirred ladle. The literature is not conclusive on the effect of the tracer injection position on the mixing time under equal stirring conditions. This work conducted a systematic and comprehensive study on the effect of the tracer position on the mixing time for centric injection. Results in the form of a mixing time map indicate that the diagonal formed between the inlet and the upper wall region gets the fastest mixing, and specifically in the eye of the toroid of the circulation loop is the best position to mix solute rapidly. In contrast, the dead zones at the lower near-wall part of the ladle have the poorest mixing behavior for the tracer addition. The study also tested the ladle's axisymmetric assumption since two points were at different angular positions, but the same axial and radial points presented similar mixing time.