2022 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 29-35
Aiming to further improve decarbulization of molten iron with oxygen jet in BOF, a course of study on cavity formation with water model was carried out using CO2 gas as dissolving gas. Ar gas, CO2 gas, or a mixture of them was blown from the lance onto aqueous bath of various composition. The cavity formed under CO2 blowing was larger compared to that under Ar blowing of the same flow rate, beyond the difference of gas density. Such behaviour would reflect that dissolving reaction proceeds the cavity formation. The cavity depth formed under Ar and CO2 blowing onto aqueous surfactant solution was slightly larger compared to those on ion-exchanged water, and what on aqueous surfactant+NaOH solution was much deeper. Those results suggest that decrease in surface tension would help cavity formation, and dissolving reaction of gas would exceedingly promote the cavity formation. Those consideration corresponds to the classical findings such as the increase in interfacial area between molten slag and metal droplet during desulfurization reaction.
