Physical modelling of mixing in occurring steelmaking ladle designed for single- and dual-plug blowing process

Introduction of argon to the bath is a commonly used secondary metallurgy treatment. The most economical technique of secondary metallurgy is the ladle process at the ladle furnace station. The introduction of inert gas (argon) into the metal bath takes place using purging plugs placed in the bottom of the ladle. Such argon blowing process through the metal bath via a purging plugs proceeds with the intensity necessary to cause the circulation of liquid steel. This movement is necessary to homogenize the temperature and to achieve a state of near chemical homogenization of the liquid steel after introduction of the alloy addition. Another positive effect of gas injection is the adhesion of non-metallic inclusions to the bubbles or their capture by bubbles and removal from the metal bath to the slag. The work presents the research carried out using the water ladle model in which there is a possibility of simultaneous blowing the bath through one, two or three purging plugs installed in the bottom and additional lance support from the top. Different configurations of bath gas introduction (through one or two plugs) were analyzed using different flow rate of gas. As a result of the research, visualization of the mixing process of the alloy additive and mixing curves at different process parameters were obtained. These results allowed to analyze the mixing process of the alloy additive.