IN DEGREE PROJECT TECHNOLOGY,FIRST CYCLE, 15 CREDITS

, STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2016

Potential methods of measuring the stirring intensity during secondary steel making in the ladle furnace

SOFIE NABSETH AND KARIN TÖRNER

KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYSCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT

www.kth.se

Abstrakt Syftet med detta arbete var att hitta en potentiell mätmetod för att bestämma

gasomrörningsintensiteten under skänkbehandling i ståltillverkning. Studien har till mestadels

fokuserat på att hitta mätmetoder för att hitta den faktiska mängden gas som kommer in i

skänken, då detta behövs för att kunna bestämma omrörningsintensiteten.

Gasomrörningsintensiteten är i sin tur viktig eftersom stålverken vill ha en möjlighet att

koppla kvaliteten och sammansättningen av stålet till gasomrörningsintensiteten.

Metoderna för att utföra denna studie baseras på en litteraturstudie och en fältövning, där fem

olika Svenska stålverk besöktes. Dessa företag var SSAB, Uddeholms AB, Sandvik, Ovako

och Outokumpu. Litteraturstudiens huvudsakliga avsikt var att titta på tidigare experiment

som gjorts med liknande syften samt undersöka andra processindustrier där mätmetoder för

gasflöden används. Eftersom de fysiska förutsättningarna på stålverk är relativt extrema (med

avseende på temperatur och ljudnivå) i jämförelse med andra industrier, var flera av dessa

studier ej applicerbara inom stålindustrin. Litteraturstudien visade även att tidigare forskning

med identiska mål existerar i ett väldigt begränsat antal. De mätmetoder som hade störst

relevans var kameramätnings- och vibrationsmätningstekniker. Fältstudiens syfte var att

samla information om de nuvarande fysiska förutsättningarna på varje stålverk samt att förstå

de praktiska problemen som uppkommer om en mätmetod skulle implementeras. Fältstudien

omfattade också intervjuer och diskussioner med erfarna operatörer och ingenjörer. Från

fältveckan kunde det sedan konstateras att de största svårigheterna för en eventuell

implementering av ett mätinstrument är de fysiska förutsättningarna på ett stålverk, så som

temperatur, ljudnivå och buller. Det är alltså inte bristen på forskning, modeller eller

simuleringar som saknas för en implementering av ett mätinstrument. Resultaten av

fältveckan indikerade att samtliga stålverk behöver en individuellt anpassad lösning.

Emellertid har de undersökta stålverken i stor utsträckning liknande problem, såsom

igentäppning av spolstenen som leder till felaktigheter i den uppmätta mängden argongas som

går in i skänken. Det sistnämnda skulle möjligtvis kunna förbättras genom att placera

flödesmätaren närmare skänken eller förbättra spolstenen.

En tydlig slutsats som kan dras efter denna studie är att spolstenar kan förbättras genom

vidareutveckling för att undvika att dem täpper igen samt för att försäkra att ingen argongas

färdas andra vägar än den önskade. En omplacering av flödesmätaren skulle dessutom kunna

göras på samtliga stålverk för att förbättra noggrannheten på mätningen av gasflödet.

Abstract The main objectives of this research were to find a measuring technique for the gas stirring

intensity and relate this to the argon gas stirring in the ladle furnace. However, the

investigation mainly focused on methods of measuring the true amount of argon gas entering

the ladle furnace, since this was needed to further determine the gas stirring intensity. The gas

stirring intensity is of importance because steel plants want to relate the quality and

composition of the steel to the effect of the stirring.

The methods for executing this research have been based on a literature study and a field trip,

where five Swedish steel plants have been investigated. The steel companies included SSAB,

Uddeholms AB, Sandvik, Ovako and Outokumpu. The literature study focused on previous

experiments with similar objectives that have been carried out, and other processing industries

where measurements of gas flow are used. Since the physical conditions at steel plants are

rather extreme (with respect to temperature and noise) compared to most other industries,

those researches were not applicable for this implementation. The literature study also showed

that previous studies with the same aim only exist to a very limited extent. The measuring

techniques found to have a certain level of relevance were camera and vibrational measuring

techniques. The field trip focused on collecting information about the present physical

conditions at each steel plant and understanding the practical problems if a measuring method

were to be implemented. In addition to this, the field trip investigation also included

interviews and discussions with experienced operators and engineers. From the field trip it

can be concluded that the most severe limitations for implementing are the physical

conditions at the steel plant, such as temperature, loudness and vibrations, and not the

research and simulations being available of what they would show. The results of the field trip

indicated that all steel plants need an individual solution. However, most investigated

companies face problems such as clogging of porous plug and inaccuracy of the measurement

of the argon gas entering the ladle furnace. The latter can be partially removed by placing the

flowmeter closer to the porous plug.

The major conclusion of this study indicates that improvements of the porous plugs needs to

be further studied to avoid clogging of the porous plugs and assure that no argon gas escapes.

Furthermore, a relocation of the flowmeter needs to be made at all of the steel plants to

improve the accuracy of the gas flow.

Acknowledgements We would like to give a special thanks to our supervisor Hans Kellner, who supported us with

great ideas and initiated valuable discussions with us every week throughout this project.

Additionally, we would like to show our big appreciation to Professor Pär Jönsson who has

not only been a motivator and believed in us through the course of this project, but also

helped us to initiate the project through his extensive network within the steel making

industry.

Furthermore, we would like to thank the following people, whom without the fieldtrip would

not have been possible; Jens Sörlin and Sara Åslund from SSAB, Karin Steneholm and Ewa

Persson from Uddeholms AB, Olle Sundqvist from Sandvik, Saman Mostafaee and Jörgen

Bergroth from Ovako, and lastly Jesper Janis and Fredrik B. Larsson from Outokumpu whom

also supported us with his encouragement, time and kindness throughout the project.

Lastly, we would like to thank Jernkontoret and KTH, for making the research and travelling

achievable.

Contents

1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Previous work at Swedish Steel Corporations ................................................................ 3 1.3 Aims and Objectives ...................................................................................................... 4

2 LITERATURE STUDY ..................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Porous plugs .................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Stirring in Ladle Furnace .............................................................................................. 7 2.3 Vibrational Measurements........................................................................................... 10 2.4 Camera Measurements ................................................................................................ 13 2.5 Semi-empirical model by Wu, Valentin and Sichen ..................................................... 17

3 METHODS ................................................................................................................. 19

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................ 20 4.1 Results ......................................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Companies ................................................................................................................... 21

4.2.1 SSAB – Oxelösund ............................................................................................................ 21 4.2.2 Uddeholms AB – Hagfors ................................................................................................. 22 4.2.3 Sandvik – Sandviken ........................................................................................................ 23 4.2.4 Ovako - Hofors ................................................................................................................. 24 4.2.5 Outokumpu - Avesta ........................................................................................................ 25 4.2.6 Summary of companies ................................................................................................... 26

4.3 Results related to the literature study .......................................................................... 27 4.3.1 The porous plugs ............................................................................................................. 27 4.3.3 Vibrations ......................................................................................................................... 29 4.3.4 Camera ............................................................................................................................. 30 4.3.6 Additional ideas ............................................................................................................... 31

5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 32

6 FURTHER RESEARCH ................................................................................................. 34

7 Works Cited .............................................................................................................. 35

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Refining in a ladle furnace is one of the most significant steps in the processing of extracting

metals. The purpose is to decrease the amounts of unwanted substances, such as sulphur,

oxygen and hydrogen as well as to remove harmful non-metallic inclusions to the level that

they increase the properties of the material. The purpose of the ladle furnace is therefore to

refine liquid metal to produce high quality steel by which it raises the temperature of the

molten steel and adjusts the chemical composition. The ladle furnace, also known as the ladle

refining furnace, is a proven technology for desulphurization, where the concentration of

sulphur is decreased to as low as 0.001 wt% [1]. The process also reduces levels of oxygen

(deoxidization), hydrogen (degassing) and other undesirable non-metallic materials (micro-

cleanliness). This is made to change the composition and remove inclusions for an improved

microstructure to increase mechanical properties such as ductility, toughness and transverse

properties [2] [3] [4].

In steelmaking, which is the primary metal production in Sweden, knowledge regarding the

dynamic reoxidation between the slag and steel is very important to produce high quality

steel. Stirring in the ladle furnace is used to improve the kinetics of refining operations in

addition to achieve growth and separation of the non-metallic inclusions from the liquid steel

to the slag. Normally, this is done through gas stirring, induction stirring or a combination of

the two, to obtain thermal and chemical homogenization. Gas stirring is one of the most

effective and important methods were argon gas often is used thorough a few so called porous

plugs. This method combined with induction stirring, or electromagnetic stirring (EMS), is

commonly used for many steel companies to minimize inclusions in the final steel. The

stirring results in a turbulent flow in the ladle due to expansion of the gas bubbles as well as

the rising of bubbles to the top of the slag. The rising gas bubbles impinge on the slag

intermittently and break the slag layer to create a slag eye [5]. This will however be discussed

in greater depth in the literary study. Yet, steel corporations have a lot of difficulties to

understand the gas flow in microscopic size because of the heat and the opaque ladle

furnace [6] [7] [8]. Hence, it is significant for steel corporations to understand the effect of the

gas stirring intensity and how it relates to the steel quality regarding composition and

inclusions.

The argon gas used for stirring enters the ladle furnace through gas line pipes being connected

and disconnected to the ladle furnace, since it needs to be relocated between different stations.

Due to the disconnections, gas leakage occurs in connections, making the true gas amount in

the ladle furnace unequal to the theoretical gas amount entering the ladle furnace which is

monitored by the controllers. The porous plugs can also clog due to steel coagulation, hence

contributing to an inconsistent amount of gas entering the ladle furnace.

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It is of great interest to optimize this stirring stage since the time of the refining operation can

be shortened, which in turn could lead to increased productivity. A regularly used rule is that

if the operation decreases by one minute, the company saves 1 million SEK per year, given

that the ladle furnace is the bottleneck in the production line. Hence, there is a great

economical incitement to increase productivity as well as improve the control of the refining

operations by a more controlled stirring. In addition to this, if steel plants were to identify the

effect of the gas stirring, further research would be more comprehensive since the absent

knowledge of the gas stirring intensity currently prevents this. Existing models are based on

the knowledge of a specific gas amount entering the ladle furnace. However, the models do

not reflect reality due to the unknown entry conditions of argon gas [9].

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1.2 Previous work at Swedish Steel Corporations

This investigation will consist of a literature study and a field trip where an investigation will

take place. Before this is carried out, it is important to understand what has been done so far.

From discussions with Fredrik B. Larsson at Outokumpu in Avesta, different techniques using

a camera have been tried at several Swedish steel companies. Usually, one tries to monitor the

deslagging by using a camera displaying different colours for the steel and the slag. Hence,

this technique can also be used to watch the open eye to further correlate it to the stirring

intensity.

As previously mentioned, one maintains varying slag due to the varying procedure in the

converter depending on its state of input from the arc furnace as well as the assortment of

steel being made. There will varying amounts of lime, dolomite and flux, the latter being

known as the main slag producer, between the charges. In addition to that, the amount of

reducing agent; silicon and aluminium, will vary depending on how much slag the batch

contains. Furthermore, there is also a certain part of residual slag from the arc furnace, which

composition will vary since one cannot make a complete deslagging before charging the

converter. The ratio between SiO2/Al2O3 will alter between silicon reduced and aluminium

reduced steels.

After the reduction in the AOD converter, the charge is partly deslagged by carefully tipping

the converter and letting the slag flow into a “slag butt”. How much slag that flows out

depends on the controller executing this procedure. Thereafter, an artificial slag is added,

consisting of lime (CaO) and flux (CaF2) to lower the sulphur levels before the stage at the

converter is finished. This is known as the two-slag practice and is used when low sulphur

levels are prioritized. Moreover, the controller can remove further slag depending on the

amount of slag the controller believes to have left, so that everything will fit in the casting

ladle. All of these stages contribute to the reason for a varying slag. However, this may

depend from company to company; the explanation above refers to the procedures at

Outokumpu.

The composition of the slag can have a significant impact on the viscosity. This combined

with the amount of slag that comes to the ladle furnace makes it difficult for companies such

as Outokumpu to draw any conclusions about how the size of the open eye is related to the

flow of gas. Despite these difficulties, the controllers still monitor the flow from the porous

plug based on the size of the open eye, since a more vigorous flow is demanded in the

beginning of the process to let it decrease towards the end. Additional problems faced in the

steel industry is clogging of the porous plugs, making gas escape before entering the ladle or

taking new paths without contributing to the stirring intensity.

Other Swedish steel companies, such as Ovako, Uddeholms AB and SSAB, usually remove

the full amount of slag before adding a synthetic slag for the ladle furnace treatment. They

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might therefore have a less varying slag which may contribute to more accurate conditions of

relating the size of the open eye to the gas flow.

1.3 Aims and Objectives

The aim is to find a measuring technique for defining the gas stirring intensity in the ladle

furnace and to initiate an investigation of how such a technique can be implemented in

practise. In this report, the main objective will be to investigate what methods are being used

today in the steel industry and research how these methods can be improved or replaced by

more effective solutions. Other industries where gas measurements are being used will also be

investigated to see if the techniques found can be applicable in the steel industry.

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2 LITERATURE STUDY

2.1 Porous plugs

The primary use of the porous plug is to maximize the effectiveness of the stirring as well as

to create the highest possible surface area of the bubbles entering the steel bath for increased

yield. These are the main features of the plug when taking fluid mechanics into account,

which is the most common calculation method used for steel simulations when estimating the

rate of gas flow from the porous plugs.

Figure 1. This figure shows a) hybrid and b) slot purging plug designs [5]

There are different types of porous plugs, or purging plugs as they also may be known as. The

Austrian company RHI, have made studies [5] on two kinds of plugs; namely a hybrid

purging plug and a slot purging plug, see figure 1. The slot purging plug is the oldest model of

the two, where the gas is led through thin slots, placed at a radial angle from the centre of the

circular plug, see figure 2. These plugs are casted in one piece and consist of the ceramic

material aluminium oxide. The slots are made by strips of a polymeric material, placed in the

desired location of the slots, later being removed through combustion as the moulded piece is

being sintered [7].

6

Figure 2. This figure shows the slot purging plug a) cross section and b) the gas channel

configuration [7]

The hybrid purging plug is the most recently produced of the two and differentiates itself from

the slot purging plug since it is made by two separate pieces, mounted together at a later state

of production, see figure 3. One of the pieces is a protection for infiltration, which is placed at

the top of the plug in the shape of the bottom of a pyramid, also made out of the grainy

ceramic material; aluminium oxide. Between the ceramic part and the surrounding ceramic

outer layer, which also acts as the component in which the aluminium oxide is installed, the

gas is free to flow. The gas can either flow this way, or through the porous aluminium oxide

in the centre of the plug, hence the name hybrid plug. According to RHI, the latter model has

less risk of blockage of the plug, due to its configuration since infiltration of molten steel is

decreased.

Figure 3. This figure shows a hybrid plug a) cross section and b) the gas channel configuration [7]

Additionally, RHI produces a final model of purging plugs also being newer than the slot

plug, namely the segment plug, see figure 4. Similarly to the hybrid plug, this model is also

7

mounted together by separately produced pieces. The segment plug consists mainly of three

parts; the protection for infiltration made out of porous aluminium oxide, ceramic segments

and finally a ceramic outer layer. The porous aluminium oxide is designed so that the molten

steel will not permeate the plug. However, permeation of the molten steel does occur, hence

providing opportunities for improvements of this design. The ceramic segments form

channels allowing the flow of gas. In this plug there are six paths for the gas flow. The

ceramic outer layer is acts as the component in which the two prior parts are installed,

similarly to the hybrid plug.

Figure 4. This figure shows the segment plug a) cross section and b) the gas channel configuration [7]

2.2 Stirring in Ladle Furnace

The main point in the gas stirring operation is to identify procedures and equipment needed

for achieving a minimum mixing time and a maximum yield of alloys at an optimal gas flow

rate. In order to understand these phenomena, mathematical models have been invented to

obtain detailed information for the rate of gas flow in the ladle furnace. These mathematical

models are also important to understand the gas-plume behaviour and the interface between

the slag-metal and melt mixing.

To homogenize the chemical composition of alloy elements and to remove inclusions, gas

stirred ladles are widely used in secondary steel-making. The gas bubbles created from porous

plugs generate the recirculation and flow pattern in the ladle, enhancing the turbulent mixing.

The turbulent mixing transports of the inclusions to the top slag layer where they easily can be

removed. Several previous studies have focused on the mixing behaviour and how it effects

slag layer formation at different argon gas flow rates and for varying types of plug

arrangements. This shows that the gas flow rate is significant for the slag layer formation [10].

Due to high costs and difficulties for investigations of the real process these experimental

works have been carried out through the use of water models. However, the water models do

not regard the high density difference between the gas and the melt. Additional difficulties

8

when using water models are to find corresponding materials to the steel and slag, with

similar properties such as viscosity, interference and surface tension between the slag and the

melt. Several tests have been made with different types of gas flow rates and the results have

shown that the mixing time decreases with an increasing gas flow and numerous observations

showing that the measured mixing time also depends on the point of tracer injection and the

number of plugs. It has been reported that the mixing time decreases if the location of the plug

became more off-centred [10]. On the other hand, alternative observations show that a shorter

mixing was achieved with gas injection in the centre of the vessel [6]. The turbulent flow in

the ladle therefore depends on where the plume is located in the bottom of the ladle.

Generally one off-centred plug is used to inject the argon gas into the steel bath, but dual

plugged configurations have also been investigated by numerical simulations where the slag

layer and gas flow is present [6]. The slag layer deformation given from the rising gas bubbles

and slag formation of the open eye at different gas flow rates can be calculated from the

mathematical models; Lagrangian discrete phase model and the Eulerian volume of fluid

model. These models describe the bubble plume and the tracking the free surface of the melt.

Although a high gas flow rate made from the two-plug arrangement may improve the slag

emulsification and increase the stirring intensity it also increases the interfacial velocity at

steel-slag interface which leads to a thinner slag. Simultaneously, this high gas flow rate

limits the slag layer to have enough time to absorb the inclusions. Therefore, one should be

careful to use a gas flow rate which is too high for the most effective removal of inclusions in

the molten steel [10].

Figure 5 illustrates the ladle furnace in section while injecting argon gas at the bottom of the

ladle. Important to know is that this configuration of the porous plug doesn’t need to be the

optimal. Another common configuration is two porous plugs placed of centred and away from

each other. The classic recirculation pattern is generated from the one-plug system and

consists of a large circulation, which is characterized by an upward flow close to the wall on

the opposite side of the porous plug. On the other hand the two-plug system contributes a

stronger circulation of the gas, resulting in a more useful slag. At the same time it is important

to maintain a low gas flow to keep the low number of inclusions through the melt [10]. The

location of the porous plugs together with if there is a use of one or two, might be crucial

when determine the stirring intensity.

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Figure 5. This figure illustrates the ladle furnace while injection argon gas [11]

Except from gas injection there is electromagnetic stirring, which may also be known as

induction stirring. Electromagnetic stirring (EMS) can be produced by an alternating current

caused by a rotating magnetic field (RMF), generating an effective mixing of molten steel. In

a cylindrical container, this usually produces a primary flow of a swirl, followed by a

secondary flow with a double vortex structure. It is the secondary flow that produces the

convective transport in a vertical and radial direction. An increase of the flow causes higher

amplitude of the mixing rate, which can be produced by a more intense magnetic field.

However, an increase of the magnetic field does not only cause the secondary flow to

increase, but also the primary flow, creating an increase of deviation of the free surface along

the walls of the container, leading to gas inclusions in the melt [6] [7] [8] [12]. Empirical

studies have shown that EMS is more effective than gas stirring to obtain optimal stirring

conditions for maximized homogenization of temperature and chemical composition [1].

Usually, EMS is combined with gas stirring since this is the most effective stirring technique

for removal of inclusions and homogenisation of composition. In this scientific report the

main study will be on gas stirring, although EMS needs to be taken into account when

measuring the total stirring intensity.

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2.3 Vibrational Measurements

When argon gas is injected to the molten steel into the container, there is a certain extent to

which the gas flow causes the container to vibrate. These vibrations can be measured through

analogue signals that correspond to the rate of gas entering the molten steel. In 1998 during

the Steelmaking Conference Proceedings held in Toronto, a paper by R.L. Minion was

published, discussing that the flow rate of gas entering the steel containment vessel is not

according to the flow rate of gas being delivered to the steel containment vessel. Minion et. al.

came up with a method of stirring detection involving ladle vibrations to measure the energy

transfer to the ladle [13]. In this proposed process, an accelerometer was attached to the ladle

through a magnet, allowing vertical vibrations to be detected. The detected signals were

filtered so that the frequency only measured the vibrations from the argon stirring. However,

the results did not show a direct relation to the amount of gas delivered to the steel

containment vessel. Due to Minion et. al. the incongruous results may have been caused by

“bubble formation frequency at the porous plug”, yet there does not seem to be any empirical

studies on this fact [13].

Similarly, as to an accelerometer, an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) can be used to

measure sound waves according to the Doppler Effect. Sound waves, or vibrations, are

created by the movement of the bubbles from the gas stirring. The Doppler Effect is formed

by a frequency shift of the sound waves according to equation 1.

𝐹𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑟 = −𝐹𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒

𝑉

𝐶

Equation 1. Describing the Doppler Effect.

Where 𝐹𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑟 is the change in frequency received, also known as the Doppler shift, where

−𝐹𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 is the frequency of transmitted sound, V is the velocity of the source in relation to

the receiver and C is the speed of sound [14]. If the Doppler Effect exists, there must be a

relative movement between the sound source and the observer, or the source where the sound

waves are measured. This can also be seen through the equation above; if the sound source

and the observer have equal velocity (V=0) the Doppler Effect will be equal to zero, showing

that there is no shift in the frequency. An ADV uses this principle to measure the flow or

speed of liquid (water) in three dimensions. The ADV emits a beam of acoustic waves at a

fixed frequency, allowing the waves to bounce at moving particles in the liquid. There are

three transmitting sensors detecting the frequency of the returning waves. Thereafter, the

ADV can calculate the velocity of the liquid in three dimensions as seen in figure 6 [14].

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Figure 6. Showing an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter [14]

A promising company focusing on the design of innovative technology to solve problems

unique to the metallurgical industry is Nupro Corporation seated in USA. They specify,

supply and implement the latest technologies for companies in the steel industry. One of their

applications, for measuring the gas flow rate in the ladle furnace is the Argon gas stirring &

Arc monitor. It can be applied for any multi-plug, two-plug or single plug lance and

electromagnetic system. Nupro Corporation have developed TrueStirTM

to facilitate the argon

gas stir rate, a vibration based argon stirring control system, see figure 7 [15].

Figure 7. This figure shows the application TruStirTM

[15]

An accelerometer will sense the stirring intensity from vibrations when the argon gas causes

the ladle to vibrate. The accelerometer in turn converts vibrational signals into digital signals

and the stirring intensity can therefore be measured and compared to the amount of argon gas

in the ladle shown by the flowmeter in the control room.

The accelerometer is connected to the ladle and sends out amplified signals to the system

which registers the vibrations in the ladle created by the gas flow after passing thorough the

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porous plugs. This technique results in immediate benefits due to the fully automatic system

which senses the change in flow and compensates by adjusting the argon gas controller. The

ladle vibrations will directly be linked to the stirring energy. At the website, Nupro

Corporation briefly explains about the application including a list of immediate benefits that

TruStirTM

contributes with at the steel plant, such as: lower argon consumption, decreased

clogging of porous plug, cleaner steel due to improved desulphurisation and temperature

homogenization etc. These benefits, of course, will be resulted with the obtained knowledge

about the relationship between the gas amounts injected to the stirring intensity in the ladle.

At the same page on the website the company also explains the need of TruStirTM

and

explains the difficulties of measuring the stirring rate with respect of the argon gas injected to

the ladle. These problems, as mentioned earlier in this work are:

Clogging of porous plugs, resulting in lower than expected stir rate.

Leaks in the supply system.

Variable back pressure due to clogging of porous plugs.

Operator error in judging the stir rate due to variable slag thickness and consistency.

Lack of real time record of stir history on each ladle.

The TruStirTM

system mainly consists of an accelerometer in contact with the ladle via an

installed arm or a reel car. When opening of the porous plug and inject argon gas the

accelerometer will sense the change in flow in the ladle which later could be registered and

the ability of controlling gas amount would then be fulfilled.

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2.4 Camera Measurements

When stirring with argon gas, the bubbles created rise to the top of the ladle, dragging the

melted metal with them usually resulting in a gas-liquid plume. If the velocity of the bubbles

is big enough, the plume becomes large enough to create a bare metal surface. This is based

on the assumption that the thickness of slag layer in relation to the gas flow does not exceed a

certain level, which varies due to the viscosity of the slag. The region where the bare metal

appears is called an open eye [16].

In secondary steel making, an open eye can be seen in the slag in the ladle furnace. Today, an

instrument cannot specifically measure the open eye; it is simply judged by the controllers

viewing the open eye, hence making their own judgement. This can then be seen as a human

fault and irregularity, since different controllers judge the size of the open eye in slightly

different ways, making this process different each time, depending on who is viewing the

ladle furnace. Through the use of a camera placed above the ladle furnace, one could possibly

measure the size, as in width or breadth, of the open eye and therefore establish standardized

dimensions.

Previously, studies have been made on measuring the bubble flow in chemical reactions,

among which one study was made by Buwa and Ranade where the effect of gas velocity and

sparger design was studied through a rectangular bubble column. In addition, the pressure

fluctuations on the wall were measured to identify the low frequency oscillations caused by

the bubbles acting on their surroundings. A high speed camera can be used to measure bubble

size and distribution [17].

From this experiment, an obvious presumption to be made is that the container is transparent

as the camera captures the optical differences, see figure 8. In a ladle furnace, used for

steelmaking, this would however be difficult since the container is usually made out of

ceramic, non-transparent brick material. If one would be able to create a ladle furnace made

out of a transparent material, an optical measurement of the flow caused by stirring could be

made.

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Figure 8. This figure shows the set-up for the experiment by Buwa and Ranade [17]

One way of using a high speed camera for measuring a flow field in the ladle furnace is to use

more than one camera placed at different angles. To measure the time dependent 3D flow

field one needs to be able to find the velocity vectors to enable a velocity gradient. Previously,

2D measurements have been used to identify velocity vectors in a flow field. Since it is

difficult to identify the 3D position of each vector, scientists have tried to develop the 2D-

measurement into a 3D-measurement by using a fast scanning light sheet from a pair of

optical scanners, or cameras, as seen in figure 9. Usually, one is able to calculate the flow

field through modelling and through integrating the continuity equation. However, these

calculations are based on that the boundary conditions are known. By using two cameras, the

third dimension of the velocity vector could be identified. This method can today be used for

both laminar and turbulent flows.

15

Figure 9. This picture shows the set-up for the pair of optical scanners [18]

Another way of using a camera for measurements is by the usage of an infrared (IR) video

camera. The German steelmaking company, Saarstahl AG [16], installed an IR camera by

their ladle furnace to monitor the formed open eye. The images from the IR camera were

analysed through a software package to accurately measure the size of the open eye. This

could then be related to the flow of argon gas through a function. To determine the size of the

open eye, the flow of argon gas needed to have reached a steady state at a predetermined rate

of gas flow. This would usually take 2-3 minutes. In addition, the height of the top slag

needed to be constant; this was measured to be in the range of 4-6 cm in a ladle of 170t with

an inner diameter of 3 m and a liquid height of 3 m.

A limitation of the IR-camera is that it is not resistant to excess amounts of heat. Therefore,

one needs to bear in mind where the camera will be placed for optimum measurements [1].

The camera could be placed in the lid of the ladle furnace, although it then needs to be

resistant to the temperatures reached there. Another alternative is to place the camera on a

mobile stand, which can be moved back and forth from the ladle furnace.

Similarly to Saarstahl AG, the Finish company Sapotech and the Swedish company Agellis

Group AB have also developed IR camera systems combined with other wireless

communication technologies for the steel industry. The IR camera is mainly used for the ladle

furnace to make an accurate visualization and to document the tapping, were unpredicted

details of tapping flow could be revealed. Additionally, an IR-camera can be used to monitor

the open eye formed in the ladle furnace.

16

For example, Yonezawa measured the rate of gas flow by measuring the size of the open eye

formation with a video technique using mercury and silicone oil. He found that the eye

geometry is highly dynamic. The size of the open eye was measured in room temperature

under a variety of conditions and a non-dimensional eye was derived. Except from these

observations, Valentin recently observed during an intensive experiment that the open eye is

influenced by the gas flow rate and as mentioned before the empirical correlations might not

fully describe the flow rate in real gas-stirred ladles. These experiments include different

types of models to describe the gas-flow rate in the vessel [10].

17

2.5 Semi-empirical model by Wu, Valentin and Sichen

Wu et. al. have developed models to predict the size of the open eye [16]. The empirical

studies are based on water models and cold metal modelling, comparing the two to each other

and applying them to real industrial practices to confirm their applicability. Through their

experiments they tried to come up with a reliable method to estimate the true gas flow into the

ladle furnace by measuring the size of the open eye. A mathematical model based on the

results is shown below. This model is based on the velocity distribution of a plume, known as

the Gaussian distribution, explaining the shape of a bell curve, followed by deriving this

formula to come up with the model for the metal bath experiments (Ga-In-Sn) shown in

equation 2. This equation shows the model for the Ga-In-Sn experiment to estimate the size of

the open eye. This is believed be a good model to estimate the real gas flow rate, although

there are uncertainties from blockage of the porous plug as well as leakage from the gas line.

Wu et. al. thought of this model as a more accurate estimation for the true gas flow rather than

the intended gas flow [16].

𝐴𝜖 = 2.082 (𝑈𝑝 𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 0.5√2∆𝜌𝑔ℎ

𝜌𝑙)

1.690

𝐻1.220

ℎ0.015

Equation 2. Semi-empirical model by Wu, Valentin and Sichen.

For equation 2; 𝐴𝜖 is area of the open eye, 𝑈𝑝 𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the maximum velocity in the plume, ∆𝜌

is the difference in density between the lower and upper liquids (the supposed difference

between steel melt and slag), 𝜌𝑙 is the density of the liquid bath, H is the height of the liquid

bath and h is the height of the modelled slag. If the gas flow is below a certain rate, the plume

will not have the nature of a gas jet. By increasing the gas flow, a larger surface area of the

diameter of the plume is formed. A higher rate of the gas flow also leads to increased velocity

of the plume. Since the density difference between the upper liquid (the slag) and the lower

liquid (molten steel) is not the same for the water model and the cold metal model, two

equations were made to illustrate the experiments. A common model for the water model and

the cold metal model appear not to be compatible due to the difference in physical properties.

The model was relatively satisfactory with the results of the experiments used for the cold

metal model, showing there may be a relationship between the size of the open eye and the

rate of the gas flow.

When applying the model on industrial ladles it was found that the height of the slag is

extremely difficult to measure as well as maintaining an accurate estimation. Although the

model was useful to estimate the gas flow by looking at the size of the open eye, it does not

18

predict a true estimate of the gas flow since the rising gas has the nature of a jet, hence the

size of the eye does not increase with the rate of gas flow at a certain extent. Therefore, the

model is only valid below a moderate gas flow. To estimate the gas flow through the size of

the open eye, one needs extremely accurate data on the slag layer. An experiment testing how

the height of the slag layer affects the size of the open eye shows that the two are not directly

related since an increase of 20% of the height of the slag layer did not notably change the size

of the open eye [16].

19

3 METHODS

To find a measuring method for optimising gas stirring and quantifying the argon gas entering

the ladle furnace a thorough investigation at a variety of steel plants in Sweden has been made

through a field trip. The one week investigation consisted of a detailed mapping of the ladle

furnace and the conditions concerning the argon gas injection at each investigated steel

company. In addition to this, an extensive sampling of information from each of the steel

plants has been carried out, followed by discussions regarding the methods and a possible

solution with operators and engineers who are experts within their field. The main task was to

determine and quantify the rate of argon gas which would improve the possibilities of

identifying measuring method for the stirring intensity due to the gas flow rate.

The investigation included the five steel making companies with facilities located in Sweden:

SSAB - Oxelösund

Uddeholms AB - Hagfors

Sandvik - Sandviken

Ovako - Hofors

Outokumpu - Avesta

In the results, a description of each investigated steel plant is given. It includes a description

of the ladle furnace and its primary function together with settings and the physical conditions

for each company if a future implementation is possible. To gather similar and comparable

information from each of the steel plants, six major questions were asked for each of the

companies, as seen below:

What is the main purpose of the argon gas stirring?

Which kind of flowmeter does the steel plant use today and where is this located in

relation to the ladle furnace? As in, how many meters of pipeline is it from the

flowmeter to the ladle furnace?

Is it possible to relocate the flowmeter closer to the ladle and the porous plug?

How do the operators determine the gas flow and/or stirring intensity today?

What previous work has been done regarding measuring methods of the gas flow

and/or the stirring intensity and how is it analysed today?

Which type and model of porous plug does the company use today?

20

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Results

The investigation at each steel plant greatly enhanced the knowledge and understanding

regarding the steel plant itself with its advanced technology and complex logistics. The field

trip was of great importance for the conformity of the results from the literature study to

further be able to comprehend the similarities and differences of theory and practice, and

therefore the possibilities and challenges of implementing a solution in practice.

As a starting point based on the literature study the camera and vibrational measuring

methods showed to be possible solutions for implementations of measuring the stirring

intensity in the ladle furnace. After the investigation a comparison from the steel plants

through collected information was made and a greater knowledge about the advanced

technology and physical conditions was obtained. At each steel plant, the main overall use of

argon injection and its applications differentiates from company to company, which is an

important aspect to take into consideration during the discussion. The results have been

achieved based on interviews and discussions with the operators, process developers and

engineers. Even though the results of the field trip showed to bring a number of limitations to

reach the complete aim of this study, there is still a great interest among the operators and

engineers to find a method of measuring the gas stirring intensity and hence measuring the

amount of gas entering the ladle furnace.

To be able to finally find a solution it is important to look at the big picture and consider the

different physical conditions and analyse each steel plant itself. Therefore, the result is written

separately for each steel plant with the literature study as a foundation. Since the literature

study has been the foundation for the questions and discussions at each steel plant this part of

the result will combine the literature study together with the findings from the field trip.

21

4.2 Companies

4.2.1 SSAB – Oxelösund

The steel plant in Oxelösund was founded in 1913 and has since 1961 been Sweden´s only

fully integrated steel industry. SSAB is a leading producer for high-strength steels and high

performance steel. The company is based in Oxelösund, Sweden, with production facilities in

Luleå, Borlänge and Oxelsöund where they develop, manufacture and market cold steel,

heavy plate and quenched steels. The products are used for manufacturing and maintaining

construction machinery, cisterns, bridges, ships, and offshore equipment.

The main purpose for the argon blowing in the ladle furnace is to refine the melted steel from

inclusions, homogenize the composition and temperature of the melt. The argon gas flow

injection is at the bottom of the ladle furnace to achieve the most effective stirring, according

to the operators. The injection of gas is injected from two of centred purge plugs in the bottom

of the furnace which in turn results in two open eyes in the slag. The porous plugs have a

tendency to clog after a while, but since SSAB has changed the supplier of the porous plugs to

RHI, the clogging has decreased.

SSAB measures the gas flow through the use of a flowmeter from Brooks Instrument placed

fifty meters from the ladle furnace. To explain; this is 50 meters of pipeline which is the

distance the gas has to travel since the most recent measurement by the flowmeter. From the

control room, the operators control the gas flow based on the figures from the flowmeter and

are then able to visually analyse the stirring intensity through the slag and the open eye. The

open eye gives an approximation of how intense the gas stirring is. SSAB also uses EMS

stirring. If the stirring is too turbulent and the melted steel splashes at the electrodes, signals

are sent to the control room where an automatic system lifts the electrodes further from the

surface. By this, operators know when the stirring intensity is too high.

SSAB has changed from auto hitching to manual hitching of the argon gas tube to the tank

since the automated system did not always match the tube to the opening correctly, which

increased the gas loss. With this comes a minor time increase as well as an increase of risk for

the workers, as they work at a very short distance to the melted steel. However, this process

dramatically reduced the gas loss, which compensates for the small time loss.

22

4.2.2 Uddeholms AB – Hagfors

The design of the processing at Uddeholms AB is focused on production of high quality tool

steels. Uddeholms AB uses recycled steel as raw material for its production. For the basic

melting and metal refining an electric arc and ladle furnace are used. The vacuum degassing

station where argon gas stirring is used is not a bottleneck in the production and is therefore in

no need of being further optimized in a time aspect. Despite this, it is of great interest to

determine and correlate the gas flow rate to the quality of the steel. It is worth mentioning that

there was a minor breakdown in the steel melting shop when this investigation took place.

Similarly to the manual deslagging process at SSAB, Uddeholms AB’s process of deslagging

is vital for their steel quality. The quality of deslagging leads to a variation of the composition

of the new synthetic slag added in the ladle station. For refinery, homogenisation of

composition and temperature EMS stirring is used throughout the process (both EAF, LF and

VD). During the heating process in the ladle furnace, the molten steel is homogenized using

EMS. After the first treatment in the ladle furnace is done the molten steel is moved to the

degassing station where argon gas is injected by two porous plugs at the bottom of the ladle.

A vacuum lid is then placed on the top of the ladle. To clarify – they do not have a separate

vacuum tank like other steel plants may have. In order to improve the fluid flow the EMS

stirring is also used which simultaneously improves the removal of inclusions. The usage of

argon gas stirring is used to a limited extent at Uddeholms AB, it is only used in the vacuum

degassing station. The main purposes of argon gas stirring are for the removal of sulphur,

nitrogen, hydrogen and inclusions. Sulphur is removed when the turbulent flow makes the

slag mix with the steel.

The flowmeter is of the model Bronkhost and is placed fifteen meters from the entrance of the

porous plug. Uddeholms AB uses two plugs from RHI which are placed off centred at the

bottom of the ladle. They are run approximately 30 heats before they are exchanged for new

ones. One problem that Uddeholms AB faces with the porous plugs is that the flow of argon

gas may leak into the walls of the furnace since the porous plugs crack, and the gas finds new

paths in between the bricks in the wall of the container. This means that the detected gas from

the flowmeter may not display the actual amount of gas entering the ladle since some of the

gas is lost to other pathways and does therefore not contribute to the stirring intensity. If the

operators suspect that the porous plugs are clogged, a technique where they rotate the ladle

before tapping from the EAF is used. The tapped steel then dissolves the clogged porous plug.

Previous trials that have been made at Uddeholms AB include an implementation of an

accelerometer used for vibrational measurements. This was done in 2005 where Jeremy Jones

was involved. (Jeremy Jones is also involved in Nupro Corporation).

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4.2.3 Sandvik – Sandviken

Sandvik Materials Technology AB, is a world leading company with operations based on

unique expertise in materials engineering and technology. A global market-leading

manufacturer of tools and tooling system together with products with advanced stainless

steels and special alloys for the most demanding industries.

It is worth mentioning that during the field trip to Sandvik only the visitors’ pathway was

available. This meant that there was no opportunity to neither speak to operators nor get an in

depth investigation of how the gas tubes were placed near the furnace.

At Sandvik the main purpose for the gas stirring is to remove sulphur from the melt. They use

EMS for stirring at other stations which, according to Sandvik, results in a less vigorous

stirring than the contribution of the argon gas stirring. Previously, Sandvik had a top-blown

converter but changed this in 2008 to a bottom-blown set up. After having done this, they

notified a significant change in the EMS stirring. Sandvik mainly uses the ladle to remove

inclusions and for temperature control. Similarly to other steel plants, Sandvik has a varying

slag. It is therefore difficult to determine the gas flow rate by analysing the slag eye from an

IR-camera.

The flowmeter used at Sandvik is of brand TBR Engineering and is located five to ten meters

from the ladle.

Sandvik has one porous plug, from the company Vesuvius model PL05899, placed at the

bottom of the ladle. Since they only use the plug for desulphurization Sandvik does not face

as many problems with clogging of the porous plug as it is not used in any major steps, unlike

other steel plants visited during the week.

24

4.2.4 Ovako - Hofors

Ovako is a leading European company of engineering steels with a focus on bar, tube, ring

and pre-components in low-alloy steels. The steel production is based on scrap. Ovako uses a

vacuum tank while injecting argon gas into the ladle. The vacuum process streamlines the

process and contributes to a better control of the molten steel. The main purpose of gas

stirring is for homogenization of temperature and composition during the ladle treatment.

The flowmeter, placed fifteen meters from the argon injection ingot, displays the measured

flow in the control room. Together with a pressure gauge, the flow rate of argon gas and

visual observations of the open eye the operators can determine whether there is a leakage

before the porous plug or not. This is determined mostly through the pressure gauge; if the

pressure is too low, there is no reaction force of the gas flow, meaning that there is a leakage

in the pipes. However, small leakages cannot be discovered through this method, only major

leakages can be found this way. Also, an exact amount of leakage of the gas cannot yet be

measured this way. To conclude how the operators determine the gas flow and stirring

intensity, this is done through visual observations combined with the indications from the

flowmeter. Like other steel plants, Ovako determines the stirring from the control room by

observing the open eye from a camera placed right under the lid to the ladle furnace. This is

also where one observes how intense the stirring is. To draw conclusions from only visually

observing the stirring, the operators need to have experience regarding the size of the open

eye; big contra small open eye.

When connecting the pipeline to the ladle furnace, the operators work close to the ladle and

connect it manually. Previous automatic trials have been made, but caused increased gas

leakage since the matching of the pipeline and the nozzle was inaccurate.

Ovako has one porous plug placed off centred at the bottom of the furnace. The supplier for

the porous plugs has recently been changed to RHI. The operators at Ovako do not experience

that the plugs clog to a significant extent. The plugs are changed every thirtieth charge.

25

4.2.5 Outokumpu - Avesta

Outokumpu is a company focusing of stainless steel production and the head office is seated

in Espoo, Finland. Outokumpu’s stainless steel plant in Avesta is a scrap based steel plant,

where steel is produced from raw materials. The scrap is melted in the electric arc furnace by

three graphite electrodes before the melt moves to the AOD-converter where the main

purpose is to lower the carbon content in the stainless steel and to remove sulphur. These can

be measured by theoretical models or through dynamic models based on analyses.

Decarburization is achieved by blowing inert gas from the side and with a top lance. Samples

from the melt are randomly taken during the AOD process to further analyse and control the

content of carbon and sulphur in the steel. After decarburization and desulphurisation, the

melt is tapped into the ladle furnace where further processing takes place. The main purpose

in the ladle furnace is to achieve the right composition, temperature and to remove inclusions.

This is made by injection of argon gas from the bottom of the ladle through a porous plug.

The porous plugs have, as in other steel plants, a tendency to clog after several laps.

Outokumpu does not have a number of the charges before this occurs, they measure this from

the control room by analysing the open eye. If the gas rate is high compared to the size of the

open eye they can expect that they have to change the porous plug. To be able to draw this

conclusion it is advantageously, or rather a must, that the operator possesses years of

experience in the steel industry and of judging the open eye.

26

4.2.6 Summary of companies

Table 1. The table above compiles the major differences of the five companies investigated during the

field trip.

Table 1 gives an insight of the similarities and differences between the investigated steel

plants and includes which kinds of previous trials have been made regarding camera and

vibrational measurements as well as the notable differences between the findings and ideas

that the field trip resulted in. The first finding, important to take into consideration, is the

purpose of gas stirring for the steel plants.

Before any further work is done, it is important to investigate the purpose of the processes

mentioned in the table above in combination with the importance of support from each steel

plant. The table gives a distinct comparison of the similarities and differences and above all

that each steel plant needs a tailor-made implementation if a measuring technique was to be

implemented.

27

4.3 Results related to the literature study

4.3.1 The porous plugs

The porous plugs play an important role for achieving the most effective stirring in the ladle.

The disadvantage of the plugs, common for every steel plant, is that they have the tendency to

clog after some time. All steel plants use a hybrid plug model, which contributes to the most

effective and even flowrate as according to the literature study [7]. The challenge of the

clogging of the porous plugs may simply have to be a fact to accept. If one is not able to

prevent the clogging, the major issue would then be how it will be possible to measure the

true argon gas amount in the ladle even though the porous plugs might clog after a while.

Through discussions with operators and experienced engineers at SSAB, it was concluded that

the stirring intensity is determined through visual observations combined with knowledge and

experience about the back pressure from in the pipelines, which is an indicator of the clogging

of the porous plugs. By visually determining the open eye, the numbers displayed from the

flowmeter and the warning of vigorous flow by the electrodes, the operators know if clogging

of the porous plugs occurs. At SSAB, experts have looked at the inside of porous plugs to

determine what the clogging is a result of; which usually is found to be a result of minor

cracks from the centre of the porous plug. These become pressurised by the argon gas, hence

making the cracks grow. The optimal condition would be to have a porous plug that does not

crack and has no possible leakage of gas. If this optimum condition occurred, engineers would

be able to trust that all the gas entering the opening of the porous plug also enters the steel

melt. However, the discussion also focused on whether the quantification of argon gas is of

use for the steel quality. Today, the composition between different steel batches are similar

enough, but not identical to each other. This is because the process differentiates slightly due

to the operators’ experiences. Therefore, with a quantified number of the amount of gas

entering the ladle furnace the operators would know how much gas to use for stirring - which

would lead to a more consistent quality of the steel.

The clogging of porous plugs at Uddeholms AB is not seen as a problem, since the operators

solve it by turning the ladle 180 degrees when emptying it. Although, it is critical for them not

to have a too vigorous stirring, since this would clog the lid to the ladle. Another interesting

aspect from Uddeholms AB is the time spent on gas stirring. According to a report by

Charlotte Medioni, small bubbles from gas stirring in vacuum treatment actually become

larger with time, leading to an increase of the size of inclusions [19]. Therefore, it is of

interest to determine the amount of gas entering the ladle furnace for the connection of gas

stirring to the steel quality. Knowledge about the gas stirring time does not show a direct

connection of the gas stirring to inclusions if one cannot specify the impact of the gas stirring.

An identification of the amount of gas entering the ladle furnace would allow opportunities

for further research, hence deeper knowledge about the impact of gas stirring on inclusions

and steel quality.

28

Ovako has recently changed the supplier of porous plugs to RHI from which there is no

experience of clogging of the porous plugs. From discussions with an operator with over

twenty years of experience, it can be clarified that the porous plugs are changed frequently

enough to avoid clogging. As explained in the methods, the operators notice if there is a gas

leakage due to the back pressure in the pipeline. However, it would be of interest to

standardise the process so that the same time and intensity of stirring is used, which in turn

would be simplified by identifying the exact amount of gas entering the ladle.

Relating to a number of the studies investigated in the literature study, one has to understand

that the existing physical conditions cannot be changed at the steel plants; such as the

visibility of the ladle furnace or surrounding noise since this cost would cause too radical

changes, only causing further implications for the steel plants. Therefore, the existing entry

conditions have to be assumed to adopt a suitable measuring technique.

29

4.3.3 Vibrations

The vibration technique shows a great capability to be implemented when referring to the

accelerometer TruStirTM

, the product of Nupro Corporation. The question which then follows

is; how effective is this instrument in reality and is it possible to use this method in the loud

environment at a steel plant? This is a question that remains to be answered through research

and decisions by the steel plants. The high technology instrument from Nupro Corporation

will have the main purpose of measuring the stirring intensity of which all steel plants do not

find equally important to invest in. However, this solution might not only solve the problem

of identifying the gas stirring intensity but also it allows control of the entire manufacturing

process. The beneficial opportunities of improved manufacturing process are therefore likely

to be of interest for all companies and hence an investment in an instrument likes TruStirTM

.

According to the investigated steel plants there are some possibilities to determine and get

information of the stirring intensity in the vessel by using vibrational measurements. The

application was presented for each steel plant followed by a possible solution. For all steel

plants there is a common use of argon gas stirring in the ladle, although all corporations have

different intensions of usage. Therefore, vibrational measurements may not suit every steel

plant even though it seems to be the most effective way of quantifying the gas flow in the

ladle furnace.

At Uddeholms AB this was tested in 2005, when Jeremy Jones implemented the test on a

ladle furnace to measure the stirring intensity in the ladle but unfortunately without any

success. This was because surrounding noise from nearby applications was detected by the

accelerometer. However, Uddeholms AB should be one of the companies with more suitable

conditions for an implementation similar to TruStirTM

, due to the reason that the argon gas

injection is placed relatively isolated compared to other steel plants, unlike Sandvik and

SSAB. At SSAB vibrational measuring techniques were also brought up for discussion.

Although vibrational measuring techniques in theory appear to be a decent solution for

identifying the gas stirring intensity, SSAB does not believe it will work in practice. The

reason for this is equivalent of the one of Uddeholms AB; disturbing noise from surrounding

applications will be recorded on the accelerometer and interfere with the wanted frequencies.

Nupro Corporation has been an interesting company during this investigation. Like Nupro

Corporation, experienced operators and metallurgists have recognised the importance of

accuracy of the argon gas flow in the ladle furnace. The implementation Jeremy Jones made

in 2005 at Uddeholms AB was not brought any further due to the negative results. The

technique at that point was therefore not investigated more and was put aside. Although

Nupro Corporation is a well discussed company at each steel plant it has been difficult to take

this idea and application any further during this project, due to the fact that contact with the

company has been tried without any success.

30

4.3.4 Camera

The use of a camera is important at each steel plant while the effect of using it may vary. The

main purpose of using a camera for all of the steel plants is to observe the open eye and relate

the size of the open eye to the stirring intensity in the ladle. If the open eye is too big the

injection of argon gas is too big and if the open eye is too small the injection of argon gas is

not enough, or clogging of the porous plug has occurred. However, not all steel plants have

the type of slag that allows an open eye; sometimes the slag is too thick or not viscous enough

to allow an open eye to show. Nevertheless, most operators at the investigated steel plants

judge the flow of argon gas by visually determining the size of the open eye.

At the steel plant in Oxelösund, SSAB has made several trials with regular cameras as well as

IR-cameras. The company faces two major problems with cameras; for the regular camera,

the lens collects dust and other particles from the steel making process which harms the

picture. Furthermore, the lens is generally placed at non-accessible locations; either very close

to the ladle where temperatures are very high, or at a high altitude, therefore being hard for

the operators to reach and clean. The problem encountered with the IR-camera is that the

identified heat is too extensive. The displayed heat does not only consist of the wanted area

(e.g. the open eye) but also consist of surrounding heat from smoke and rising gases, suddenly

making the use of this type of IR-camera irrelevant for the operators.

Previous trials at Uddeholms AB with IR-cameras from Metsol showed that the camera was

placed too close to the melt, therefore not allowing the camera to display the full picture of

the cross section of the surface area. This could not be changed or improved since the camera

needed to be placed inside the lid of the tank, which only allowed a specific maximum

distance. Moreover, the picture was not clear enough due to the disturbance of smoke, which

also was the major identified problem for Ovako.

An idea discussed at Sandvik was the use of fibre optics. Further research could be made on

how fibre optics are applicable for identifying heat, in a more specific way than an IR camera

if the fibre optics are able to separate the smoke and therefore only detect the wanted areas of

heat. This is an area of interest for further research.

31

4.3.6 Additional ideas

An idea that developed throughout the field trip and was brought up and discussed with all

operators was the relocation of the flowmeter. In most cases, the flowmeter is located between

fifteen to thirty metres of pipeline from the nozzle to the ladle. If the flowmeter however was

to be placed as close to the porous plug as possible, preferably after the last connection to the

porous plug, hence positioned inside the porous plug, this would increase the accuracy of the

measured gas flow to a significant amount. Nevertheless, one opinion at SSAB stated that the

relocation of the flowmeter would not solve the initial problem, which is the clogging and

cracking of the porous plugs.

An interesting aspect discussed at Sandvik, was the use of a vacuum tank to measure a

specific gas flow out of the tank. Other discussions at SSAB brought up the aspect of relating

the pressure in the vacuum tank to the argon pressure. Ideas about relating the exiting argon

gas pressure was also brought up as an interesting area for discussion. However, the problem

still remains of how one is to collect the exiting argon gas, since leakage within the brick

walls of the ladle still occurs.

At Ovako, the hydrogen content’s connection to gas flow were discussed. This would

however not quantify the rate of argon gas which the operators would find interesting to

know. Yet, one could ask whether the time, cost and effort to invent a measuring technique

would increase the steel quality to a significant extent. Having asked this throughout the week

to a varying group of people from operators with twenty years of experience to engineers who

have a done a lot of research, there is an interest of relating the gas flow to the stirring

intensity. Due to this, it would be of great interest to quantify the gas amount contributing to

the stirring intensity.

How to achieve an exact number of the gas flow is clearly not yet easy to determine. There

are many factors in the steelmaking process which result in different rates of the gas flow.

This is mainly because each moment is operated by hand; for example, the deslagging before

adding artificial slag which in turn leads to a varying slag. Another aspect is the step where

the slag is visually observed from the control room and operators correlates the gas flow to

the size of the open eye. The open eye is detected by a camera placed right under the cover to

the ladle furnace. The picture is however deteriorated with smoke from the slag which is turn

also leads to vague values of determination of the slag eye. Previous implementations where

the use of an IR-camera was investigated with an unsuccessful result due to inaccurate

measures of the IR-camera, since it detected the temperature of surrounding smoke, and not

only the wanted temperature of the slag.

32

5 CONCLUSION

A major deduction that can be made from the results is that every steel plant needs an

individual solution if a measuring method is found to be suitable. This is because of the

different conditions at each plant in combination with its differing need of a measuring

application. Another finding was that the purpose of gas stirring is not identical for all

companies since their manufacturing processes differentiate from each other as they produce

dissimilar steel products.

Furthermore, it is important to emphasise that the quantification of argon gas does not only

lead to opportunities of identifying stirring intensity but also opens doors for further research

which is dependent on the gas stirring intensity. Throughout the thesis this was an area of

confusion since some operators argue that a need for quantifying the gas amount exists, while

others argue the opposite. However, the conclusion made is that to reach the aim of this

project; to identify methods for measuring the gas stirring intensity, one first needs to identify

the amount of gas affecting the stirring. By this, the need of quantifying the gas arose, hence

the shift of focus from a stirring intensity focused research to a gas quantification focused

field trip. Moreover, the major shift in focus occurred during the field trip since one does not

fully understand the physical conditions and its implications before experiencing it.

The problem identified at all investigated steel plants was the clogging of the porous plug. If

an optimal porous plug was to be developed, it would lead to a chain of overcoming problems

for steel companies. By optimal means the prevention of cracking in the material of the

porous plug since it leads to prevention of gas escapes and therefore clogging. Companies like

RHI may find that an improvement of the materials and functioning of the porous plugs may

be of interest.

Another identified solution for improvement of accuracy of the gas flow is to move the

location of the flow meter closer to the porous plug since leakages would not be detected by

the flowmeter; hence, the flowmeter would show a more accurate figure. This may be an

interesting idea that could be further developed by the suppliers of flowmeters together with

the suppliers of porous plugs.

The findings for the camera implicated that IR cameras need to be developed to separate

unwanted heat for detection of useful data. In addition to this, if one could maintain a constant

amount of slag, or a technique of measuring the height of the slag, steel plants would be able

to use a regular camera to identify the size of the open eye. This can then be correlated to the

gas flow intensity by use of a formula like the one identified by Wu et. al.

33

For vibrational measurements; further development is demanded since previous experiments

indicate useful solutions for the identification of the gas flow but are not able to separate

unwanted frequencies from surrounding apparatus.

34

6 FURTHER RESEARCH

Although a measuring technique for the gas stirring intensity was not implemented during this

project, there is a great demand of further research towards a final solution. After this project,

further areas of research are recommended on the:

The design, cracking and clogging of porous plugs; through e.g. RHI

Implementation of vibrational measurements; through e.g. Nupro Corporation

Implementation of IR-camera measurements; through e.g. Agellis

Further trials on empirical methods; such as the model by Wu et al.

Improvement of gas leakage to the ladle furnace

In addition to this it is believed that for a technique to be implemented at any of the

investigated companies, the steel plants need to have individual projects to reach a possible

solution.

It is also important not to neglect that this project arose the interest of many operators whom

are vital for bringing this area of research forward, due to their in-depth knowledge.

35

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