Physical Modeling Study of Argon Stirring Optimization on 40 t Ladle

The eccentric argon stirring in stainless steel production has been studied by using geometric similarity 1:3 water model and plug model which has the same porosity to plug used in production. The mixing time,velocity of liquid steel surface and open-eye are optimized. Experiment results show that when argon stirring rate exceeds 103.1 L/h （2.1m³/h in production） the mixing time ratio （the minimum mixing time divided by mixing time at a certain flow rate） will be more than 50%. The velocity of liquid steel surface shows that storage area edge （open-eye edge） is prone to entrap slag. The diameter of open-eye is affected by ladle wall where the closer distance from porous plug to ladled wall causes the smaller diameter of open-eye. Soft blowing with plug located at 1/2R and 2/3R will ensure the open-eye ratio less than 12.4% and 10.5% respectively. The optimized flow field can prevent argon stirring process from reoxidation effectively.