Comparison of argon injection and other methods of electrovortex flow control in metallurgical furnaces

Abstract

The article considers the problem of modeling the metal melting in a direct current arc furnace with the bottom electrode. A mathematical model and a technique for conducting coupled modeling of magnetohydro- and thermodynamic flows in such a furnace are presented taking into account electromagnetic forces and convection. Using the developed strategy, simulations were performed and the effectiveness of some approaches to the vortex flow control was evaluated. As a result, it was shown that changing the location, shape, and temperature of the bottom electrode as well as the bottom position can significantly reduce fettle wearing near the electrode, while argon injection does not decrease shear stress and does a negative influence on the fettle.