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Numerical Study of the Fluid Flow and Temperature Distribution in a Non-transferred DC ARC Thermal Plasma Reactor

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Applications of Process Engineering Principles in Materials Processing, Energy and Environmental Technologies

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

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Abstract

Numerical modeling of the thermal plasma process was carried out based on the thermal plasma reactor in our lab and confirmed using experimental data. The inlet boundary conditions of a non-transferred DC arc thermal plasma reactor were used in modeling the temperature and fluid flow distribution in the reactor. Different mesh grid sizes were used to confirm the model is independent of grid size. Temperature profile and gas flow distribution in the thermal plasma reactor were developed by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with ANSYS Fluent. The predicted temperatures are in good agreement with the experimentally measured temperatures in the reactor. The influence of plasma torch input power as well as the plasma gas flux on the temperature distribution was investigated using this model. The influence of power input and gas flow rate on temperature and velocity distributions are not independent. Generally, higher power input and lower gas flow rate will give rise to the temperature increase in the reactor.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful for the financial support from National Science Foundation (NSF) agency (Grant No. DMR-1310072), American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO) and The University of Alabama during the course of the current research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Yudong Li & Ramana Reddy

Authors
  1. Yudong Li
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  2. Ramana Reddy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramana Reddy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rio Tinto Kennecott Utah Copper , Magna, Utah, USA

    Shijie Wang

  2. University of Utah , Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Michael L Free

  3. The University of Saskatchewan , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Shafiq Alam

  4. ArcelorMittal Global R&D , Schereville, Indiana, USA

    Mingming Zhang

  5. Colorado School of Mines, George S. Ansell Chair Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA

    Patrick R. Taylor

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© 2017 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Li, Y., Reddy, R. (2017). Numerical Study of the Fluid Flow and Temperature Distribution in a Non-transferred DC ARC Thermal Plasma Reactor. In: Wang, S., Free, M., Alam, S., Zhang, M., Taylor, P. (eds) Applications of Process Engineering Principles in Materials Processing, Energy and Environmental Technologies. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51091-0_43

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