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Improving the Modeling of Slag and Steel Bath Chemistry in an Electric Arc Furnace Process Model

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Abstract

An improvement to the thermochemical module of the electric arc furnace (EAF) process model developed by Meier based on the work of Logar, Dovžan, and Škrjanc is presented. Different models for the calculation of activities in melt and slag are implemented, and separate reaction zones are defined for the interaction of slag and melt, the injection of oxygen, and the injection of carbon. For each zone, equilibrium compositions and reaction rates are calculated. Furthermore, diffusion of species is considered as a rate-limiting factor in reactions between slag and melt, and diffusion rates are calculated from the bulk melt to the reaction zone where reactions with the slag take place. Oxygen and sulfur dissolved in the melt and CaS in the slag are added as new species not previously considered in the EAF model. The treatment of carbon is revised to reduce model complexity and improve accuracy. The improved model is validated using extensive data from an industrial EAF, and results are compared to measured data as well as results obtained with the unmodified model. The different models for the determination of thermodynamic activities and their impacts on the duration of the simulation as well as its results are evaluated.

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Abbreviations

EAF:

Electric arc furnace

RSM:

Regular solution model

UIP:

Unified interaction parameter formalism

lSc:

Melt zone

lSl:

Slag zone

sSc:

Solid scrap zone

sSl:

Solid slag (charged slag formers) zone

wall:

Furnace walls

roof:

Furnace roof

gas:

Gas zone

arc:

Electric arc(s)

el:

Electrode(s)

pks:

Palm kernel shells

WIPF:

Wagner interaction parameter formalism

α :

Interaction parameter RSM

ε :

Interaction parameter UIP/WIPF (molar)

ν :

Stoichiometric coefficient

ɣ :

Activity coefficient (molar)

Φ:

Stoichiometric oxygen mass per mass of reacting element

a :

Activity

e ij :

Interaction parameter UIP/WIPF (mass pct)

f :

Activity coefficient (mass pct)

ΔG 0 :

Free enthalpy of reaction

H EAF :

Height of furnace

H Scrap :

Height of scrap inside furnace (at the wall)

I′:

Conversion factor RSM

K eq :

Equilibrium constant

k :

Equilibrium correction factor

kddiff/react :

Ratio of diffusion to reaction rates

kd:

Reaction parameter

k conv-gas :

Fraction of lanced carbon oxidized by carrier gas (air)

k loss :

Fraction of injected carbon not reacting (lost with off-gas)

\( k_{{\text{C-inj-CO}}_{2}}\) :

Fraction of injected carbon reacting further to CO2

\( k_{{{\text{FeO-O}}_{2} }} \) :

Reaction parameter for oxidation of scrap with O2 from atmosphere

\( k_{{{\text{O-inj-diss}}}} \) :

Fraction of injected oxygen dissolving in melt

m :

Mass

\( \dot{m}_{{{\text{C-res-inj}}}} \) :

Mass flow Carbon from reservoir becoming available for slag reactions

\( \dot{m}_{{{\text{C-inj-temp}}}} \) :

Mass injected Carbon from input data

\( \dot{m}_{{{\text{C-inj}}}} \) :

Mass flow of carbon for slag reactions at carbon injection site

\( \dot{m}_{i}^{j} \) :

Mass flow of element i in reaction zone j from chemical reaction

\( \dot{m}_{\Delta } \) :

Mass flow to maintain mass of melt in interface zone

\( \dot{m}_{\text{FeO}}^{\text{atm}} \) :

Mass flow of FeO from oxidation of scrap with O2 from atmosphere

pCO :

CO partial pressure

R :

Gas constant

T :

Temperature

w :

Mass fraction (pct)

X :

Molar fraction

X′:

Cation fraction

Slag:

Slag zone

Diffusion:

Mass flows resulting from diffusion

bulk:

Bulk melt zone

interface:

Interface zone

total:

sum of all mass flows in interface zone

oxide:

Oxide in slag zone

eq:

At equilibrium

C-inj:

Carbon injection zone

O-inj:

Oxygen injection zone

Slagformer:

Charged slag formers (chalk, dolomite)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Kopernikusstr. 10, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Thomas Hay, Alexander Reimann & Thomas Echterhof

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  1. Thomas Hay
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  2. Alexander Reimann
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  3. Thomas Echterhof
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Correspondence to Thomas Hay.

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Manuscript submitted March 5, 2019.

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Hay, T., Reimann, A. & Echterhof, T. Improving the Modeling of Slag and Steel Bath Chemistry in an Electric Arc Furnace Process Model. Metall Mater Trans B 50, 2377–2388 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-019-01632-x

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