Optimization of bottom tuyere configurat

The understanding of the dynamic characteristic of gas-liquid flow and ability to control the extents of primary (in r-direction) and secondary (in θ-direction) flow is crucial to optimize the mixing efficiency of the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) steelmaking process. The present work was carried out to study the dynamics of meandering bubble plumes on gas-induced liquid-phase mixing, numerically and experimentally, in a 6:1 scaled-down BOF vessel for different bottom tuyere configuration. Cold flow experiments were performed to measure the instantaneous and time-averaged gas volume fraction, and local mixing time at different gas mass flow rates using voidage and conductivity probes. 3D transient Euler-Lagrange (EL) simulations of dispersed gas-liquid flow were performed under cold flow conditions. The predicted instantaneous and time-averaged gas volume mixing time predicted by the simulations performed considering dynamic flow showed a good agreement with experiments than that predicted by considering a time-averaged flow field. However, such studies were performed for a single bubble plume in a rectangular column with higher height to diameter (H/D) ratio (≥ 5) and investigations with multiple bubble plumes in BOF vessels, which are shallow (H/D < 1), have not been performed.