A Review of Physical and Numerical Approaches for the Study of Gas Stirring in Ladle Metallurgy

This article presents a review of the research into gas stirring in ladle metallurgy carried out over the past few decades. The physical modeling experiments are divided into four major areas: mixing and homogenization in the ladle; gas bubble formation, transformation, and interactions in the plume zone; inclusion behavior at the steel–slag interface and in the molten steel; and open eye formation. Several industrial trials have been conducted to optimize gas stirring and open eye formation. The article discusses approaches for selecting criteria for scaling to guarantee flow similarity between industrial trials and physical modeling experiments. To describe bubble behavior and two-phase plume structure, four main mathematical models have been applied in different research fields: the quasi-single-phase model, the volume of fluid (VOF) model, the Eulerian multiphase (E–E) model, and the Eulerian–Lagrangian (E–L) model. Recent developments in models have been utilized to predict gas stirring conditions in the ladle, with ongoing improvements needed for focusing on mass transfer phenomena and inclusion behaviors at the steel-slag interface. The article emphasizes the necessity for satisfactory validations from physical modeling experiments and industrial trials to enhance numerical modeling efforts.