Surface Phenomena in the Smelting Bath of an Oxygen Converter

The oxygen-converter production of steel is determined by processes in the converter’s reaction zone, which consists of primary and secondary regions. The primary region is the crater formed by the collision of a supersonic gas jet with the molten-metal surface. It is filled with metal droplets (diameter 0.1–2 mm). The surrounding secondary region consists of melt with an enormous quantity of gas bubbles (diameter 0.2–4 mm). The total surface area of the droplets and bubbles is four orders of magnitude greater than the surface of the quiescent melt. That indicates the important role of processes at phase boundaries in steel production. The structure of the reaction zone and the corresponding temperature distribution are studied by hot simulation, when the molten metal is blown by oxygen in a transparent quartz crucible. The transparent walls permit photographic and video recording of the processes in the crucible. Besides the temperature distribution, the hydrodynamics of the bath may be studied directly in the injection zone. The most unexpected result of hot simulation is the motion of the bubbles in the secondary region. They move normal to the crater surface. In other words, their motion is almost horizontal, rather than vertical, as in cold simulation in water. This may be attributed to nonuniformity of the melt’s surface tension, resulting in motion of the bubbles toward higher temperatures. In liquid with a temperature gradient, the surface tension will be different ahead of and behind the bubbles. The forces pushing the bubbles from behind are greater than the forces at the front. Accordingly, they move toward the region of lower surface tension. The nonuniformity of the surface tension is due to the temperature gradient (up to 1200°C within the secondary region) and the change in concentration of the melt components, especially oxygen. The surface tension of the ferrocarbon melt changes in a complex manner with increase in temperature. The surface tension rises on heating to 1550°C, but begins to decrease beyond 1550–1600°C. With decrease in carbon content in the melt, the maximum value of the surface tension increases. The motion of gas bubbles and other phases toward lower surface tension begins at the 1550°C isotherm, which is therefore the external boundary of the secondary region, separating it from the remainder of the bath. Within this boundary, the resultant vector of the surface forces pushes the gas bubbles and slag particles, together with the molten metal, horizontally toward the crater, at increasing speed. This determines the hydrodynamics of the smelting bath and the associated redistribution of oxygen over different parts of the bath and hence the refining process as a whole.