Slag–Metal Interaction

Abstract

In the in-bath smelting reduction processes and the desulfurization processes, gas is injected into a molten metal bath covered with a thick slag layer. Understanding the mixing phenomena in the two layers and the behavior of molten metal droplets and slag droplets generated at the slag–metal interface is crucial for an improved understanding of the performance of the processes [1–3]. It is very difficult, however, to investigate these effects using the real processes at present, and accordingly, a number of model experiments have been performed by using water and oil to simulate molten metal and molten slag, respectively [4, 5]. The mixing phenomena and reverse emulsification of oil droplets in a water bath covered with a thin oil layer has been extensively investigated [6, 7]. On the contrary, very limited information exists on the spatial and temporal distributions of molten metal droplets in the thick slag layer and of slag droplets in the molten metal layer, even for water model experiments.