International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials
Volume 17, Number 5, October 2010, Page 541
DOI: 10.1007/s12613-010-0355-z
Corresponding author: Yan-ping Bao E-mail: baoyp@ustb.edu.cn
© University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
Mathematical model of deoxidization with post stirring in
a combined blowing converter
Jie Feng
1,2)
, Yan-ping Bao
1)
, Xun Wu
1)
, and Heng Cui
1)
1) Engineering Research Institute, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
2) School of Materials Science and Engineering, Heibei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang 050035, China
(Received: 3 November 2009; revised: 27 November 2009; accepted: 5 December 2009)
Abstract: Dissolved oxygen in the steel at the terminal of the converter smelting process is the main cause for the formation of oxide inclu-
sions, and the high terminal oxygen content worsens the steel cleanness. However, post stirring in a combined blowing converter can pro-
mote the carbon-oxygen reaction in the liquid steel and reduce the dissolved oxygen content at the terminal of the converter smelting process.
Thus, the mathematical model of deoxidization in the post stirring process was obtained, and the rationality of which was further verified by
industrial tests. Finally, it is concluded that the product of dissolved carbon and oxygen, i.e. w
[C]
·w
[O]
, decreases obviously after adopting the
new technique of post stirring in the combined blowing converter.
Keywords: steelmaking; converter; deoxidization; mathematical model
1. Introduction
The cleanliness of steel is one of the most important in-
dicators, which implies the general quality level as well as
the internal quality of steel products; however, the cleanli-
ness is always assessed via the total quantities, forms and
sizes of nocuous elements and nonmetallic inclusions. At
the terminal of the smelting process, dissolved-oxygen in a
molten pool of a converter is one of the causes that lead to
the formation of internal oxide [1-2]. Therefore, how to de-
crease the dissolved oxygen content in the molten steel is
indispensable for improving the production efficiency and
for the steel cleanness at the converter smelting terminal
[3-4]. To meet the requirements for smelting, the post stir-
ring process, in which the inert gas is blown from the bot-
tom of the converter after stopping blowing oxygen, is
adopted for about a few minutes with the oxygen lance in
the late stage of converter smelting [5-6]. The post stirring
process can promote the carbon-oxygen reaction which fur-
ther decreases the oxygen content and the product of dis-
solved [C] and [O] [7-8], lighten the over oxidation of liquid
steel, and promote the alloy yield [9].
The deoxidization mathematical model of post stirring
was established based on the thermodynamics principles and
the dynamics principles of deoxidization by stirring liquid
steel with argon bubbles, then the model was industrially
tested, and the rationality of the model was verified. It is
also proved that the post stirring process has the metallurgi-
cal functions of deoxidation and lowering the product of
dissolved carbon and oxygen, i.e. w
[C]
·w
[O]
, in liquid steel
significantly.
2. Derivation of the deoxidization mathematical
model of post stirring
At the terminal of the converter smelting process, the
carbon-oxygen reaction in the molten steel cannot achieve
the thermodynamics balance owing to the limit of dynamics
[10], which causes higher w
[C]
·w
[O]
. However, argon bubbles
through bottom blowing can not only be used to stir the
molten steel but also be used as crystal nucleus. These bub-
bles are equivalent to small vacuum cells, the reaction be-
tween carbon and dissolved oxygen takes place on the in-
terface of bubbles and liquid steel, and it is easy for CO
produced to enter the bubbles from the reaction. Thus, the
bubbles promote the carbon-oxygen reaction further, and