AN EVALUATION OF GAS INJECTION EFFECTS IN A MECHANICALLY STIRRED HOT METAL DESULFURIZATION SYSTEM

Physical modeling techniques have been used in order to assess the effects of gas injection as a means of optimizing mechanically stirred desulfurization processes. For such a 1:7 scale model of a 315 ton of a Kanbara reactor was built. The influence of gas injection on mixing times, gas - liquid interfacial kinetics and solid phase dispersion was evaluated. Gas injection can reduce mixing times up to 20% and can increase solid dispersion up to 40%. Gas liquid interaction is shown to be highly dependent on the gas injection location. In this regard injecting through the impeller or at the bottom of the ladle has been investigated. Gas injection can be beneficial to the desulfurization process.