Study on the solidification characteristics of molten slag droplets cooled by mixed cooling medium

•A hybrid numerical model is established to analyze solidification characteristics of a molten slag droplet.•Temperature distribution and movement of interface during the solidification process are analyzed.•The solidification time is decreasing by increasing humidity ratio, or decreasing droplet diameter.•An off-center solidification process inside a slag droplet is observed.•A correlation for predicting the solidification time is proposed. Numerical studies on molten slag droplets solidification behaviors in humid air were carried out by using the hybrid evaporation and solidification models. The numerical model was firstly validated by the experimental data in the literatures, and then solidification time, temperature distribution, and movement of phase change interface during the solidification process were analyzed. The effects of humidity ratio (content of atomized water), air inlet temperature and velocity, and droplet diameter on solidification behaviors of molten slag were discussed. Finally, a correlation for predicting the solidification time was proposed. The results show that, generally, the solidification time is decreasing by increasing the air inlet velocity and humidity ratio, or decreasing the droplet diameter and air inlet temperature. The solidification rates represent a trend of gradual decline during the solidification process due to the ever-increasing thickness of the solid slag region, and they are normally higher at the upwind side but relatively lower at the leeward side, resulting in an off-center solidification process of a slag droplet. The humidity ratio has significant effect on the cooling air temperature distributions, steeper temperature gradient is observed thanks to the evaporation process of the atomized water. The present work suggests that the operational conditions are: the humidity ratio within the range of 10%∼20%, the air inlet velocity is 1.0 m/s and the air inlet temperature is 303 K, respectively.