Mass transfer correlations for dissolution of cylindrical additions in liquid metals with gas agitation

•Mass transfer coefficients are deduced from dissolution of solid Si in Al bath.•Gas agitation is simulated to predict velocities within the (non)-rotating Al bath.•Turbulence intensity is incorporated into forced convection correlations.•Forced convection correlations are combined with natural convection correlations.•Developed correlations predict mass transfer rates within 11% of experimental data. The results of an experimental study of the effect of gas agitation on mass transfer from cylindrical Si specimens to molten Al were used to deduce mean mass transfer coefficients in a two-phase flow. Then the three-dimensional gas-agitated liquid was simulated using the commercial software FLOW-3D, to obtain predictions of bubble distribution and estimates of the velocity field within the opaque liquid metal, to be used to predict mass transfer rates. An existing mass transfer correlation for a gas-agitated liquid without an external bulk flow was used to fit the experimental data within 5%. With a bulk velocity, a correlation for mass transfer from a vertical cylinder in cross flow was modified to incorporate the effect of gas injection, and it predicted the measured mass transfer coefficients within 11%.