Numerical simulation of the galvanizing process during GA to GI transition

This paper presents the application of a three‐dimensional finite element solution algorithm for the prediction of the velocity, temperature and species concentration fields in an industrial continuous galvanizing bath. Simulations were carried out using a parallel CFD software developed at IMI‐NRC. The turbulent flow, heat and mass transfer has been solved using a high Reynolds number k–ε model. Simulations were carried out for the case when the density of the molten metal depends only on the temperature and also for the case when both temperature and Al concentration affect the density. When considering the buoyancy effect of the Al concentration, differences are especially apparent during the melting of ingots with high Al content. Otherwise, thermal effects are dominant. The continuous monitoring of the temperature and the Al and Fe content in an industrial bath was used to validate the flow, temperature and compositional variations. A period of three hours, corresponding to three different ingot additions, was simulated successfully, resulting in a good agreement of the temperature and compositional variations. Copyright © 2006 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.