The advancement in computational thermodynamics can help researchers to test their hypotheses regarding complex steelmaking operations in a more quantified manner. The main aim of the current work was to use develop a kinetic model that can predict changes in steel, slag and inclusions during ladle refining and use this model as a tool to develop better understanding of the steelmaking process itself. The important reactions during ladle refining are: steel-refractory reaction, slag-refractory reaction, flotation of inclusions to slag, steel-inclusion reaction, steel-slag reaction and inclusions originating from slag. The chemical reactions between two phases were considered to be mass transfer controlled. The macro-processing feature in FactSage was used to do multiple equilibrium calculations and calculate the change in steel, slag and inclusion composition. Targeted experiments and industrial trials were conducted to find model parameters. For laboratory experiments, the rate of magnesium-transfer to oxide inclusions in steel due to steel-crucible and steel-slag reaction was studied. It was concluded that the presence of spinel layer on MgO crucible at the steel-crucible reaction can help in significantly reduce the rate of Mg pick-up due to steel-crucible reaction. For industrial trials, a comparison between the rate of steel-slag reaction and inclusion flotation rate showed that the steel-slag reaction could be significantly slowed due to slag inhomogeneity. The kinetic model was also used to identify artifacts in steel and slag sampling during ladle refining. One of the main limitations of the kinetic model was the over-prediction of calcium pick-up in steel due to steel-slag reaction. Induction furnace experiments were conducted using MgO, ZrO2 and CaO crucible with different slag composition and silicon concentration to study the extent of calcium pick-up due to steel-slag and steel-crucible reactions. The steel-CaO crucible equilibrium experiment was used to estimate Ca-O interaction parameter. The equilibrated steel was reoxidized with known amount of oxygen to allow all the dissolved calcium to precipitate as oxide inclusions. Inclusion analysis of sample taken after reoxidation was used to estimate dissolved calcium in steel. The measured dissolved calcium was used to estimate Ca-O interaction parameter. A private database for liquid steel was created in FactSage and used for kinetic modeling of laboratory scale steel-slag-crucible experiments. The use of private database for kinetic model helped in avoiding excess calcium pick-up in steel due to steel-slag reaction. However, the model and database should be tested for conditions where significant calcium pick-up is experimentally observed. In the present work, the inclusion removal was assumed to be first order reaction with fixed rate constant. In practice, the inclusion removal is expected to be a more complicated process of agglomeration and flotation. Similarly, the steel-inclusion reactions were considered in equilibrium for each time step of calculation. Sometimes, the composition difference inside single inclusions was found. Some characterization tools were used that could be useful in future to study the agglomeration of inclusions and composition differences inside single inclusion. The agglomeration behavior of inclusions at the steel-argon interface inside confocal laser scanning microscope was compared to the agglomeration in bulk samples from laboratory and industrial steel samples. The size and morphology of inclusion clusters were studied using X-ray micro CT. The composition and morphology of single inclusion was studied using focused ion beam methods: Ga-FIB instrument and plasma-FIB instrument.

A busca de melhoria de produtos siderúrgicos leva uma atenção especial para a área de aciarias. A introdução da metalurgia da panela, e portanto no refino secundário, contribuiu fundamentalmente para o aumento da qualidade do aço produzido. Um dos efeitos foi o aumento do tempo de residência do aço na panela, o que obrigou a utilização de materiais refratários de melhor qualidade. O controle da temperatura do aço líquido ao longo do processo de produção é de fundamental importância para se atingir os requisitos de qualidade e produtividade exigidos atualmente. Com o desenvolvimento de tecnologias siderúrgicas e a busca pela eficiência energética, torna-se necessário o conhecimento e redução das perdas térmicas do aço durante todo o ciclo produtivo. Neste trabalho foram estudadas, em uma aciaria elétrica a arco, as correlações entre as perdas térmicas das panelas através do conhecimento dos tempos de espera e do tempo de transporte das panelas do forno elétrico a arco até o forno-panela, além de comparar a temperatura do revestimento refratário de panelas com e sem isolante refratário. Melhorias no ciclo de panelas foram propostas visando diminuir as perdas térmicas das panelas, otimizar o ciclo de panelas e, consequentemente, reduzir o consumo de energia elétrica do forno-panela, diminuindo os custos envolvidos durante o processo de fabricação do aço. Os resultados apresentaram significância estatística entre o consumo de energia elétrica do fornopanela e as perdas térmicas das panelas. Através dos resultados obtidos observou-se que a minimização do tempo de espera da panela antes de iniciar o vazamento e a diminuição do tempo de transporte da panela até o forno-panela são fundamentais para diminuir as perdas térmicas nas panelas. / The search for improved steel products takes special attention to the melthops. The introduction of ladle metallurgy, and therefore the secondary refining, contributed essentially to increase the quality of steel produced. One effect was to increase the residence time of the steel in the ladle, forcing the use of refractory materials of better quality. Temperature control of liquid steel during the process is of fundamental importance for achieving the requirements of quality and productivity currently required. With the development of technologies and the reach of energetic efficiency, it becomes necessary to reduce the thermal losses during the steel production cycle. In this study the correlations between the thermal losses in the ladles through the knowledge of waiting times and transport times of the ladles to the of the electric arc furnace to the ladle furnace were determined as well as a comparison between temperatures of ladle refractory lining with and without refractory insulation. Improvements in the ladle cycle were proposed to reduce the thermal losses in the ladles and to optimize the ladle cycle and, consequently, to reduce the electric energy in the ladle furnace, reducing the costs involved during the manufacturing process of steel. The results showed statistical significance between the energy consumption in the ladle furnace and heat losses in the ladles. The results obtained showed that minimizing the waiting time of the ladle before the tap and reducing transportation time of the ladle to the ladle furnace are essential to reduce the heat losses in the ladles.

A busca de melhoria de produtos siderúrgicos leva uma atenção especial para a área de aciarias. A introdução da metalurgia da panela, e portanto no refino secundário, contribuiu fundamentalmente para o aumento da qualidade do aço produzido. Um dos efeitos foi o aumento do tempo de residência do aço na panela, o que obrigou a utilização de materiais refratários de melhor qualidade. O controle da temperatura do aço líquido ao longo do processo de produção é de fundamental importância para se atingir os requisitos de qualidade e produtividade exigidos atualmente. Com o desenvolvimento de tecnologias siderúrgicas e a busca pela eficiência energética, torna-se necessário o conhecimento e redução das perdas térmicas do aço durante todo o ciclo produtivo. Neste trabalho foram estudadas, em uma aciaria elétrica a arco, as correlações entre as perdas térmicas das panelas através do conhecimento dos tempos de espera e do tempo de transporte das panelas do forno elétrico a arco até o forno-panela, além de comparar a temperatura do revestimento refratário de panelas com e sem isolante refratário. Melhorias no ciclo de panelas foram propostas visando diminuir as perdas térmicas das panelas, otimizar o ciclo de panelas e, consequentemente, reduzir o consumo de energia elétrica do forno-panela, diminuindo os custos envolvidos durante o processo de fabricação do aço. Os resultados apresentaram significância estatística entre o consumo de energia elétrica do fornopanela e as perdas térmicas das panelas. Através dos resultados obtidos observou-se que a minimização do tempo de espera da panela antes de iniciar o vazamento e a diminuição do tempo de transporte da panela até o forno-panela são fundamentais para diminuir as perdas térmicas nas panelas. / The search for improved steel products takes special attention to the melthops. The introduction of ladle metallurgy, and therefore the secondary refining, contributed essentially to increase the quality of steel produced. One effect was to increase the residence time of the steel in the ladle, forcing the use of refractory materials of better quality. Temperature control of liquid steel during the process is of fundamental importance for achieving the requirements of quality and productivity currently required. With the development of technologies and the reach of energetic efficiency, it becomes necessary to reduce the thermal losses during the steel production cycle. In this study the correlations between the thermal losses in the ladles through the knowledge of waiting times and transport times of the ladles to the of the electric arc furnace to the ladle furnace were determined as well as a comparison between temperatures of ladle refractory lining with and without refractory insulation. Improvements in the ladle cycle were proposed to reduce the thermal losses in the ladles and to optimize the ladle cycle and, consequently, to reduce the electric energy in the ladle furnace, reducing the costs involved during the manufacturing process of steel. The results showed statistical significance between the energy consumption in the ladle furnace and heat losses in the ladles. The results obtained showed that minimizing the waiting time of the ladle before the tap and reducing transportation time of the ladle to the ladle furnace are essential to reduce the heat losses in the ladles.

A busca de melhoria de produtos siderúrgicos leva uma atenção especial para a área de aciarias. A introdução da metalurgia da panela, e portanto no refino secundário, contribuiu fundamentalmente para o aumento da qualidade do aço produzido. Um dos efeitos foi o aumento do tempo de residência do aço na panela, o que obrigou a utilização de materiais refratários de melhor qualidade. O controle da temperatura do aço líquido ao longo do processo de produção é de fundamental importância para se atingir os requisitos de qualidade e produtividade exigidos atualmente. Com o desenvolvimento de tecnologias siderúrgicas e a busca pela eficiência energética, torna-se necessário o conhecimento e redução das perdas térmicas do aço durante todo o ciclo produtivo. Neste trabalho foram estudadas, em uma aciaria elétrica a arco, as correlações entre as perdas térmicas das panelas através do conhecimento dos tempos de espera e do tempo de transporte das panelas do forno elétrico a arco até o forno-panela, além de comparar a temperatura do revestimento refratário de panelas com e sem isolante refratário. Melhorias no ciclo de panelas foram propostas visando diminuir as perdas térmicas das panelas, otimizar o ciclo de panelas e, consequentemente, reduzir o consumo de energia elétrica do forno-panela, diminuindo os custos envolvidos durante o processo de fabricação do aço. Os resultados apresentaram significância estatística entre o consumo de energia elétrica do fornopanela e as perdas térmicas das panelas. Através dos resultados obtidos observou-se que a minimização do tempo de espera da panela antes de iniciar o vazamento e a diminuição do tempo de transporte da panela até o forno-panela são fundamentais para diminuir as perdas térmicas nas panelas. / The search for improved steel products takes special attention to the melthops. The introduction of ladle metallurgy, and therefore the secondary refining, contributed essentially to increase the quality of steel produced. One effect was to increase the residence time of the steel in the ladle, forcing the use of refractory materials of better quality. Temperature control of liquid steel during the process is of fundamental importance for achieving the requirements of quality and productivity currently required. With the development of technologies and the reach of energetic efficiency, it becomes necessary to reduce the thermal losses during the steel production cycle. In this study the correlations between the thermal losses in the ladles through the knowledge of waiting times and transport times of the ladles to the of the electric arc furnace to the ladle furnace were determined as well as a comparison between temperatures of ladle refractory lining with and without refractory insulation. Improvements in the ladle cycle were proposed to reduce the thermal losses in the ladles and to optimize the ladle cycle and, consequently, to reduce the electric energy in the ladle furnace, reducing the costs involved during the manufacturing process of steel. The results showed statistical significance between the energy consumption in the ladle furnace and heat losses in the ladles. The results obtained showed that minimizing the waiting time of the ladle before the tap and reducing transportation time of the ladle to the ladle furnace are essential to reduce the heat losses in the ladles.

The present thesis was to study non-metallic inclusions during vacuum degassing in ladle treatment. Emphasize was mostly given to liquid CaO-Al2O3 inclusions. A series of industrial experiments were carried out at Uddeholm Tooling AB, Hagfors, Sweden. To gain an insight into the industrial findings, laboratory investigations were also performed. Large number of steel samples were collected and examined. Liquid calcium aluminate inclusions with low SiO2 and high SiO2 were often found with spinel inclusions before vacuum degassing. Laboratory experiments showed that spinel would react with the dissolved Ca in the liquid steel forming calcium aluminate inclusions. This laboratory results agreed with the industrial observation that spinel phase was quite often found in the center of the calcium aluminate phase. After vacuum degassing, most of the inclusions were calcium aluminate liquid inclusions. When dissolved Al level was low, 2 types of liquid calcium aluminate inclusions with considerably different SiO2 contents were found to coexist even at the end of the process. In view of the lack of the thermodynamic data for SiO2 activities in the low silica region, thermodynamic measurements were conducted in the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO system. The experimental results could reasonably explain the coexistence of the two types of the liquid oxide inclusions. While the total number of inclusions decreased during vacuum degassing, the number of bigger inclusions (>11.3 μm) increased generally in used ladles. This finding was in accordance with the previous studies, wherein, ladle glaze was found to be responsible for the supply of bigger inclusions. The behaviors of several types of inclusions in liquid steel were examined using a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM). While alumina inclusions tended to impact on each other, agglomerate and grow very quickly, none of the other types of inclusions, such as spinel and calcium aluminate was observed to agglomerate. The results of LSCM study agreed well with the industrial observation. Examination on a huge number of inclusions did not show any indication of impact and physical growth of the inclusions, except the alumina inclusions. The removal of inclusions around open-eye in a gas-stirred ladle was experimentally studied by a cold model with oil and water. Most of the simulated inclusions were brought up to the oil phase by gas-water plume. Inclusion removal into oil layer took place when the inclusions passed through the sphere-bed of the oil layer around the open-eye. A calculation showed that the contribution of metal-gas plume in inclusion removal was much larger than that of buoyancy mechanism. The results of the industrial experiments revealed that the inclusions distribution strongly depended on stirring condition. When a ladle was stirred by both gas and induction, inclusion removal near slag layer was significant. / QC 20100803