| 1. |
- Kasimagwa, Ismail
(författare)
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A study of slag corrosion of oxides and oxide-carbon refractories during steel refining
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The use of ceramic material as refractories in the manufacturing industry is a common practice worldwide. During usage, for example in the production of steel, these materials do experience severe working conditions including high temperatures, low pressures and corrosive environments. This results in lowered service lives and high consumptions of these materials. This, in turn, affects the productivity of the whole steel plant and thereby the cost. In order to investigate how the service life can be improved, studies have been carried out for refractories used in the inner lining of the steel ladles. More specifically, from the slag zone, where the corrosion is most severe. By combining thermodynamic simulations, plant trails and post-mortem studies of the refractories after service, vital information about the behaviour of the slagline refractories during steel refining and the causes of the accelerated wear in this ladle area has been achieved. The results from these studies show that the wear of the slagline refractories of the ladle is initiated at the preheating station, through reduction-oxidation reactions. The degree of the decarburization process is mostly dependent on the preheating fuel or the environment. For refractories without antioxidants, refractory decarburization is slower when coal gas is used in ladle preheating than when a mixture of oil and air is used. In addition, ladle preheating of the refractories without antioxidants leads to direct wear of the slagline refractories. This is due to the total loss of the matrix strength, which results in a sand-like product. Thermal chemical changes that take place in the slagline refractories are due to the MgO-C reaction as well as the formation of liquid phases from impurity oxides. In addition, the decrease in the system pressure during steel refining makes the MgO-C reaction take place at the steel refining temperatures. This reduces the refractory’s resistance to corrosion. This is a serious problem for both the magnesia-carbon and dolomite-carbon refractories. The studies of the reactions between the slagline refractories and the different slag compositions showed that slags rich in iron oxide lead mostly to the oxidation of carbon/graphite in the carbon-containing refractories. This leads to an increased porosity and wettability and therefore an enhanced penetration of slag into the refractory structure. If the slag contains high contents of alumina and or silica (such as the steel refining slag), reactions between the slag components and the dolomite-carbon refractory are promoted. This leads to the formation of low-temperature melting phases such as calcium-aluminates and silicates. The state of these reaction products during steel refining leads to an accelerated wear of the dolomite-carbon refractory. The main products of the reactions between the magnesia-carbon refractory and the steel refining slag are MgAl2O4 spinels, and calcium-aluminates, and silicates. Due to the good refractory properties of MgAl2O4 spinels, the slag corrosion resistance of the magnesiacarbon refractory is promoted.
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| 2. |
- Zhang, Zhi, 1982-
(författare)
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A study of flow fields during filling of a sampler
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- More and more attention has been paid to decreasing the number and size of non-metallic inclusions existing in the final products recently in steel industries. Therefore, more efforts have been made to monitor the inclusions' size distributions during the metallurgy process, especially at the secondary steelmaking period. A liquid sampling procedure is one of the commonly applied methods that monitoring the inclusion size distribution in ladles, for example, during the secondary steelmaking. Here, a crucial point is that the steel sampler should be filled and solidified without changing the inclusion characteristics that exist at steel making temperatures. In order to preserve the original size and distributions in the extracted samples, it is important to avoid their collisions and coagulations inside samplers during filling. Therefore, one of the first steps to investigate is the flow pattern inside samplers during filling in order to obtain a more in-depth knowledge of the sampling process to make sure that the influence is minimized. The main objective of this work is to fundamentally study the above mentioned sampler filling process. A production sampler employed in the industries has been scaled-up according to the similarity of Froude Number in the experimental study. A Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to capture the flow field and calculate the velocity vectors during the entire experiment. Also, a mathematical model has been developed to have an in-depth investigate of the flow pattern in side the sampler during its filling. Two different turbulence models were applied in the numerical study, the realizable k-ε model and Wilcox k-ω model. The predictions were compared to experimental results obtained by the PIV measurements. Furthermore, it was illustrated that there is a fairly good agreement between the measurements obtained by PIV and calculations predicted by the Wilcox k-ω model. Thus, it is concluded that the Wilcox k-ω model can be used in the future to predict the filling of steel samplers.
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| 3. |
- Akbarnejad, Shahin, 1978-
(författare)
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Mathematical and Experimental Study on Filtration of Solid Inclusions from Molten Aluminium and Steel
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aluminum and steel have been the most produced metal and alloy, respectively, for many years. Their extensive use in various industries, their fundamental role in our everyday life, and their excellent recycling characteristics are the major driving forces for development of their production towards more sustainable processes. A successful integration and application of molten metal filtration from unwanted inclusions in production processes could result in reducing scrap, rework and would provide a cleaner molten metal which could lead to production of metallic materials with enhanced mechanical properties. Filtration of aluminum melts by ceramic foam filters is an established process in aluminum industry. Ceramic filters are also used in steel foundries to remove inclusions from the melt prior to casting to the mold. However, the use of ceramic filters is either limited to specific types of alloys or casts or to specific filters with large pores and openings. As a result, utilization of ceramic filters in the steel industry has limitations in capturing inclusions, where specifically small size inclusions may not be captured. This research work aims at contributing to the global effort in developing the molten metal production processes to become more sustainable and to increase the quality of the final product. To be specific, it is aimed at shedding more light into filtration applications and the use of ceramic filters for removal of solid non-metallic inclusions from molten aluminum and steel. Thus, permeability characteristics of single 30, 50, and 80 Pore Per Inch (PPI) alumina Ceramic Foam Filter (CFF) grades as well as stacks of three 30, three 50, and three 80 PPI alumina CFF grades were both experimentally and numerically obtained and studied. This provides the information needed to estimate the pressure required to prime and/or push the molten aluminum through the filters. The pressure could either be built up by gravitational or other forces. It has been shown recently that it is possible to prime such filters with electromagnetic forces and filter solid inclusions from molten aluminum. Lastly, physical refining of molten steel from solid alumina inclusions through monolithic extruded square-celled alumina ceramic filter was investigated and studied with a developed mathematical Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model as well as the particle trajectories of inclusions in the size range of 1 to 100 [µm]. The experimentally obtained permeability characteristics as well as the obtained pressure gradient profiles of the single 30, 50, and 80 PPI CFFs were compared to previous research findings from the literature. Overall, a good agreement between the current and previous findings was found. It was also shown that fluid bypassing should be avoided during permeability experiments, otherwise deviations as high as 60% may occur. It was also revealed that similar permeability characteristics for the stacked filters, compared to single filters, could be achieved. However, an about three times higher pressure gradient or pressure needs to be applied when using a stack of three identical PPI filters compared to using single filters. The numerical simulations also validated the experimental findings of the permeability experiments. The CFD simulations and particle trajectories of the solid alumina inclusions in molten steel through the monolithic alumina filter revealed that it was possible to capture all particles larger than 50 [µm]. However, it was not possible to capture all particles smaller than 50 [µm] due to the applied simulation approach as well as current simulation limitations in the software.
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| 4. |
- Al-Saadi, Munir, 1965-
(författare)
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Thermomechanical Processing of Nickel-Base Alloy 825
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Alloy 825 material was studied using a Gleeble-3800 thermosimulatorby performing single-hot compression experiments.Optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction wereutilized to characterize the microstructure. Dynamicrecrystallization is not considerable in the as-cast alloy anddislocation recovery is deemed to be dominant. Based on thisfinding, the effect of adding trace amounts of alloying additionson the mechanical properties of cast alloy 825 was studied, withemphasis on whether or not dynamic recrystallization occurred.The results show that dynamic recrystallization was moreprevalent under all test conditions in samples containing a traceamount of magnesium, but not for the conventional alloy.However, alloying with trace magnesium did not lead to animprovement of the mechanical properties. Instead, processingmaps for hot forging of conventional Alloy 825 were required toidentify optimal working parameters and to achieve dynamicrecrystallization. The hot deformation behavior of cast Alloy 825was characterized by using dynamic materials modelling of hotcompression data. The results show that the maximum powerdissipation efficiency is over 35%. The highest efficiency isachieved in the temperature range of 1100 ℃ - 1250 ℃ and instrain rates in the range of 0.01 ≤ strain rate / s ≤ 0.1. The optimumprocessing parameters for good strain hardening are obtained inthe temperature range between 950 ℃ and 1100 ℃ with strainrates of 0.3 ≤ strain rate/ s ≤ 10.0. In addition, the influence of thedeformation level on the recrystallization and microstructuralchanges in Alloy 825 during hot forging operations attemperatures between 950 °C and 1200 °C was studied. Themaximum yield strength and ultimate tensile strength wereobtained after forging to achieve a true strain of 0.9 were 413 MPa and 622 MPa , respectively, with a ductility of 40%.However, Alloy 825 is often supplied as annealed bars.Therefore, the effect of the forging strain magnitude andsubsequent annealing on the microstructure, strengtheningmechanisms and room temperature mechanical properties wereinvestigated to assess the suitability of current industrialpractice. The results showed that the majority of strengtheningwas attributed to grain refinement, the dislocation densities thatarise due to the large forging strain, and due to solid solutionstrengthening. The results of calculations are in excellentagreement with experimental data, with less than 1% difference.These results can be used by future researchers and industry topredict the strength of Alloy 825 and similar alloys, especially inmaterial after a completed hot forging operation.
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| 5. |
- Alevanau, Aliaksandr, 1965-
(författare)
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Study of pyrolysis and gasification of biomass from the self-organization perspective
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on the analysis of kinetics of i) low-temperature pyrolysis of gaseous hydrocarbons, ii) high-temperature steam gasification of char of wood pellets (>700oC), iii) high temperature pyrolysis of straw pellets in an atmosphere of argon and steam, and iv) high temperature pyrolysis of slices of transversally cut wooden sticks. The results of the kinetic measurements in the high-temperature cases are approximated using a least-square based optimization software, which was specially developed to analyse kinetics prone for deviation from the Arrhenius law.In the thesis a general analysis of the researched materials and kinetics of their pyrolysis and gasification is presented from the self-organization perspective. The energy transfer phenomena in both the pyrolysis and gasification processes of biomass are discussed with an emphasis on an analysis of basic phenomena involving the self-organized dynamics on fractal structures in the chosen biomass samples.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Arzpeyma, Niloofar
(författare)
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Numerical Study of the Gas Flow and Heat Transfer during Electromagnetic Stirring and Post Combustion in EAFs
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The effect of electromagnetic stirring on scrap melting and post combustion in two different electric arc furnaces (EAFs) have been studied using numerical modelling. The effect of electromagnetic stirring on melting of a piece of scrap located at the eccentric bottom tapping (EBT) region of an EAF has been studied. The results were compared to a condition in which the only source term for momentum transfer was buoyancy. It was shown that the use of electromagnetic stirring can contribute to a better heat transfer rate at the melt–scrap interface. The Grashof and Nusselt number for both electromagnetic stirring and natural convection were estimated, and were compared with those estimated in previous studies. The post combustion (PC) inside a duct system of an EAF has been studied considering combustion of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The aim was to study the effect of air leakage through the airgap and fan power on post combustion of the off–gas leaving the furnace. Furthermore, to see how much uncombusted can be captured after the air gap. It was shown a higher off-gas mass flow rate and a higher power of the outlet fan led to a higher combustion of CO and H2. Moreover, a backward modeling of the flow was done to estimate the off–gas composition at the furnace outlet. The post combustion inside the same EAF used in the previous part has been studied. The domain consists of the fluid region above the melt bath. The oxy fuel reactions and combustion of CO were taken into account. The oxy-fuel reactions in a both simplified and a more accurate form (JC) were studied. The results showed less combustion of CO in the latter form. Using the results of the off–gas composition at the outlet, an attempt was made to estimate the flow rate of CO arising from the bath. Different flow rates of CO from the melt and air flow rate through the roof were assumed. In both burner mode and burner + lancing mode, the calculated concentration of CO2 was higher than that calculated in the previous part. The reason could be that the dissociation of CO2 to CO and O2 at high temperatures, and the de-post combustion of CO2 due to the reaction with carbon in the melt and in the electrodes were not considered.
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| 8. |
- Bai, Haitong, 1986-
(författare)
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A Study of the Swirling Flow Pattern when Using TurboSwirl in the Casting Process
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The use of a swirling flow can provide a more uniform velocity distribution and a calmer filling condition according to previous studies of both ingot and continuous casting processes of steel. However, the existing swirling flow generation methods developed in last decades all have some limitations. Recently, a new swirling flow generator, the TurboSwirl device, was proposed. In this work, the convergent nozzle was studied with different angles. The maximum wall shear stress can be reduced by changing the convergent angle between 40º and 60º to obtain a higher swirl intensity. Also, a lower maximum axial velocity can be obtained with a smaller convergent angle. Furthermore, the maximum axial velocity and wall shear stress can also be affected by moving the location of the vertical runner. A water model experiment was carried out to verify the simulation results of the effect of the convergent angle on the swirling flow pattern. The shape of the air-core vortex in the water model experiment could only be accurately simulated by using the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM). The simulation results were also validated by the measured radial velocity in the vertical runner by the ultrasonic velocity profiler (UVP). The TurboSwirl was reversed and connected to a traditional SEN to generate the swirling flow. The periodic characteristic of the swirling flow and asymmetry flow pattern were observed in both the simulated and measured results. The detached eddy simulation (DES) turbulence model was used to catch the time-dependent flow pattern and the predicted results agree well with measured axial and tangential velocities. This new design of the SEN with the reverse TurboSwirl could provide an almost equivalent strength of the swirling flow generated by an electromagnetic swirling flow generator. It can also reduce the downward axial velocities in the center of the SEN outlet and obtain a calmer meniscus and internal flow in the mold.
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| 9. |
- Chen, Chao, 1989-
(författare)
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Some Aspects on Macroscopic Mixing in a Tundish
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Two aspects on macroscopic mixing in a continuous flow system – metallurgical tundish were studied. Specifically, 1) the first focus was on salt solution tracer mixing, which is important for tundish design from perspectives of tracer technology and Residence Time Distributions (RTD) as well as for the understanding of the macroscopic mixing in tundishes. The different amounts of salt solution tracer mixing in a tundish were studied by using both physical models and mathematical models. The disturbance of KCl salt tracer on the flow in the tundish with respect to different amounts is like the “butterfly effect”, i.e. only a slight increase of the amount of tracer, the flow field might be disturbed. This, in turn, will result in a shifted RTD curve. 2) The second focus was on Eulerian modeling of inclusions macroscopic transport and removal, which is important for tundish design from perspectives of inclusions removal and to provide information of macroscopic removal of inclusions. In the study, an approach that combined the meso-scale inclusions deposition at turbulent boundary layers of steel-slag interface and the macroscopic transport of inclusions in the tundish was used. The theoretical calculation results showed that the effect of the roughness on the deposition velocity of small inclusions (radius of 1 μm) were more pronounced than that for the big inclusions (up to the radius of 9 μm). The dynamic inclusions removal studies showed that the tundish with a weir and a dam exhibited a better performance with respect to the removal of bigger inclusions (radii of 5 μm, 7 μm and 9 μm) than that of the case without weirs and dams. However, the tundish without weirs and dams showed a higher removal ratio of smaller inclusions (radius of 1 μm).
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| 10. |
- Dahlin, Anders
(författare)
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Influence of Ladle-slag Additions on BOF-Process Parameters
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The influence of ladle-slag additions on the BOF-process performance were investigated in plant trials. The aim of the study was to recycle ladle slag from secondary steelmaking to the LD-converter to save lime and improve the slag formation. More specifically, two plant trial campaigns covering in total 83 heats, whereof 47 with ladle-slag additions and 36 without ladle-slag additions, were performed. Slag and steel sampling of the process were performed at tapping as well as during blowing at 15, 35, and 65% of the total blowing time. During the first campaign, ladle slag was added through the chute and lime reductions were made manually to correct for the ladle-slag addition. In the second campaign, a development of the approach was made to suite a normal production practice. More specifically, the ladle slag was added through the weight-hopper system and implemented in the process-control system. In this way, the lime additions were reduced automatically by approximately 260 kg per heat. Moreover, the heat balance was compensated with a reduction in the iron-ore consumption. Additionally, the lance program was modified and the lance was lowered in the initial stages of the blow. On the positive side, it was found that no demerits in the metallurgical performance of the process occur when ladle slag is recycled to the BOF-process. Furthermore, only slight affections on the slag composition were found, mainly with respect to the Al2O3 and FeO-content. In addition, the ladle slag was shown to melt during the initial stages of the blow. This contributed to an increased slag weight both during the blow and at tapping. However, a negative effect on the blowing time was experienced during the trials. Although, this effect was more pronounced during the first campaign and could be reduced with a controlled heat balance during the second campaign.
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