Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Experimental study of rotating dry slag granulation unit: Operating

regimes, particle size analysis and scale up
Ravindra Dhirhi a, Kali Prasad b, Ajay Kumar Shukla b, Sabita Sarkar b, T. Renganathan a, S. Pushpavanam a,⇑,
Marutiram Kaza c
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, India
b
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Madras, India
c
JSW Steel Plant R&D Centre, Toranagallu, India

h i g h l i g h t s

Operating conditions for fiber and particle formation are determined.

Effect of liquid flowrate, rpm and disc diameter on particle diameter is studied.

The particle size followed a lognormal distribution.

Dimensionless correlation for particle size is obtained in terms of Re, Oh and We.

Methodology of scale up from lab experiments to commercial plant is detailed.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Blast furnace slag is a high-value by-product of the iron and steel industry. It leaves the plant at a very
Received 16 March 2016 high temperature and possesses a large quantity of high-grade energy. One of the promising methods
Revised 5 July 2016 to extract this energy is dry slag granulation. In this study, the effectiveness of dry slag granulation
Accepted 6 July 2016
was studied using a mixture of rosin and paraffin wax as an analogue for blast furnace slag. The effects
Available online 7 July 2016
of various parameters such as rotational speed of the disc, diameter of the disc and flow rate of the
molten liquid have been studied. Different ranges of operating conditions in terms of non-dimensional
Keywords:
numbers for fiber formation and particle formation were determined. This helps us determine the
Dry slag granulation
Rotating disc
operating conditions under which particle formation is ensured. The study shows that with an increase
Operating regime in the rotational speed or disc diameter the average particle diameter decreases whereas with an increase
Scale up in the flow rate the average particle diameter increases. The design of a granulation unit for a commercial
Blast furnace slag plant utilizing the data from lab scale experiments is discussed.
Particle diameter Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction significance since it can result in making the process energy

The production of crude steel has increased significantly over
the past decade. For example, the total crude steel production in
Asia has gone up from 599 million tons in 2005 to 1139 million
tons in 2014 [1]. Blast furnace (BF) slag is one of the main
by-products of iron and steel industry. Approximately 0.3 tons of
BF slag is produced for each ton of steel manufactured. The BF slag
comes out at temperatures ranging from 1400 to 1500 °C and each
ton carries 1.77 GJ of energy at 1500 °C [2]. Consequently, in Asia
alone 340 million tons of BF slag is produced with energy content
of 6  108 GJ. Heat recovery from BF slag is hence of great
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: spush@iitm.ac.in (S. Pushpavanam).
efficient.
BF slag is mainly composed of CaO, SiO2, Al2O3 and MgO. These
are the primary constituents of Portland cement. It can be used as
an effective substitute for cement if the glassy content of the slag
particles is high. The morphology of the slag particles directly
depends on the cooling rate of the slag. Because of the limitation
of natural resources for making concrete, a major focus of the civil
engineering community is the utilization of waste products as a
substitute for concrete without compromising on the properties
of concrete. Buddhdev and Varia [3] found that BF slag particles
with a significant glassy phase content can be used to replace sand
in concrete. Currently, water quenching is used widely across the
industries for immediate cooling of BF slag to get a glassy product.
A primary drawback of this method is the consumption of large

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.07.049
1359-4311/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906
Nomenclature
d number average particle diameter, m
R radius of the disc, m
Q volumetric flowrate of liquid, m3 s1
x angular velocity of the rotating disc, rad s1
l viscosity of liquid, Pa s
q density of liquid, kg m3
r surface tension of liquid, N m1
Re Reynolds number
We Weber number
amounts of water and the fact that the energy from the slag is not
recovered. Water quenching also causes air pollution by the
emission of toxic gases such as sulphides in the atmosphere.
To overcome the above drawbacks various heat recovery tech-
nologies based on dry slag granulation have been proposed. These
include use of a rotating cylinder [4,5], air blast [6] and centrifugal
granulation system for BF slag [7]. Out of these, the centrifugal
granulation system offers great promise because of its low cost,
compact design, minimal power consumption and ease of
operation [2].
In this method, the molten slag is added at a controlled flowrate
on a rotating disc, over which it spreads uniformly as a thin film
and moves radially outwards. The thin sheet of fluid breaks into
ligaments or droplets when it reaches the perimeter of the disc.
Droplets solidify to become particles and the heat of the particles
is extracted by either physical or chemical methods. Sun et al. [8]
reviewed the various chemical methods for heat recovery and
suggested that a combination of both physical and chemical
methods is the best for heat recovery from slags.
An important aspect of this technique is the design of a rotary
disc granulation system to meet the twin objectives of (i) obtaining
granules of a particular size which will favour heat recovery and
(ii) simultaneously ensure that the product can be used as a
substitute for Portland cement. This has led to many studies on
the flow behaviour of various liquids on rotating discs. Liu et al.
[9] experimentally studied the liquid disintegration by a rotary
cup and found that, at a particular liquid flow rate and cup diam-
eter the system shifts from direct droplet formation to ligament
formation with an increase in rotational speed. They found that a
further increase may lead to the merging of the ligaments to form
a sheet. Frost [10] experimentally developed the criteria for
different modes of droplet formation. They found that the droplet
size in ligament formation mode depends on the angular speed
of disc, disc diameter, liquid flow rate, surface tension, viscosity
and density. Xie et al. [11] studied the effects of processing condi-
tions in centrifugal atomization of tin and found that premature
solidification of the melt on the disc and poor wetting of the disc
by the melt caused unsuccessful atomization. Zhou et al. [12]
carried out an experimental analysis of the dry slag granulation
process using blast furnace slag and reported the effect of slag
discharge temperature and the rotating speed of the disc on the
particle size distribution and sphericity. Ahmed and Youssef [13]
studied the effect of different configurations of spinning disc and
cup atomizers on the Sauter mean diameter and compared it with
that obtained from a regular flat disc. They reported that the
regular flat disc is energy efficient and has higher stability at high
rotating speeds. Teunou and Poncelet [14] produced paraffin
microbeads using hot liquid paraffin on a rotating disc and derived
a theoretical model to predict the trajectory of a droplet travelling
in static air. Sungkhaphaitoon et al. [15] developed a mathematical
model to predict the trajectory of flying zinc droplets from the edge
899
Oh Ohnesorge number
H(p) uncertainty
H⁄(p) normalised uncertainty
Nbins number of bins
N number of particles
pk probability of kth bin
di diameter of ith particle
of the disc. Wang et al. [16,17] developed a mathematical model
for free surface film flow on a rotating disc and found that it is
mainly governed by the balance between centrifugal and Coriolis
forces and viscous drag. They proposed a mathematical model to
characterise ligament formation at the edge of the disc and found
that the number of ligaments increases with an increase in
rotational speed, slag density and slag tapping rate but decreases
with increasing viscosity and surface tension. Some researchers
have also used CFD simulations to simulate the flow on the disc,
ligament formation on the periphery and to study the effects of
operating parameters on spreading of liquids [18,19].
While the above studies focussed on the granulation techniques
there is another body of literature which focuses on the heat
recovery from blast furnace slag particles. Several scientists have
proposed different methods for heat recovery. Liu et al. [20] stud-
ied the thermal energy recovery from slag particles using a gravity
bed heat boiler and reported that a decrease in slag particle diam-
eter and increase in descending velocity increases the heat transfer
coefficient. Sun et al. [21] proposed a multistage method for heat
recovery from high-temperature slag, which will help extract
waste heat and at the same time obtain a glassy phase in slag
particles. Zhang et al. [22] reviewed the different heat recovery
technologies and listed various technical challenges such as high
viscosity and low thermal conductivity of slag, requirement of
rapid cooling for glassy product, which have to be considered
before choosing a method. Another challenge is that the output
of the waste heat recovery should be preferably continuous while
the slag discharge from the furnace is discontinuous. Purwanto
et al. [23] developed a mathematical model for optimizing the
dry granulation process and predicting the cooling rate and
temperature distribution within the particle.
Several studies have focussed on the flow of liquid on a rotating
disc and particle formation. However, data from the experimental
studies of dry slag granulation using either BF slag or its analogue
is scarce. Lab scale experiments with simulants have been used to
obtain data and develop empirical correlations in terms of dimen-
sionless numbers. The range of validity of the available correlations
in the literature is however not available. The range of operating
conditions under which particle formation is ensured is also not
known. Besides most of these studies do not focus on how the data
can be used for scale-up to commercial operations.
The focus of the work in this paper is to address the above gaps
in the literature. This paper focuses on an experimental study of
dry slag granulation process using an analogue for BF slag
(a mixture of rosin and paraffin wax). This analogue can be used
to experimentally study dry slag granulation at a relatively low
temperature of 130 °C compared to BF slag at 1500 °C. Different
ranges of operating conditions in terms of dimensionless numbers
for fiber formation and particle formation have been developed.
The effect of various parameters such as rotational speed of the
disc, liquid flowrate and disc diameter on the average particle
900 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906
diameter, are experimentally studied in this work. The operating
conditions like liquid flow-rate have been controlled accurately
using a device for which a patent has been filed. Based on the
experimental data correlations have been developed for obtaining
particle diameter in terms of dimensionless groups. In this work
the range of validity, in terms of non-dimensional numbers have
been specified. We also discuss how the correlations can be used
to carry out a scale up analysis to design a dry slag granulation unit
for a commercial plant. For a particular size of particle, we have
presented operating conditions graphically which can be directly
used to design a commercial granulation unit.
2. Experimental details
2.1. Experimental setup
A schematic of the experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 1. A rotat-
ing disc of aluminium with thickness 10 mm is mounted on an
aluminium shaft with diameter 30 mm and height 18 mm. This is
driven by a motor with a VFD (variable frequency drive) controller
which controls the rotational speed of the motor from 0 to
2000 rpm. Discs of different diameters, 60 mm, 75 mm and 90 mm
were mounted on the shaft and used in the experiments. The disc-
shaft assembly was fully enclosed in a structure made of mild steel.
The top portion of this enclosure was cylindrical in shape (diameter
1000 mm, height 150 mm) and the bottom portion was in the shape
of a frustum (upper diameter 1000 mm, lower diameter 160 mm,
height 180 mm). The top edge of the frustum and the bottom edge
of the cylinder were welded together. The top edge of the cylinder
was covered with mild steel sheet. This had an opening of diameter
500 mm in the centre through which the molten feed could be
poured on the disc. The flowrate and temperature of the input liquid
were controlled at set values during all the experiments.
2.2. The choice of the working medium
The diameter of the particles is determined by the disc diameter,
the rotational speed of the disc, the flow-rate of the liquid, the
1-Electric heater, 2-Aluminium disc, 3-Cylindrical enclosure, 4-Stand, 5-VFD controller, 6-
Electric motor, 7-Liquid outlet, 8-PID controller, 9-Parafin wax and Rosin mixture feed
Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental setup.
density, surface tension and viscosity of the fluid. This relationship
can be characterised in the form of dimensionless numbers. A
dimensionless analysis shows that the ratio of the particle diameter
to disc radius is a function of three non-dimensional numbers
namely Reynolds number, Ohnesorge number and Weber number
[24]:
4qQ
Re ¼ ð1Þ
plR
l
Oh ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð2Þ
qrR
qx2 R3
We ¼ ð3Þ
r
To choose a suitable analogue for BF slag which works at a rel-
atively low temperature of 105–130 °C, there must be equality of
Ohnesorge number between the BF slag and analogue. It is found
that when the mass ratio of rosin to paraffin wax is maintained
at 4:1, the value of Ohnesorge number of the mixture in the
interval 105–130 °C can be made equal to the value of Ohnesorge
number of the BF slag in the interval 1400–1500 °C [25]. Hence a
4:1 ratio by weight of a mixture of Rosin (a gum) and paraffin
wax was chosen as the working material in all experiments. Table 1
contains the properties of the blast furnace slag and the rosin-wax
mixture taken from Min et al. [25].
2.3. Procedure
The 4:1 rosin and paraffin wax mixture was heated to 135 °C
and its temperature was controlled using the PID controller. The
molten mixture falls at a constant flow-rate on the rotating disc.
The temperature drop of the molten slag when it reaches the disc
was measured to be in the range of 3–6 °C for different operating
conditions. Consequently the properties of the slag were
determined accounting for an average temperature drop of 5 °C.
The volume of the liquid used for each run was fixed at 10 ml
 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906 901

Table 1 number were obtained. For values of Re below the lower transition
Physical properties of slag and rosin:paraffin wax mixture [25]. Re, fibers were obtained in the experiments while for values of Re
Material Physical properties Temperature (°C) above the higher transition Re particles were obtained. For Re
q (kg/m ) l (Pa s) r (N/m)
3 values in between these transition values a mixture of particles
and fibers were obtained. Transition values of Re were obtained
Rosin-Wax (4:1) mixture 956 0.102 0.041 115
BF slag 2613 0.605 0.538 1450
for different rotational speeds (We). The operational diagram of
Re vs We was obtained for different disc diameters (Oh).
In Figs. 2 and 3 the dimensionless number space of Re and We is
Table 2
divided into different regions. Three separate regions are
Operating conditions used in the study. identified: in the first region where Re is sufficiently low only fiber
formation is favored. In the second region when the Re is higher
Parameter Range
than the lower transition value for a fixed We, there is a transition
Temperature of the input liquid 135 °C from pure fiber formation to both particle and fiber formation.
Flowrate of input liquid 1–3.5 ml/s (at an interval of 0.5 ml/s)
Here both fibers and particles are formed in different fractions. In
Rotational speed of the disc 750–1500 rpm (at an interval of 150)
the third region above the higher transition Re only particle
formation is favored. For the Dry Slag Granulation process, it is
hence necessary to work with a Reynolds number larger than the
and the flow-rate range investigated was 1–3.5 ml/s. The rotating
higher transition value i.e., in the region where only particle
speed was varied from 750 to 1500 rpm (see Table 2).
formation is favored. The region where particle formation is
Samples of particles produced were collected on A4 size papers
favored is depicted in Figs. 2 and 3 for two different Oh numbers
kept along the inner surface of the frustum where the particles get
0.036 and 0.045. The primary reason for the fiber formation in
deposited. Three sheets were kept at angular distances of 120
the unit is premature solidification of the ligaments leaving the
degrees around the disc. An analysis of the particles confirmed that
rotating disc. At low flowrates the amount of the liquid on the disc
the distribution is axisymmetric hence for further analysis
is low, so it tends to cool faster and solidify. Consequently, when
particles were collected only at one region of the frustum.
the ligaments break into droplets, they do not get detached fully.
Experiments at different operating conditions were selected at
The link between the ligament and the droplets keeps extending
random and repeated twice for ensuring reproducibility. Before
and this results in the formation of fibers. An image of the fibers
starting each experiment the centre of the disc and the liquid jet
formed under these conditions is shown in Fig. 4(a) and (b).
coming out of the container were aligned to ensure that the jet
The critical values of the Reynolds number for fiber formation
always fell onto the centre of the disc.
and particle formation calculated using the above data is correlated
in the form of dimensionless numbers and is given by Eqs. (4) and
2.4. Analysis (5).
For fiber formation
Particles deposited on the paper were collected and analysed
after each experiment. The particles had solidified by the time they 1:36
Re < 0:15Oh We0:51 0:036 < Oh < 0:045; 3850 < We
reached the wall. They adhered to the paper and were assumed to
be spherical. The particle size distribution and the average size of < 62; 850 ð4Þ
the particles were analysed using the software ‘‘ImageJ”. The
calibration of the software was confirmed using spherical particles Eq. (4) is valid for the range specified with an accuracy of ±11%.
of known size. The resolution of the images taken using Canon EOS For particle formation
1100D was 4272  2848 pixels. The correlation between the
1:64
dimensionless number average particle diameter and the Re > 3:22Oh We0:33 0:036 < Oh < 0:045; 3850 < We
non-dimensional numbers was obtained using a regression
< 62; 850 ð5Þ
analysis.
Eq. (5) is valid for the same range of Oh and We as (4) with an
3. Results and discussion error of ±5.5%.

3.1. Range of fiber and particle formation

The operating conditions of the experiment determine the

behaviour of the liquid on the disc. Depending on the operating
conditions it was observed that particles or fibers or a mixture of
particles and fibers are produced. Fiber formation is undesirable
in the process of dry slag granulation. It is hence important to
study experimentally the conditions which lead to fiber formation
so that this can be avoided. Since the experiments are done at a
fixed temperature, once the radius of the disc is fixed, Oh also gets
fixed. So to define the conditions for fiber formation we observe
how the performance of the system depends on flowrate and
rotational speed which are captured in the two non-dimensional
numbers, Re and We. To find the operating conditions under which
fibers or particles are formed in terms of Re and We, first the
rotational speed of the disc was fixed and the critical values of
flowrate were found by visually observing the texture of the
product formed (particles or fibers). For every rotational speed or Fig. 2. Classification of Reynolds number - Weber number space showing regions of
Weber number, two transition values of flowrates or Reynolds fiber and particle formation for a fixed Ohnesorge number of 0.036.
902 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906
Fig. 3. Classification of Reynolds number - Weber number space showing regions of
fiber and particle formation for fixed Ohnesorge number of 0.045.
3.2. Particle size analysis
An image of the particles collected in the sample during an
experiment using a disc diameter of 90 mm, rpm of 1200, a feed
temperature of 135 °C and liquid flowrate 1 ml/s is shown in
Fig. 5. It is observed that the particle diameter increases as we go
farther from the centre a trend similar to the results in Min et al.
[25]. This is attributed to the higher deceleration of the particles
with small mass. A particle size distribution obtained from analysis
using ImageJ is shown in Fig. 6. Here the y-axis represents the
normalised probability distribution function. The normalization is
such that the area under the curve is unity. Since the ImageJ
differentiates between particles and the plain surface based on
the intensity of the pixels, sometimes very small regions of plain
surface with low intensity are taken as particles. So based on the
observation of an actual sample, a range of the diameters of
particles is fixed in the analysis within which the particles are
counted. It is observed that the particle size distribution follows
a log normal distribution. This is consistent with the results of
Xie et al. [11].
The uncertainty in the probability distributions of the samples
is estimated following Shannon [26] using
X
N bin
HðpÞ ¼  pk lnðpk Þ ð6Þ
k¼1
This is normalised as,
 makes the diameter of the ligaments larger and resulting in bigger
H ðpÞ ¼ HðpÞ=Hmax ð7Þ
Fig. 4. Image of the fibers formed: (a) coiled fibers along the shaft of the disc and (b) fibers collected on a sheet.
where Hmax is the maximum uncertainty given by ln(Nbins). Here we
have used the number of bins Nbins as 50. The normalised
uncertainty calculated for the samples varied from 0.8 to 0.92 over
the range of operating conditions investigated. This is in the same
range as the values calculated in Panao and Moreira [27]. Using
the correlation proposed in that work the uncertainty associated
with the error in the measurements of drop size lies between
0.44% and 3.12%.
Keeping in mind the industrial application the number mean
diameter was chosen as the relevant parameter to characterise
the average particle size. This is defined as:
P
i di
d¼ ð8Þ
N
The particle size distribution and the number mean particle size
are dependent on the operating conditions. We now discuss how
the mean particle size varies with each of the operating parameters
when all other parameters are fixed.
3.2.1. Effect of rotational speed of the disc and liquid flowrate
Variation of the number average particle diameter with
rotational speed for disc diameter of 60 mm and 90 mm is shown
in Fig. 7(a) and (b) respectively. It is observed that the average
diameter of the particles decreases non-linearly with an increase
in the rotational speed of the disc. This is attributed to the fact that,
with an increase in the rotational speed the thickness of the liquid
film on the disc reduces and hence the diameter of the ligaments
gets reduced which results in smaller particles. For the disc
diameter of 60 mm, in the rpm range of 750–1200, the rate of
change of the average diameter of the particles with rotational
speed is comparatively higher than that in the rpm range of
1200–1500. If the rpm is increased further the average diameter
of the particles becomes constant. Similar results were found for
the disc diameter of 90 mm. Flowrate of the liquid does not have
a significant effect on the rate of change of the average diameter
of the particles with rotational speed. It was also observed that
the particles were more uniform i.e., had a narrow size distribution
for higher rotational speeds. For example, if we move from a rota-
tional speed of 750 rpm to 1500 rpm for a fixed flowrate of 1 ml/s
and disc diameter of 90 mm, a decrease of 20% was observed in the
standard deviation of the distribution. This is attributed to the film
on the disc getting thinner and surface forces becoming dominant
at high rotational speeds. It was observed that average diameter of
the particles increases linearly with an increase in the flowrate of
the liquid. This is again because of the increase in the thickness
of the liquid film on the disc with an increase in the flowrate which
particles.
 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906 903

Fig. 5. Image of the particles deposited on the paper.

Fig. 6. Particle size distribution of the sample.

3.2.2. Effect of disc diameter Fig. 7. Variation of average particle diameter with rotational speed at different flow
It is observed that the average size of the particles decreases rates and disc diameter of (a) 60 mm and (b) 90 mm.

with increase in the diameter of the disc. Keeping the flowrate

and rotational speed fixed, with an increase in the disc diameter
the thickness of the liquid film reduces and there is also an increase
in the number of ligaments formed. Both these factors lead to the
reduction in the diameter of the ligaments and hence result in
smaller particle sizes. As can be observed in Fig. 8, for a liquid
flowrate of 2 and 3 ml/s the rate of change of the particle average
diameter with disc diameter is higher between 60 and 75 mm disc
diameter as compared to that between 75 and 90 mm disc diame-
ter. But for the relatively low values of liquid flowrate of 1 ml/s the
dependency is linear throughout. In Fig. 9, we see that for the lower
rpm of 900 and 1200 the rate of change of the particle average
diameter with disc diameter is higher in the range 60–75 mm disc
diameter as compared to the range of 75–90 mm disc diameter.
But for the higher rpm of 1500, the trend is linear throughout.
Hence, the decrease of the liquid flowrate and increase of the
rotational speed results in a linear dependency of the particle size
on disc diameter.
Fig. 8. Variation of average particle diameter with disc diameter at different
flowrates for 1200 rpm.

3.3. Correlation
A dimensional analysis shows that a correlation exists between
the average dimensionless diameter of the particle and three
non-dimensional numbers, namely Reynolds number, Ohnesorge
number and the Weber number. A regression analysis is performed
to determine the dimensionless correlation. Using the data of
seventy-seven experiments carried out in the present work a
dimensionless correlation given by Eq. (9) is determined.
904 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906

Fig. 9. Variation of average particle diameter with disc diameter at different

rotational speeds for a flowrate of 2 ml/s. Fig. 11. The range of flowrate of BF slag for which the commercial unit can be
designed using the correlation (9).

d
¼ 6:28Re0:21 Oh We0:26
0:92
ðR2 ¼ 0:97Þ ð9Þ
R
The scale up would be valid if the dimensionless groups are
Eq. (9) is valid for the Reynolds number range of 0.55–2.9,
maintained in the interval for which the correlation developed is
Ohnesorge number range from 0.036 to 0.045 and Weber number
valid. To aid the scale-up and design of commercial unit, plots
range from 3850 to 51,940. It is observed that the signs of the
are prepared in terms of the operating variables. These plots are
exponents of the three non-dimensional numbers match with that
obtained as follows. Using the range of Oh for which the correlation
of Kitamura equation [24] although their magnitudes are slightly
is valid and the properties of BF slag, two values of disc radius are
different. This is attributed to possible differences in the experi-
found from the upper and lower bounds of Oh. Any value of the
mental conditions, for instance, the surface finish or roughness of
radius falling in this range can be used for the design of the
the disc used in the two studies. It also depends on how accurately
commercial unit since this will be in the range of Oh studied. For
the operating conditions were controlled at the set values. For
the range of the radius found above, keeping the Re and We range
instance, we have used a controller developed in-house to main-
same as that applicable for the correlation, the range of liquid
tain the flowrate of the molten slag at the set value [28]. A plot
flowrate and rotational speed is determined. Here for each value
between the experimental diameter of the particle and the diame-
of radius two values of liquid flowrate and rotational speed are
ter predicted by the developed correlation is shown in Fig. 10. It
obtained using the upper and lower bounds of Re and We. These
can be seen that the developed correlation predicts the experimen-
values of liquid flowrate and rotational speed are plotted in Figs. 11
tal particle diameter satisfactorily with an RMS error of ±6.1%.
and 12 respectively as a function of the disc radius. In each figure,
the region lying between the two lines is the range of the operating
3.4. Scale up analysis variables in which the correlation is valid for scale up. For example,
for a commercial plant having a disc radius of 0.13 m, the correla-
We now discuss how the results of the current study can be tion is valid for a BF slag flowrate from 2 to 11 kg/min and rpm of
applied to design a dry slag granulation unit for an industrial plant. 180 to 670 rpm.
The dimensionless correlation and the range of dimensionless
numbers can also be used to decide the range of operating

Fig. 10. Comparison of the experimental average diameter with that predicted Fig. 12. The range of rotational speed for which the commercial unit can be
using the developed correlation. designed using the correlation (9).
 R. Dhirhi et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 107 (2016) 898–906
Fig. 13. Operating conditions for getting particle diameter of 3 mm using disc of
different radii.
variables to get particles of specified size. Such a plot is shown in
Fig. 13 for a particle size of 3 mm. This plot is prepared as follows.
The range of radius of the disc is obtained as explained above
(using the range of Oh). Then for a chosen radius of disc, the range
of rotational speed is obtained as above (using the range of We).
For different rotational speeds in this range, the flowrate of BF slag
that would result in a particle size of 3 mm is determined using the
correlation, such that the Reynolds number lies in the range for
which the correlation is valid. This calculation is repeated for dif-
ferent radii of disc and the results are shown in Fig. 13. This figure
can now be used to design a commercial DSG unit. For example, to
obtain a particle size of 3 mm with a slag flow rate of 3 kg/min, and
a disc diameter of 140 mm a rotational speed of 500 rpm should be
maintained. Different combinations of disc diameter and the
respective rpm for the same specification of particle diameter
and slag flow rate can also be obtained using Fig. 13.
4. Conclusions
In this work, a centrifugal granulation system was studied using
a flat disc and a mixture of rosin and paraffin wax in the ratio of
4:1, as an analogue for BF slag. The operating conditions for fiber
formation and particle formation were determined in terms of rel-
evant dimensionless numbers: Re, Oh, We. The effect of various
operating parameters such as rotating speed of the disc, flow-
rate of the liquid and disc diameter on the particle size obtained
were studied experimentally under controlled conditions. Using
the experimental data a correlation was developed, which can be
used to predict the average particle diameter given the experimen-
tal parameters. The range of validity of the correlation has also
been specified explicitly in this work.
The main findings from the above research are:
(1) For a given rotational speed, the formation of fibers occurs at
low flowrates of liquid. Since fiber formation is undesirable
one can use the correlations given in Eqs. (4) and (5) to
determine the range of operating conditions in which
particle formation is ensured.
(2) The particle sizes follow a lognormal distribution for the
entire range of operating conditions studied in the present
work.
905
(3) Average particle diameter increases with an increase in the
flowrate and decrease in the rotational speed. It decreases
with an increase in the disc diameter. The average particle
diameter obtained was in the range of 0.7–1.9 mm for the
entire range of operating conditions in this work.
(4) The results of the present study can be directly used for
designing a commercial plant for processing BF slag with a
processing capacity of 2–16 kg/min. In this study, we have
outlined how the scale up to the commercial unit can be per-
formed from the lab scale experiments.
Acknowledgement
We wish to acknowledge JSW Steel Limited and Ministry of
Steel, Govt. of India for joint funding of this project under
‘JSW-IITM Center for Applied Research’ through grant number:
RB/1516/CHE/002/JSWS/SPUS.
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