Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Dr S K Dutta, Member
R Sah, Non-member
Smelting reduction processes, without using coke, are alternative ironmaking technologies for production of hot metal. Gases, which are
generated due to reaction, cannot be removed from the reactor without foaming of the slag. Characteristics of foaming slag are important in the
smelting reduction processes. Main foaming parameters are foaming index and foam life.In this paper measurement of foaming index and
influence of additives on foam are discussed.
Keywords : Alternate ironmaking ; Non-coking coal ; Slag foam ; Foaming index ; Foam life
In most of the smelting reduction processes, coal and iron ore are FOAMING PARAMETERS
injected into an iron bath, the main reactions are the cracking of the
coal and the reduction of iron oxide in the slag phase by solid carbon Foaming Index
and carbon dissolved in metal. Therefore, a large amount of CO and
H2 gases are evolved when a high production rate is maintained. The Considerable research activities were concentrated toward
gases at the slag-metal or slag-carbon interface, as a result, form understanding the foaming behaviour of slag in the past decade, the
bubbles and the volume of the slag increases extensively due to major contribution coming from Fruehan and co-workers4,5,7,8. They
foaming5, ie, the gases cannot come out from the reactor through measured the foaming behavior of different slags. To quantify the
the slag phase without foaming. Slag foams are formed, when gas foaming behaviour, Ito and Fruehan5 defined the foaming index
bubbles entrapped in the slag can not readily coalesce and foam (Σ, s) of the slag as
s
Table 1 Coal reserves in India2 ∑ = h / Vg (1)
Type of Coal Reserves, Mt Percentage of Total where h is the height (cm) of the foam at steady state when gas with
Coking coal 28 031 15.4
Non-coking coal 148 284 81.3 superficial velocity ( V gs , cm /s) is passed through it.
Lignite 5 978 3.3
Total 182 293 100.0 s
The superficial gas velocity ( V g ) is defined as
where k, N and Vb are the rate constant for bubble rupture (s-1),
The foam height (h) is expressed as a function of void function and
total number of bubbles, and average volume of a gas bubble (cm3),
foam layer thickness (L , cm)
respectively.
h =αL (4)
The total volume of foam and the bubbles volume are can be related
by:
Finally, foaming index is expressed in terms of the foam layer and α = NVb / V (9)
actual gas velocity as where α is the average void fraction and V is the volume of foam
∑ = L / Vg (5) (cm3).
From equation (5) it is clear that foaming index means the average Using equations (8) and (9), equation (7) can be written as:
gas travelling time through the foamed layer. This equation is valid d V / d t = Q − kαV (10)
when void function (α) is independent of foam height (h), ie, void
function can be assumed as constant. The foaming index was found where Q is the rate of gas generation or injection (cm3/s). If foam
to be independent of reactor size for reactor diameter greater than is produced in a reactor of uniform cross sectional area, the
3 cm and depends only on the physical properties of the slag4. equation (10) can be written as:
Knowing the foaming index of the slag, the gas evolution rate, and d h / d t = V gs − kαh (11)
the reactor size, the foam height in any process can be calculated.
Foaming index is defined by equation (1), so equation (11) becomes:
The foaming index means the foaming ability of the slag in the
foam caused by blowing gas. So, the foaming index has been d h / d t = ( h / ∑ ) − kαh (12)
correlated as a function of the physical properties such as the density,
viscosity, and surface tension of the liquid slag. Zhang and Fruehan7 Therefore, at steady state, equation (12) can be written as:
have demonstrated that the foaming index is also inversely ∑ = 1/( αk ) (13)
proportional to the gas bubble size. For dimensional analysis, Jiang
and Fruehan4 have assumed that the foaming index is a function of The bubble rupture takes place due to drainage of the liquid. The
all the variables and dimensional constants that may affect the average foam life (τ, s) is defined as10
foaming index (Σ).
τ = (1/V0 )∫ t d V (14)
Therefore, where V0 is an initial liquid volume (cm3) in foam.
∑ = f ( µ, σ, ρ, d b ) (6)
Again,
where µ, σ, and ρ are the viscosity (g /cm-s), surface tension (g /s2),
V = V0 (1 − e −kt ) (15)
and density (g /cm3) of slag respectively, and db is the gas bubble
diameter (cm).
Therefore,
Foam Life
d V / d t = kV0 e −kt (16)
Σ,s
5
Ito and Fruehan5 found that the foaming index was independent
of reactor diameter (>3.2 cm) and wall effects were small. Foaming 1573 K
index decreased with increasing basicity (B = CaO / SiO2) upto a 2 1673 K
maximum (B=1.2 to 1.22) and then increased (Figure 3) at 1673K
due to presence of second phase particles (CaO or 2CaO. SiO2). The
1
1.50 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
CaO/(SiO2+Al2O3)
1.25 Figure 3 Relation between foaming index Σ and the basicity ratio of the
slag at 1573K and 1673 K
Foaming height, cm
56 IE(I) Journal-MM
Jiang and Fruehan 4 have conducted slag forming measurements in
terms of the foaming index on reduction smelting slags (CaO - SiO2
- FeO, CaO - SiO2 - MgO - Al2O3 - FeO) at 1773 K and found that
the slag foam stability decreases with increasing FeO (>2 %) content
and basicity. For the slag system (CaO - SiO2 - FeO), no stable foam
was observed at very low FeO content (< 2%). As percent of FeO
Foam
increases, the slag foaming index goes through a maximum and
then decreases. Foams formed from gases, resulting from chemical
reactions on metal surfaces, have significantly smaller bubbles and
Pellet
more stability.
4
and consequently dissolving some of the second phase particles. Added 3 µm coke
MgO increases foaming index probably because it increases the
amount of solid particles in the slag. 3
Zhang and Fruehan 7 found that the anti-foam effect of coke or coal 2
char particles was primarily contributed by the non-wetting nature
of the carbonaceous materials with the liquid slag. Wu, et al 11 also 1
investigated foaming behaviour of slag with addition of additives
such as coal, coke, graphite and CaO. The effect of different coke size 0
on the foam behaviour of slag at 1773 K is shown in Figure 5. The 0 2 1 3 4
foam height increases with fine powder coke (76 µm and 105 µm) Flow rate,V, cm-s-1
and decreases with grain coke (1 mm and 3 mm). Effect of number Figure 5 Effect of various coke sizes on form behavior of sample slag at
of particle and size of coke on foaming index for laboratory 1773 K
experimental data is shown in Table 3 7. In the smelting reduction Hara and Ogino 13 also studied the effect of surface active components
process of the thick slag layer, it is very important to keep slag height on foaming of slag. They found that vigorous foaming appears
stable without abnormal slag foaming. Adding carbonaceous material when the slag contains components, which stabilize the bubble,
can control the slag foaming. especially surface active components such as SiO2, P2O5, and CaF2.
Vol 86, October 2005 57
The mechanism of the stabilization of the foam is considered to be REFERENCES
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contributed by the non-wetting nature of the carbonaceous materials 10, October 2000, p 954.
with the liquid slag. Adding carbonaceous material can control the
12. Y Ogawa, H Katayama, H Hirata, N Tokumitsu and M Yamauchi. Iron Steel
slag foaming. Wettability between the particle and the slag is the Inst Jpn Int, vol 32, no 1, January 1992, p 87.
key factor in determining the ability of the particle to control
foaming of slag. 13. S Hara and K Ogino. Iron Steel Inst Jpn Int, vol 32, no 1, January 1992, p 81.
58 IE(I) Journal-MM