Features of the Microstructure and Chemical Compositions of Vanadium-Containing Slags Including Determination of Vanadium Oxidation Degrees

Metallurgical vanadium-containing converter slag could be used as an alternative vanadium source. The development of a physico-chemical basis for the comprehensive processing of industrial vanadium-containing debris requires information about their elemental composition as well as the oxidation degrees of the elements and forms of compounds in order to solve two key problems: a better utilization of industrial wastes and a lowering of environment impact. This research was aimed at the development of methods to determine the fractions of elements and their oxidation degrees in vanadium-containing industrial debris exemplified by basic oxygen converter vanadium slags. A set of bulk and surface analysis methods (X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)) was used for this purpose: based on results of elemental analysis, SEM detects the oxide phases of metals, while an analysis of the XPS lines’ fine structures provides fractions of corresponding elements with definite oxidation degrees. In this way, one can determine the fractions of vanadium in multiple oxidation degrees in slags and can properly select the chemicals and parameters of chemical processes for its fullest extraction.

Isothermal Experimental Study on the Effects of Converter Bath Shape on the Melt Mixing

The effects of the bath shape, oxygen lance nozzles structure, and lance level on liquid steel mixing time and splashing amount were studied by experiment orthogonal design with 1:10 water model for 100 t basic oxygen converter modeling. The results showed that the stirring effect in the bath can be improved by changing the shape on the bath surface around the furnace wall with arc-shaped structure which can shorten the mixing time and reduce the liquid slag and steel splashing amount of the lining, and result in reducing metal lose and prolong the life of the lining.

Numerical Analysis of Multiphase Flow in a Steel Oxygen Converter With Top and Bottom Blowing

Combined blowing in the steelmaking basic oxygen converter is a technique that allows more agitation in the metal bath, and gives a fast decarburization rate, accelerated removal of impurities and chemical and thermal homogenization. In this work the multiphase flow in an industrial-like basic oxygen converter with top and bottom blowing is analyzed by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics software. Turbulence in the converter is simulated by means of the classical K-ε model given that this model yields more numerical stability during the integration for long times. Top jet velocities of Mach 1 and Mach 2, and 50 and 100 m s−1 of bottom injection velocities are used, and the results are compared with the conventional top blowing injection. Numerical results show that the combined blowing generates more agitation of the metal bath than that of the top blowing, however, from an operating viewpoint, combined blowing promotes that a significant volume of molten metal be expelled from the converter mouth.