This article deals with the spout eyes developing, at the surface of a metal melt, in the ladle during argon stirring. Cold model experiments involving a mercury bath with an oil layer as slag and industrial experiments on a 350 t steel ladle have been carried out. The eye geometry as measured with a video technique is highly dynamic. The time average of the free surface area and the time fraction of complete coverage have been determined and are represented with dimensionless correlations.

In the present investigation, the height of the spout of a gas plume discharging from the surface of a metal melt has been measured in a laboratory model involving mercury and in real steel ladles. The spout geometry strongly fluctuates with time. This has to be taken into account in the measuring method and data evaluation. Long-term averages of the spout profile and momentary maximum height values have been determined, and it has been found that their nondimensional values are of similar size in the model and in the steel ladle. An engineering formula is presented for the estimation of maximum spout height in argon stirring.

In the present study, the spout region of a gas plume discharging from a melt has been investigated using a water model of 180 cm in height and 160 cm in diameter. The lateral movement of the spout, as measured optically, increases with the gas flow rate and has been found to be Ϯ 20-cm wide or wider, and very fast. The spout height, as measured with video-optical and electrical methods, strongly fluctuates with time. Clear definitions have to be made of the quantities to be determined in the highly dynamic process. Long-time averages of the radial height profiles and momentary maximum height values are reported. It is confirmed that the nondimensional spout height, defined and measured in a certain manner, is independent of the Froude number and of the nondimensional nozzle diameter.

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