A Review of Steel Scrap Melting in Molten Iron‐Carbon Melts

Abstract

In the current economic climate, the recycling of steel scrap is become one of the most interesting tasks for the optimization of integrated steel plants. Steelmaking aspects such as jet/bath interaction, slag formation or foaming, lime dissolution as well as slag/metal reactions have received more attention in recent years than the melting and dissolution phenomena of steel scrap in molten steel baths. Since the dynamic modeling of steelmaking processesespecially the Linz Donawitz oxygen steelmaking process (LD) -is becoming more important, interest in the melting and dissolution behaviour is increasing. Several researchers have investigated the complex transactions of coupled heat and mass transfer in the past. Small-scale experiments are carried out under conditions where only mass transfer or heat transfer were considered. A few authors have reported on pilot-scale investigations or commercial converters. The coupled heat and mass transfer has also been analyzed by several authors in mathematical models and numerical simulations. The present paper reviews the research on steel scrap melting and dissolution done in the last 50 years. A summary of all reported heat and mass transfer coefficients will be given and the differences between natural and forced convection will be explained. In addition, an overview of recently published numerical simulation describing the problem will give an outlook for future work.

Melting Characteristics of Multipiece Steel Scrap in Liquid Steel

“…[15][16][17][18][19] Mathematical model and numerical simulation, as inexpensive and computationally efficient research methods, were widely used to study the melting of steel bar in liquid steel. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] All these simulation methods can intuitively reflect the change of melting morphology of steel bar with time. All the research has certain significance for the melting process of steel scrap in the EAF.…”

“…Based on the coefficients K P , K PT , K LT and K α , the melting time of steel scrap in the EAF can be calculated by Eq. (20).…”

Modeling the Effect of Scrap on the Electrical Energy Consumption of an Electric Arc Furnace

“…A comprehensive review in the field was compiled by Freidrich [11]. Prominent later developments in the field of scrap melting have been summarized in a recent review [12].…”

“…where T HM is the temperature of the molten steel and T liq is the scrap melting temperature. Furthermore, H s is the heat of melting of scrap, c p is the specific heat of scrap, ρ scr is the density of the scrap metal, and h is the heat transfer coefficient in the interface of the molten steel and scrap [12]. The higher the temperature gradient, T HM − T liq , the faster the steel scrap will melt.…”

“…Numerous studies have related the stirring velocity to the mass transfer coefficient on scrap in liquid steel. However, there exists a wide range of reported mass transfer coefficient values for scrap in liquid steel under forced convection [12]. Nevertheless, a commonly deduced relationship between the mass transfer coefficient and the stirring velocity may be written as follows:…”