A Dynamic Flux Dissolution Model for Oxygen Steelmaking

A modified model for prediction of flux dissolution in oxygen steelmaking process is presented in this study. The aim of this paper is to introduce a procedure for simulating the amount of dissolved lime with respect to the saturation concentration of CaO by coupling the existing thermodynamic and kinetic models simultaneously. The procedure is developed to calculate the saturation concentrations/solubility of CaO in slag using thermodynamic models namely FactSage™, Cell Model, and Thermo-Calc™. Total amount of dissolved lime is evaluated by integrating solubility values in the rate equation of lime dissolution over time taking into account the effects of physical properties and temperature of slag and particle size of flux additions and validated against industrial data available in literature. Comparison between measured and calculated undissolved lime shows a good agreement between them using any thermodynamic models even though there are some differences in the predictions of saturation concentration of CaO in slag. It has been shown that two distinct control mechanisms for lime dissolution in BOF slags exist and consideration of the free lime-controlled mechanism is essential for accurate prediction of dissolution rate of lime in slag.