A Model for Scrap Melting in Steel Converter

A process model for basic oxygen furnace is in development. The full model will include a 2-D axisymmetric turbulent flow model for iron melt, a steel scrap melting model, and a chemical reaction model. A theoretical basis for scrap melting model is introduced in this paper and an in-house implementation of the model is tested in this article independently from the other parts of the full process model. The model calculates a melting curve for the scrap piece and the heat and carbon mass exchange between the melt and the scrap. A temperature and carbon concentration-dependent material data are used for heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion coefficient. The equations are discretized into a moving grid, which is uncommon in literature in the context of scrap melting. A good agreement is found between the modeling results and experiments from literature. Also a heat transfer correlation for dimensionless Nusselt number is determined using the numerical results.