1.

Introduction
Final composition and temperature adjustments in steel
melt shops are routinely carried out in ladle furnace (LF)
wherein, argon gas is injected into the melt through one or
more porous plugs to expedite the rates of various heat and
mass transfer controlled processes such as, distribution of
heat from arc, alloy and lime dissolution and mixing,
slagmetal reaction, inclusion otation and so on. As the
injected gas escapes to the surrounding, the redirected bulk
ow from the spout region pushes the slag layer radially
outwards, exposing the melt surface to the ambient. The un-
covered area of the melt thus created is typically referred to
as the slag eye and is shown schematically in Fig. 1. Slag
eye is a potential site for re-oxidation, nitrogen pick-up and
slag entrainment/entrapment phenomena and hence can in-
uence the quality of steel profoundly. Therefore, during
the nal stage of ladle rening and immediately prior to
continuous casting, it is customary to practice gentle stir-
ring (commonly termed in the industry as argon rinsing)
of the melt to ensure small eye area. The inuence that op-
erating variables (i.e., argon ow rate, thickness of slag
layer, bath depth etc.) exert on slag eye area is naturally a
subject matter of concern to steelmakers.
Transient, three dimensional, multiphase (i.e., involving
solid slag, liquid slag, argon gas and bulk liquid steel), tur-
bulent ow simulation is a pre-requisite to the numerical
prediction of slag eye area in gas stirred ladles. Such calcu-
lations are invariably complex, time intensive and entail
signicant computational efforts. Furthermore, currently
available CFD soft wares yet do not provide a physically
based and sound framework to carry out modeling of turbu-
lent multiphase ows in steel processing ladles/reactors
with a great deal of accuracy. In the absence of reliable
computational models, macroscopic models, though sim-
plistic, are useful, as these provide reasonable alternatives
for process analysis and design of steelmaking systems.
Consequently, the primary objective of the present work
has been to experimentally investigate the formation of slag
eye in aqueous models of gas stirred ladles and thereby, de-
velop a predictive mathematical frame work in terms of the
key process variables. Towards this, experimental results
1622 2010 ISIJ
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11, pp. 16221631
Modeling of Slag Eye Area in Argon Stirred Ladles
M. PERANANDHANTHAN
1)
and Dipak MAZUMDAR
2)
1) Formerly Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 208016 India. Now at
Research Engineer, JSW Steel Limited, Torangallu, Bellary, Karnataka, India.
2) Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 208016 India.
E-mail: dipak@iitk.ac.in
(Received on May 6, 2010; accepted on August 16, 2010)
Slag eye area in an axi-symmetrical water model of an argon stirred ladle has been measured through
video photography as a function of gas ow rates, liquid depth, slag layer thickness and different types of
upper phase liquid. It is shown that in addition to the principal operating parameters (i.e., gas ow rate, liq-
uid depth and amount of slag), physical properties of the overlying liquid, particularly kinematic viscosity and
density exert considerable inuence on slag eye formation. Based on our experimental observation, it is
shown that existing correlations do not constitute a sufciently reliable basis for prediction of slag eye area
in steelmaking ladles. Accordingly, a new correlation for slag eye area has been formulated through dimen-
sional analysis embodying a large set of experimental data, derived from different combinations of bulk and
upper phase liquids. Polynomial regression indicates that dimensionless slag eye area can be expressed in
terms of Froude number, (U
P
2
/gH), density ratio, (R
L
/Dr), and Reynolds number, (HU
P
/n
s
), via:
in which, A
es
is the eye area, H is the slag layer thickness, h is the bulk liquid depth and U
P
is the average
plume rise velocity. Experimental data reported by many investigators on aqueous as well as industrial scale
ladle gas stirred ladles systems were subsequently applied to demonstrate the adequacy and appropriate-
ness of the proposed correlation. Possible extrapolation of the correlation to eccentric gas injection and
melt covered with a thick slag layer, which are more typical of ladle metallurgy steelmaking, is also exam-
ined.
KEY WORDS: argon stirred ladle; ladle homogenization; slag eye area; water modelling; measurements and
correlations.
A
hH
U
gH HU
es P
2
L s
P

_
,

_
,

_
,

_
,

3 25
1 28
0 55 0 05
.
.
. .

derived from a 1/10 scale water model of a 150 tonne steel

processing ladle, in which, water is agitated by air intro-
duced through a centrally placed nozzle, are presented and
discussed rst. Adequacy of the existing correlations on
slag eye area to present observation is addressed next and
analyzed critically. Subsequently, taking a lead from the
earlier work of Krishnapisharody and Irons, a new, regres-
sion based correlation has been formulated through dimen-
sional analysis and its adequacy and appropriateness
demonstrated with reference to a large number of experi-
mental data reported in the literature. In the following,
starting with a brief review of previous work, experimental
procedure, results, analysis and development of a new cor-
relation are described.
2. Previous Work
Due to overwhelming importance of the subject to steel-
makers, many studies
15)
on the formation of slag eye in
argon stirred ladles have been carried out in recent years
and reported in the literature. Yonezawa and Schwerdt-
feger
1)
were among the rst to report an elaborate experi-
mental study of slag eye area in room temperature as well
as industrials scale gas stirred ladle systems. A video pho-
tographic technique was employed by the authors to meas-
ure eye area. On the basis of such, an empirical relationship
between slag eye area and operating parameters such as,
gas ow rate (Q), thickness of the upper phase (H) liquid,
Liquid depth (h) and nozzle diameter (d
o
) was developed
through polynomial regression. To demonstrate their ap-
proach, industrial scale experimental data derived from a
350 tonne argon stirred ladle was employed. Two different
correlations, each specic to a given gas injection nozzle
diameter, were proposed. One of their correlations, valid
for 0.5 mm diameter nozzle size and 0.01(Q
2
/gH
5
)
10 000, is shown below:
....................(1)
The correlation developed by Yonezawa and Schwerdtfe-
ger
1)
(viz., Eq. (1)), suggests that physical properties of the
upper phase liquid have no inuence on slag eye area. Their
assertion of a nozzle size dependent correlation is also dif-
cult to justify, since ow recirculation produced in gas
stirred ladle systems are not critical to gas injection de-
vices.
69)
Furthermore, nozzle dimension in reality is some-
what ambiguous, since argon is typically injected into steel
processing ladles through one or more porous plugs.
Subagyo et al.
2)
pointed out some short comings in the
work of Yonezawa and Schwerdtfeger.
1)
Treating the gas
liquid plume to be conical in shape, these authors
2)
went on
to show that [A
es
/(hH)
2
)], rather than (A
es
/hH), is a more
meaningful expression for dimensionless slag eye area.
Thus, embodying experimental data from the work of
Yonezawa and Schwerdtfeger, Subagyo and coworkers,
through a fresh polynomial regression, correlated the two
principal non dimensional groups namely, [A
es
/(hH)
2
] and
(Q
2
/gH
5
) and proposed the following relationship for slag
eye area:
.......(2)
Equation (2) was shown to provide a better t to experi-
mental data than Eq. (1) over a wide range of experimental
conditions, including nozzle dimensions. It is important to
emphasize here that the studies of Yonezawa and Schwerdt-
feger as well as Subagyo and coworkers do not acknowl-
edge any inuence, physical properties of the upper phase
liquid might exert on slag eye area.
Following the principles of ladle hydrodynamics,
Mazumdar and Evans
3)
derived a relationship between non-
dimensional slag eye area, (A
es
/h
2
) and (H/Q
2/3
) according
to:
.....................(3)
Experimental data from the work of Yonewaza and
Schwerdtfeger
1)
were used to assess the adequacy of Eq.
(3). Their
3)
analyses indicated that a single correlation is
unlikely to work satisfactorily for both laboratory and in-
dustrial scale gas stirred ladle systems, since the constants
K
1
and K
2
appearing in Eq. (3) were found to be system
specic (i.e., depend on physical properties, gas injection
regimes and so on).
Iguchi and coworkers
4)
were among the rst to quantify
the role of physical properties, particularly density of the
upper phase and bulk liquids, on slag eye area. These au-
thors developed an empirical equation, in terms of density
differentials and centerline plume velocity, for the estima-
tion of slag eye area. Subsequently, a more detailed investi-
gation was carried out by Krishnapisharody and Irons
5)
who
reported measurements on slag eye area in a room-tempera-
A
h
K K
H
Q
es
2
1 2
2 3

_
,

_
,

/
A
h H
Q
gH
es
( )
. .
. .

2
2
5
0 375 0 0136
0 02 0 002

_
,

0 0156
2
5
3
. log
Q
gH

_
,

1
]
1
1
0 14578
2
5
2
. log
Q
gH

_
,

1
]
1
1
log . . log
A
hH
Q
gH
es

_
,

_
,

0 69879 0 90032
2
5
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1623 2010 ISIJ
Fig. 1. A schematic of ladle gas injection operation illustrating
the formation of slag eye.
ture water model in the presence of different upper phase
liquids as a function of gas ow rate, bath depth, and thick-
ness of the overlying liquid. The authors also critically re-
viewed previous studies
13)
and went on to show that avail-
able correlations on slag eye area are largely inadequate to
describe their experimental results. Based on the principles
of momentum conservation, a fresh analysis of the subject
was presented and a new correlation, having the following
general form, was developed
5)
:
.................(4)
In Eq. (4), a and b are the two empirical constants, (A
es
/h
2
)
is the dimensionless slag eye area and (r
L
U
P
2
/DrgH) is the
densimetric Froude number. For the rst time, the inuence
of density of the upper phase vis a vis the bulk liquid on
slag eye area was acknowledged explicitly. The proposition
that slag eye area varies with the square root of densimetric
Froude number was also supported adequately from the ex-
perimental observation of Yonezawa and Schwerdtfeger.
For oilwater system, a and b were assigned to 0.15 and
0.574
5)
respectively and on the basis of such, an explicit
version of Eq. (4) was advocated. Generalization, neverthe-
less, was not helpful and large scatter was noted as data
from various gas liquid systems were tted against Eq. (4).
This, reproduced from Ref. 5), is shown in Fig. 2. Given
such, it is reasonable to assume that we do not yet have a
sufciently reliable frame work to predict slag eye area in
gas stirred ladle systems. Despite advancements in our un-
derstanding of the subject,
15)
possible inuences of surface
tension and kinematic viscosity of the upper phase liquid
on eye area are not known with certainty. Clearly, further
investigation is needed to address such concerns.
3. Present Work
3.1. Experimental
A 1/10th scale water model of a 150 tonne steel ladle
was employed to investigate slag eye area (see Fig. 1), its
formation and size. In this, physical dimensions and operat-
ing parameters in the model ladle were deduced from those
of the full scale system on the basis of geometric and dy-
namic similarity. For ready reference these are summarized
in Table 1. During a typical experiment, the model vessel
was lled up to the predetermined level, requisite amount
of the upper phase liquid was poured in gradually and air/
oxygen injected at the desired rate through a centric nozzle,
placed at the bottom of the vessel. Following a brief ow
establishment period, video recording of the slag eye area
was initiated. The following four steps were generally fol-
lowed to infer eye area from video recording experiments
viz.
a. Video recording was typically carried out for duration
of about 5 min using an arrangement as shown in Fig.
3.
b. Optimum numbers of frames/snapshots (typically about
fteen) at desired time intervals were subsequently cap-
tured from the continuous stream using the VLC
TM
(Video LAN Client) media player and saved in a desk-
top folder in the JPEG format.
c. The area of the eye was estimated from each such cap-
tured images using a pre calibrated (see later) image
processing software (i.e., Image-J)
10)
and nally.
d. On the basis of c, an average eye area, specic to a par-
A
h
U
gH
es L P
2
2
0 5 0 5

_
,

_
,

. .
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1624 2010 ISIJ
Fig. 2. Variation of densimetric Froude number with dimension-
less slag eye area (after Krishnapisharody and Irons
5)
).
Table 1. Physical dimensions and operating parameters in the
model and 150 T industrial scale ladles.
Fig. 3. A schematic of the experimental setup for measurement
of slag eye area.
Table 2. Range of operating conditions employed in the pres-
ent study (R0.15 m).
*
1
Scaling of the nozzle diameter is not relevant since hydrodynamic condition at nozzle are not critical to the overall performance of the gas stirred ladle
systems.
ticular experimental condition was determined.
The range of operating parameters used in the present
study is summarized in Table 2. These were selected in
conformity with industrial ladle metallurgy operations.
9)
Properties of the various upper phase liquids employed in
this study are shown in Table 3. There, as one would note,
substantial differences exist between full scale and model
systems as far as physical properties of the upper phase vis
a vis the bulk liquid are concerned. Exact correspondence
between full scale and model systems is difcult, if not im-
possible, and therefore, buoyant liquids with different den-
sity, viscosity etc. were employed to investigate and quan-
tify the possible inuences of physical properties of the
upper phase liquids on slag eye area.
3.2. Calibration of Image-J
10)
and Reliability of Mea-
surements
Image-J
TM
employs a reference pixel to dimension ratio
i.e., a calibration constant and applies the same to infer
length or area from an image. This ratio was determined a
priori and estimated on the basis of the vessel dimeter
(0.30 m) which was purposefully included in the eld of
video recording. Calibration was mandatorily done before
each experiment since it was difcult to always position
precisely and maintain a constant height of the camera from
the bath surface, since liquid depth and slag layer thickness
varied from one experiment to another. Following video
recording and capture of requisite numbers of frames, eye
area in each image/snapshot was approximated in Image-J
via a smooth curve as accurately as possible. Correspond-
ing numerical value is then obtained through the compute
area option, available in the Image-J panel.
*
2
Discontinuous discharge of bubble from the nozzle, wan-
dering of the plume etc. make slag eye area vary with time.
It is therefore important to know the inuence of duration
of recording, number of captured frames as well as the time
differentials between ssuccessive frames on the estimated
eye area. Accordingly, standardaization experiments were
carried out with staturated salt solution as the bulk phase
(h0.12 m) and petroleum ether as the upper phase liquid
(H0.01 m) at a gas ow rate of 1.66 10
5
m
3
/s wherein,
eye area was continuously recorded for duration of about
5 min. In Fig. 4, avaerage trails of eye area are shown as a
function of the number of frames/snapshots and time inter-
vals between succesive frames. There, it is readily apparent
that atleast twelve frames or snapshots are needed to ensure
accurate eye area. Furthermore, beyond twelve frames, time
differentilas between successive frames (2, 5 or 10 s) appear
to have very little or no inuence on the estimated eye area.
Accordingly, necessary inputs for Image-J was generated
during each experiment from at least fteen distinct snap-
shopts, captured from the VLC recording at regular interval
of 5 s. This ensured no repeatation of the same frame.
Reproducibility of measurements was assessed by repeat-
ing some experiments three times on three different days.
One such set of observations deduced from the water-co-
conut oil system (at Q3.33 10
5
m
3
/s, H/h0.03, h/D
1.0 and D0.30 m) is shown in Fig. 5. There, the instanta-
neous eye sizes at the same instant of time (5 s from the be-
ginning of the experiment) despite being substantially dif-
ferent, corresponding estimated averages are practically
identical i.e., 0.0214, 0.0212 and 0.0215 m
2
respectively.
Such experiments further indicate that maximum possible
uncertainty in reported eye area is never greater than
10%.
3.3. The Inuence of Operating Variables
As pointed out already, for any given upper phase liquid,
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1625 2010 ISIJ
Table 3. Physical properties of liquids in full scale and model systems.
Fig. 4. Variation of average area as a function of number of sam-
ples/snapshots captured from video streams at regular in-
tervals of 2, 5 and 10 s.
*
2
To assess the adequacy of such, a perfect square measuring 60 mm60 mm and oating freely over water in the same vessel was photographed and sub-
jected to Image-J for inference of area. Less than 0.5% error was noted between actual and estimated area.
slag eye area was measured as a function of gas ow rate
(Q), bulk liquid depth (h) and thickness of the upper phase
liquid (H). The inuence these operating variables exert on
slag eye area is illustrated in Figs. 6(a) through 6(c). On the
basis of such, the following generalization can be made:
(i) eye area increases with the increase in gas ow rate,
(ii) eye area increases with the increase in bath depth and
(iii) eye area decreases with the increase in thickness of
the upper phase liquid.
Gas stirred systems are essentially potential energy
driven. Therefore, available energy to push aside the top
liquid layer to create the slag eye is relatively more as gas
ow rate and liquid depths are increased (viz., (i) and (ii)).
On the other hand, as the thickness of the upper phase liq-
uid is increased, more and more of the supplied energy is
dissipated and as a result, less energy is available to create
the eye. Such observations, as one would note here, are
physically realistic and consistent with those reported in the
literature.
1,5,11)
3.4. The Inuence of Physical Properties of the Upper
Phase Liquid
Barring the study of Krishnapisharody and Irons, models
proposed so far donot explicitly show any dependence of
physical properties of the upper phase liquid on slag eye
area.
13)
On the other hand, Iguchi and coworkers as well as
Krishnapisharody and Irons,
5)
have suggested signicant in-
uence of density of the overlying liquid on slag eye area
(viz., see Eq. (4)). Comprehensive experimental results on
the inuence of physical properties of the upper phase liq-
uid on slag eye area is rare, since it is difcult to vary den-
sity, viscosity and surface tension independently. To address
this further, slag eye area was measured in the presence of
many different upper phase liquids (viz., Table 3) at three
different gas ow rates, maintaining other parameters con-
stant. Results thus obtained are shown in Fig. 7. This evi-
dently indicates that for any given thickness of the upper
phase liquid, bath depth and gas ow rate, the eye area is
different for different upper phase liquid. This, as a distinct
possiblity, suggests that physical properties of the upper
phase liquid are meaningful and exert signicant inuence
on slag eye area in gas stirred ladle systems. Looked at
from such a standpoint, it is evident that to be fully predic-
tive, a model for slag eye area must explicitly accommodate
key operating variables as well as physical properties of the
upper phase liquid. Some discussion on the relative impor-
tance of various physical prioperties is presented below.
3.4.1. Possible Inuence of Interfacial Tension
Interfacial tension between two liquids (say, 1 and 2) is
composed of two distinct components. These are, interac-
tions due to acid-base (AB) and Lifshitz-Vander Waals
(LW) forces
12)
respectively. Generally, one may therefore
write,
.............................(5)
in which,

12

12
LW
12
AB
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1626 2010 ISIJ
Fig. 5. Instantaneous snapshots of slag eye area captured at t5 s in water-coconut oil system (Q3.33 10
5
m
3
/s,
H/h0.03, h/D1.0) (estimated average area for the three experiments are: 0.0214 m
2
, 0.0212 m
2
and 0.0215 m
2
respectively).
Fig. 6. Experimentally measured variation of slag eye area as a
function of three key operating variables. (a) eye area vs.
gas ow rate (D0.30 m, h0.255 m and H0.0077 m),
(b) eye area vs. slag depth (D0.30 m, h0.255 m and
Q0.333 10
4
m
3
/s) and (c) eye area vs. bulk liquid
depth (D0.30 m, Q0.333 x10
4
m
3
/s, H (at h0.21
m)0.0063 m, H (at h0.255 m)0.0077 m and H (at
h0.3 m)0.009 m).
respectively.
Calculations based on available values
1215)
of g
1
LW
, g
2
LW
,
g
1

, g
1

etc. suggest that acid-base interaction generally

dominates and dictates interfacial tension to a large extent
in various aqueous analogues considered in this work. For
example, petroleum etherwater as well as mustard oil
water systems exhibit very similar interfacial tensions e.g.,
g
PEwater
: g
Moilwater
51.4 : 52.5. It is well known that inter-
facial tension is generally important at small length scales
and exerts inuence on such phenomena as, droplet shape
and size, free surface shape etc. Slag eye in typical steel
processing ladles, in contrast, is appreciable in size (d
eye
0.25D) and substantially larger than the scale at which
surface tension forces tend to assume prominence. Given
such, one might anticipate that interfacial tension is un-
likely to inuence slag eye area in any signicant manner
and therefore the reason for large differences in slag eye
area in the presence of different upper phase liquids, as has
been depicted in Fig. 7.
3.4.2. Possible Inuence of Viscosity of the Upper Phase
Liquid
Some inferences on the effect of viscosity of the overly-
ing liquid on slag eye area can be made by analysing Fig. 7
further. There, as seen, eye area in the mustard oilwater
system is signicantly larger than that in the coconut
oilwater system. However, referring back to Table 3, it is
seen that density of mustard and coconut oils while is very
similar (viz., 895 : 843), their kinematic viscosity is substan-
tially different, by a factor three or so. Given such, it is rea-
sonable to assume that kninematic viscosity of the upper
phase liquid inuences slag eye area and a reason for large
differences in eye area in Fig. 7.
In a slag covered, gas stirred ladle, the upper phase liquid
dissipates a signicant part of the input energy
16)
via many
diverse phenomena. For example, extent of energy dissipa-
tion depends on:
(i) thickness of the upper phase that determines the
severity of ow reversal in the spout region,
(ii) subsurface entrainment of the upper phase liqid and
(iii) the intensity of ow recirculation within the overlying
liquid etc.
Thus, other characteristcs of the upper phase remaining
the same, a more viscous liquid would tend to dissipate
more energy due to frictional effects and viscous dissipa-
tion within, translating to smaller slag eye opening. Given
such, for any given set of operating condition (Q, H, h and
R constant), energy available to create slag eye opening ei-
ther by pushing the upper phase liquid radially or by en-
training the same subsurface, would be in general a func-
tion of physical properties and in particular, a function of
density and viscosity of the upper phase liquid.
3.4.3. Possible Inuence of Density of the Upper Phase
Liquid
The effect of density of the upper phase liquid on slag
eye area has been investigated extensively by Krish-
napishadory and Irons
5)
from both theoretical and experi-
mental stand points. Their correlation (viz., Eq. (4)) for slag
eye area shows explicit dependence of the density parame-
ter i.e., (r
L
/Dr), and indicates that for any given bulk liq-
uid, slag eye area increases with the increase in the density
of the upper phase liquid. Similar trend in experimental re-
sults has also been observed by the present investigaors. As
the density of the upper phase increases, density differential
between the bulk and the overlying liquid decreases and as
a result, the latter is entrained subsurface relatively easily,
particularly in the vicinity of the surfacing plume, facilitat-
ing a bigger slag eye. Results shown in Fig. 7 and the dis-
cussion presented above point out towards denitive inu-
ence of viscosity and density of the upper phase liquid on
slag eye area. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that
macroscopic models of slag eye area, to be fully predictive,
must embody operating parameters as well as physical
properties of the upper phase liquid.
3.5. Present Experimental Data and Their Correspon-
dence with Reported Correlations
In Fig. 8, measured slag eye area under a variety of ex-
perimental conditions are compared directly with the corre-
lation developed by Yonezawa and Schwedtfeger.
1)
Clearly,
their model (Eq. (1)) deviates signicantly from our meas-
urements, particularly at relatively small value of the pa-
rameter, (Q
2
/gH
5
) (10 or so). Similar conclusions follow
by extrapolating the model of Subagyo and coworkers
2)
to
our observations. As lustrated in Fig. 9, there seems to be


12
LW
1
LW
2
LW
12
AB
and


( )
( )
2
1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2
2
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1627 2010 ISIJ
Fig. 7. Compounded inuence of the density and viscosity of
different upper phase liquid on slag eye area at various
gas owrates (H/h0.03 and h/D0.85).
Fig. 8. Adequacy of the correlation proposed by Yonezawa and
Schwerdtfeger to the present set of experimental data.
very little or no corespondence between present measure-
ments and Eq. (2). Evidently, ignoring physical properties
entirely is not helpful and seriously limits the predictive ca-
pabilities of slag eye area correlations,
1,2)
as Figs. 8 and 9
have conrmed.
The possibility of a unied correlation for slag eye area,
encompassing a wide range of bulk and upper phase liq-
uids, was ruled out by Mazumdar and Evans.
3)
These au-
thors, instead, suggested characteristic linear relationships
between the parameters A
es
/h
2
and HQ
2/3
for different gas
stirred ladle systems (steelslag, wateroil etc.). Their sup-
position although grossly valid (see Figs. 10(a) through
10(c)), is not helpful towards a fully predictive slag eye
area correlation, based on operating parameters and physi-
cal properties.
In Fig. 11, proposed correlation of Iguchi and cowork-
ers
4)
is evaluated directly against the present set of experi-
mental data. There, A
e
/h
2
, plotted as a function of the pa-
rameter 2gDrH/(r
L
/U
2
cl
)on semi-logarithmic scale, shows
that despite the inclusion of density effect in their correla-
tion,
4)
tting between the parameters A
e
/h
2
and 2gDrH/
(r
L
U
2
cl
) is far from satisfactory.
A linear relationship between dimensionless slag eye
area and square root of densimetric Froude number was ad-
vocated by Krishnapisharody and Irons. In Fig. 12, their
hypothesis is assessed against our observation deduced
from a variety of experimental conditions. There, it is at
once apparent that a single linear relationship between di-
mensionless eye area and square root of densimetric Froude
number is unable to describe the range of experimental con-
ditions considered in this work. Evidently, the possibility
for an effective and generalized correlation for slag eye
area, based solely on densimetric Froude number, appears
to be limited. Clearly, there exists denite scope of further
improvement.
3.6. Development of a New Correlation
The discussion presented in the preceding section clearly
indicates that available models of slag eye area
15)
fall short
of being sufciently general and fully predictive. While the
work of Krishanpisharody and Irons has demosntrated ex-
plicitly the inuence of density parameter on slag eye area,
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1628 2010 ISIJ
Fig. 9. Adequacy of the model propose by Subagyo and cowor-
kets
2)
to the present set of experimental data.
Fig. 10. Variation of A
es
/h
2
with HQ
0.66
in gas stirred ladle sys-
tems with different upper phase liquids. (a) Tetra-
choloroethylenewater (b) WaterPetroleum ether and
(c) WaterMustard oil.
Fig. 11. Adequacy of the corrlelation proposed by Iguchi and
coworkers
4)
to the present set of experimental data.
Fig. 12. Adequacy of the corrlelation proposed by Krish-
napisharody and Ironsl
5)
reference to the present set of
experimental data.
our observation, as pointed already, indicates denitive in-
uence of viscosity (in addtion to density) on slag eye area.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that slag eye area in gas
stirred ladle system is a function of gas owrate (Q) or the
plume velocity (U
p
),
*
3
thickness of upper phase liquid (H),
bath liquid depth (h), the density parameter, (r
L
/Dr) and
kinematic viscosity of the upper phase liquid (n
s
) and con-
sider a functional form of the following type
*
4
i.e.,
..................(6)
Adopting Rayleighs method of indices and the P theo-
rem, Eq. (6) can be represented in the following dimension-
less form:
.............(7)
in which, k, a, b and c are constants and were determined
on the basis of experimental data through polynomial re-
gression.
19)
A set of forty four discrete data points (for de-
tails, see Table 4), obtained from different laboratory scale
gas stirred ladle systems, has been applied to deduce an ex-
plicit form of Eq. (7). The following expression resulted
from regression:
.....(8)
A
hH
U
gH HU
es P
2
L s
P

_
,

_
,

_
,

_
,

3 25
1 28 0 55 0 05
.
. . .

A
hH
k
U
gH HU
a b c
es P
2
L s
P

_
,

_
,

_
,

_
,

A f U g h H
es P L s
( , , , , , , )
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1629 2010 ISIJ
*
3
The plume rise velocity (U
P
) can be calculated from the correlations given by Castello-Branco and Schwerdtfeger
17)
or Mazumdar
18)
or Sahai and
Guthrie.
7)
To be consistent with the earlier work,
5)
the formula of Castello-Branco and Schwerdtfeger
17)
(U
P
17.4Q
0.244
h
0.08
(r
g
/r
L
)
0.0218
) has been adopted
in the present study.
*
4
The present analysis is restricted to Froude dominated ladle ows and the following constraints apply: e
m
0.01 W/kg, 0.75h/D1.5, n10
6
m
2
/s and
0.006H/h0.05. Generalization beyond the currently validated range of conditions is uncertain.
Table 4. Experimental data on slag ye area derived from two different water model ladles.
The effectiveness of regression (i.e., R
2
0.977) is illus-
trated in Fig. 13. Equation (8), as one would note here, in-
dicates nearly identical functional relationships between
eye area and gas ow rate as well as eye area and density
parameter i.e., A
es
Q
0.6
vs. A
es
(r
L
/DL)
0.55
. Furthermore,
the suggested dependence of eye area on density parameter
while is very similar to the one reported in Ref. 5), consid-
erably different exponent on gas ow rate has resulted from
the present investigation i.e., Q
0.6
vs. Q
0.25
.
5)
It is important
to emphasize here that exponent on kinematic viscosity al-
though is substantially smaller than the one on density, the
physical property dependant terms in Eq. (8) individually
exert nearly the same order of magnitude inuence on slag
eye area. This is due to the enormous difference in the mag-
nitude of Reynolds number, (HU
P
/n
s
), and the density pa-
rameter, (r
L
/Dr).
3.7. Validation of the Proposed Correlation with Ex-
perimental Data Reported in the Literature and
Extrapolation
In order to assess the adequacy of the correlation formu-
lated in the preceding section, experimental data on both
water model and industrial scale ladle systems reported by
Yonezawa and Schwerdtfeger.
1)
Krishnapisharody and
Irons
5)
as well as Wu et al.
20)
have been applied. Some new
data derived from waterpetroleum ether, watermustard oil
and watercoconut oil systems not employed in the discus-
sion and analysis presented so far, are also applied to
demonstrate the present approach. A direct performance
comparison between prediction and experimental measure-
ment is illustrated in Fig. 14. Evidently, Eq. (8) simulates a
wide range of experimental data far more effectively (e.g.,
compare Figs. 812 with 14) with reasonable degree of cer-
tainty.
Typically, argon is injected into steel processing ladles
through porous plug placed eccentrically at the base of a
ladle, located generally at the mid bath radius position. To
assess possible application of Eq. (8) to such gas injection
conguration, additional experiments were carried out in
the same water model ladle (Table 1), by introducing gas
through a nozzle located at the mid bath radius position.
Slag eye area was measured under ten different set of con-
ditions following essentially the procedure outlined in
Chap. 3. In Fig. 15, a comparison between measurement
and prediction is illustrated. There, measured eye area, is
consistently and signicantly smaller than those predicted,
primarily due to interactions between the surfacing plume
and vessel wall. Clearly, the correlation in its present form
is not suitable for modeling slag eye area in asymmetrical
gas stirred ladle systems.
Finally, possible application of the correlation to thick
slag
*
5
condition has been examined by carrying out experi-
ments and measuring slag eye area in the axisymmetrical
ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11
1630 2010 ISIJ
Fig. 13. The effectiveness of polynomial regression.
Fig. 14. An assessment of the adequacy of the proposed correla-
tion (Eq. (8)) to the experimental data reported by
Yonezawa and Schwerdtfeger,
1)
Krishnapisharody and
Irons
5)
and Wu et al.
20)
Fig. 15. Applicability of the proposed slag eye area correlation
to an asymmetrical gas stirred ladle tted with an ecen-
tric nozzle at mid bath radius position.
*
5
There is no clear cut demarcation limit between thin and thick slag; normally in industrial ladle metallurgy operations slag thickness varies between 3 to
5% of bath depth. Slag depth beyond such (greater than 6% of bath depth) has been arbitrarily considered as thick in this work.
Fig. 16. Applicabilty of the proposed slag eye area correlation to
axisymmetrical gas stirred systems covered with a rela-
tively thick upper phase liquid layer.
system for three additional set of values of H/h (i.e., 6%,
8% and 10% of bath liquid depth). A comparison between
experimental measurements and predictions for thick slag
cover condition deduced via Eq. (8) is illustrated in Fig. 16.
There, agreement between the two appears to be very rea-
sonable.
Results presented so far therefore evidently indicate that
dimensionless slag eye area (A
es
/Hh) for gas stirred ladle
systems (including high temperature, industrial scale, argon
stirred ladles) can be expressed reasonably accurately in
terms of three dimensionless numbers, namely, the Froude
number (U
P
2
/gH), density ratio (r
L
/Dr) and Reynolds num-
ber (HU
P
/n
s
). Accordingly, the present authors submit that
the following relationship
is used to estimate slag eye area under ladle metallurgy
steelmaking conditions (central gas injection, 0.75h/D
1.5, e
m
0.01 w/kg, 0.006H/h0.05 and n
bulk
10
6
m
2
/s).
4. Conclusion
From the present investigation, the following conclusions
can be drawn:
(1) In general, the slag eye area increases as the gas
ow rate and depth of bulk liquid are increased. In contrast,
the size of the eye decreases with increasing thickness of
the upper phase liquid.
(2) Physical properties of the upper phase liquid inu-
ence slag eye area. While interfacial tension is unlikely to
have any signicant impact, density and viscosity of the
upper phase liquid, on the other hand, can inuence slag
eye area considerably.
(3) A new correlation has been developed for estimat-
ing slag eye area during ladle homogenization operation. In
this, dimensionless slag eye area (A
es
/hH) has been corre-
lated with three key dimensionless groups namely, Froude
number, (U
P
2
/gH), density ratio, (r
L
/Dr) and Reynolds
number, (HU
P
/n
s
) via:
(4) A single correlation such as the one developed in
this study is reasonably effective to predict slag eye area in
both aqueous and industrial scale ladle systems under a
wide range of operating conditions and upper phase liquids.
Nomenclature
A
es
: Slag eye area (m
2
)
d
o
: Nozzle diameter (m)
D: Ladle inner diameter (m)
Fr : Froude number
g : Acceleration due to gravity (m/s
2
)
h, L: Height of metal layer/ bath liquid (m)
H,Dl
slag
: Thickness of slag layer/top liquid (m)
Q: Gas ow rate (m
3
/s) (corrected to mean height
and temperature of liquid)
R: Radius of the vessel (m)
Greek
g
ij
: Interfacial tension between liquid i and j (N/m)
g
sm
: Interfacial tension between top and bath liquid
(N/m)
g
ij
AB
: Interfacial tension between liquids i and j due to
acid-base interaction (N/m)
g
ij
LW
: Interfacial tension between liquids i and j due to
LifshitzVander Waals interaction (N/m)
g
i

: Electron acceptor of the polar component of

(g
i
AB
) of the surface tension
g
i

: Electron donor of the polar component of (g

i
AB
)
of the surface tension
r : Density (kg/m
3
)
r
m
, r
L
: Density of metal/bath liquid (kg/m
3
)
r
s
: Density of slag/top liquid (kg/m
3
)
r
g
: Density of gas (kg/m
3
)
Dr : Density difference between bath and upper
phase liquids (kg/m
3
)
m : Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)
m
m
: Dynamic viscosity of metal/bath liquid (Pa s)
m
s
: Dynamic viscosity of slag/upper phase liquid
(Pa s)
l : Geometric scale factor
n
m
: Kinematic viscosity of metal/bath liquid (m
2
/s)
n
s
: Kinematic viscosity of slag/upper phase liquid
(m
2
/s)
n : Kinematic viscosity (m
2
/s)
Subscripts
m: Metal
s : Slag/upper phase liquid
l or L: Bath liquid
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A
hH
U
gH HU
es P
2
L s
P

_
,

_
,

_
,

_
,

3 25
1 28 0 55 0 05
.
. . .

A
hH
U
gH HU
es P
2
L s
P

_
,

_
,

_
,

_
,

3 25
1 28 0 55 0 05
.
. . .

ISIJ International, Vol. 50 (2010), No. 11

1631 2010 ISIJ