This project aims to gain a thorough understanding of the physical mechanisms governing the interactions of metallurgical multiphase flows, considering liquid metal, slag, gas injection, nonmetallic particles and solid refractory walls. Numerical studies will help to understand metallurgical processes in steelmaking, like AOD converter, RH degassing and continuous casting, and a range of experimental investigations will provide a validation for the numerical modelling.

Bubbly flows are an important technique in steel production for improving homogenization, preventing clogging, and removing unwanted elements in liquid steel. To investigate the physics of interaction between metal fluids, non-metallic inclusions (NMIs) and gas bubbles, phenomena like bubble and bubble plume formation, as well as particle behavior in bubbly flows with light and massive gas injection will be considered. Furthermore, particle deposition and clogging mechanisms, as well as the wear behaviour of the refractory material in metallurgical vessels will be investigated. These are important phenomena determining the steel quality in secondary metallurgical treatments and continuous casting.

The project will utilize novel modelling approaches, enhancing the accuracy of process representation. Accompanying the numerical modelling, the analysis of material samples will provide validation for these computational models and determine key parameters for the simulations. The behavior of inclusions in the interface of steel and slag and their wetting characteristics will be explored experimentally, providing support for simulation activities. Experimental data from plant operation and smaller-scale laboratory setups of these processes will further contribute to a validation of the numerical investigations.