Industrial Trial and Numerical Simulation of Inclusion Removal During Ladle Holding Period

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00304

Acta Metall Sin

2026, Vol. 62

Issue (7): 1288-1296 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00304

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Industrial Trial and Numerical Simulation of Inclusion Removal During Ladle Holding Period

DUAN Haojian¹, XIE Zhongyan¹, LI Zhankui¹, XU Xuejun¹, HUANG Caide², WEN Han², ZHANG Lifeng³(

)

1 School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
2 Steelmaking Department, Shougang Jingtang United Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., Tangshan 063200, China
3 School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, China

Cite this article:

DUAN Haojian, XIE Zhongyan, LI Zhankui, XU Xuejun, HUANG Caide, WEN Han, ZHANG Lifeng. Industrial Trial and Numerical Simulation of Inclusion Removal During Ladle Holding Period. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(7): 1288-1296.

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Abstract

In high-quality steel production, the final stage of secondary refining typically involves a ladle holding period to facilitate the flotation and removal of inclusions. This improves the cleanliness of the molten steel. This study investigated the evolution of inclusion number density and area fraction during the ladle holding period by conducting industrial trial on composition adjustment via the sealed argon bubbling refining process of steel plate hot rolled commercial (SPHC) low-carbon steel. The results indicated that inclusions would be removed by floating during the ladle holding period. The inclusion number density and area fraction decreased from 52.8 mm^-2 and 279 × 10^-6 at the start of the holding period to 22.1 mm^-2 and 148 × 10^-6 after 15 min, respectively. To clarify the movement and removal of inclusions, a numerical model was developed based on a discrete phase model, incorporating multiphase flow and heat transfer during the ladle holding period. The calculations revealed the following conclusions: (1) inclusions smaller than 10 μm primarily followed the molten steel's fluid flow, with removal rates of 51.6% and 66.7% after 900 and 1800 s, respectively; (2) inclusions with a diameter of 100 μm were influenced by the molten steel's fluid flow and their buoyancy, achieving removal rates of 70.2% and 89.2% after 900 and 1800 s, respectively; (3) inclusions with a diameter of 1000 μm primarily underwent self-floating, reaching an approximately 100% removal rate after 120 s.

Key words: ladle holding period inclusion industrial experiment numerical simulation

Received: 03 September 2024

ZTFLH:

TF769

Fund: National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFB3709900);National Nature Science Foundation of China(U22A20171);National Nature Science Foundation of China(52474341)

Corresponding Authors: ZHANG Lifeng, professor, Tel: (010)88801689, E-mail: zhanglifeng@ncut.edu.cn

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	DUAN Haojian
	XIE Zhongyan
	LI Zhankui
	XU Xuejun
	HUANG Caide
	WEN Han
	ZHANG Lifeng

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00304 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I7/1288

Fig.1 Schematic of operations and sampling processes during composition adjustment by sealed argon bubbling (CAS) refining (A represents adding 51 kg FeAl and 135 kg Al; B represents adding 51 kg high carbon FeMn, 526 kg middle carbon FeMn, and 48 kg FeAl; C represents adding 80 kg FeAl)

Fig.2 Evolution of number density and area fraction of inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding period

Fig.3 Evolution of T.O in the molten steel during ladle holding period (T.O—total oxygen content)

Fig.4 SEM images showing morphology evolutions of inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding for 0 min (a-c), 6 min (d-f), and 15 min (g-i)

Fig.5 Initial distribution of inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding period

Fig.6 Motions and removals of 1 μm inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding for 10 s (a), 50 s (b), 100 s (c), 300 s (d), 600 s (e), 900 s (f), 1200 s (g), 1500 s (h), and 1800 s (i)

Fig.7 Motions and removals of 10 μm inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding for 100 s (a), 600 s (b), and 1800 s (c)

Fig.8 Motions and removals of 100 μm inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding time for 100 s (a), 600 s (b), and 1800 s (c)

Fig.9 Motions and removals of 1000 μm inclusions in the molten steel during ladle holding for 5 s (a), 10 s (b), 20 s (c), 30 s (d), 40 s (e), 60 s (f), 80 s (g), 100 s (h), and 120 s (i)

Fig.10 Comparisons of average velocity of molten steel and rising rates of inclusions during ladle holding period

Fig.11 T.O and inclusion number density of molten steel during ladle holding measured by industrial trials, and inclusion removal rate calculated based on inclusion area fraction

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