Direct Numerical Simulation of Mass Transfer at the Oil Water Interface in a Model Metallurgical Ladle

We consider the problem of mass transfer between liquid steel and slag during secondary metallurgy, a phenomenon that governs the adjustment of liquid steel composition. We study this phenomenon with a reduced scale water experiment which reproduces the dynamics seen in an argon-gas bottom-blown ladle. We develop correlations to characterize the hydrodynamics and mass transfer rate for a given Froude number based on a combination of data generated from Direct Numerical Simulations, experimental data, and data found in literature. For the hydrodynamics we develop a correlation for the evolution of the open eye as a function of air flow rate by considering a combination of elevation theory and viscous entrainment theory. We simulate the mass transfer of thymol between water and oil using a subgrid-scale model to resolve the thin concentration boundary layer present at the interface. We demonstrate relative agreement between the experimental and simulated Sherwood number and build a correlation for the Sherwood number as a function of the Froude number.