| Abstract Scope |
When steel is melted, impurities and residual elements will float to the top of the melt and form a layer of liquid oxides called slag. Slag is an essential component in the steelmaking process due to its interactions with the liquid steel bath, furnace refractories, and external environment. Steelmakers can introduce gas into the bath either by direct injection of gas or by injecting carbon and oxygen leading to the generation and reaction of CO and FeO. These gases lead to the slag forming a foam system. Proper foaming of slag leads to increased energy efficiency, protection of refractories, and removal of undesired dissolved elements in the melt. Optimizing foam generation is a complex process that involves control of many factors, including but not limited to, slag composition, viscosity, and either gas injection rate or gas formation rate. |