Dynamic modeling of LD converter processes

Because of the important role LD converters play in the production of high quality steel, various dynamic models have been attempted in the past by many researchers not only to understand the complex chemical reactions that take place in the converter process but also to assist the converter operation itself using computers. And yet no single dynamic model was found to be completely satisfactory because of the complexity involved with the process. The process indeed involves dynamic energy and mass balances at high temperatures accompanied by complex chemical reactions and transport phenomena in the molten state. In the present study, a mathematical model describing the dynamic behavior of LD converter process has been developed. The dynamic model describes the time behavior of the temperature and the concentrations of chemical species in the hot metal bath and slag. The analysis was greatly facilitated by dividing the entire process into three zones according to the physical boundaries and reaction mechanisms. These three zones were hot metal (zone 1), slag (zone 2) and emulsion (zone 3) zones. The removal rate of Si, C, Mn and P and the rate of Fe oxidation in the hot metal bath, and the change of composition in the slag were obtained as functions of time, operating conditions and kinetic parameters. The temperature behavior in the metal bath and the slag was also obtained by considering the heat transfer between the mixing and the slag zones and the heat generated from chemical reactions involving oxygen blowing. To identify the unknown parameters in the equations and simulate the dynamic model, Hooke and Jeeves parttern search and Runge-Kutta integration algorithm were used. By testing and fitting the model with the data obtained from the operation of POSCO #2 steelmaking plant, the dynamic model was able to predict the characteristics of the main components in the LD converter. It was possible to predict the optimum CO gas recovery by computer simulation