PIV measurements on physical models of bottom blown oxygen copper smelting furnace

A 1/5 scaled physical slice model of a bottom blown oxygen copper smelting furnace was established to investigate the flow field characteristics in the pool and in the freeboard above the pool. Particle image velocimetry technique was applied to measure the flow field in different depths of the pool, installation angle of the nozzle and gas flow rate. It was found that two circulations were divided by the jet zone above the nozzle. Above the nominal liquid surface level, there is a fountain zone where splash and liquid droplets occur. With the growth of pool depth, the distribution of velocity tended to become uniform. The area of dead zone decreased and mean velocity became larger. Different installation angles of nozzle will cause very different flow patterns. As the increase of gas flow rate, the area of dead zone decreased and the mean velocity increased.