A Hybrid Model of Steel Refining in The Ladle Furnace

Abstract The paper presents the concept of a new mathematical model, which has been used for the simulation of the ladle furnace steel refining process. The structure of the model contains a mathematical description of the steel stirring processes caused by the injection of argon and a thermodynamic description of the reactions occurring at the metal‐slag interface. Both models have been combined into a single hybrid model, using the SimuSage package. The hybrid model has served as the basis for the creation of a proprietary simulation tool, which has been used to assess the effectiveness of the metal bath desulfurization process in the ladle furnace. The applied mathematical description of the processes occurring in the ladle furnace enables the process simulation to be carried out in real time. The constructed model has been verified in industrial conditions for a ladle furnace of 140 t capacity.