The characteristic cavity size in basic oxygen steelmaking converter

It is important to understand the physical interaction between top-blown oxygen jet and liquid bath in basic oxygen furnaces (BOF). In the present study, cold model experiments were carried out to investigate the cavity depth and diameter. Images of the cavities were captured by high speed video camera to study cavity performances. The experimental results show that the depth of bath has little influence on the shape of the cavity and the critical jet flow. The cavity depth and diameter exhibit linear growth by raising the jet flow rate with a fixed jet height. At the same gas flow rate, the cavity diameter has little relation with the nozzle diameter, but the cavity depth becomes deeper with the decrease of the nozzle diameter.