Mixing Behavior in a Side-Blown Vortex Smelting Reduction Reactor

Abstract

The side-blown vortex smelting reduction reactor proposed in this paper is a new type of metal extraction equipment. The study of fluid dynamics is significant for improving reactor performance. Physical simulation is used to analyze the effects of the angle and number of blown lances, nozzle diameter, gas flow rate, and measuring depths on the reactor’s transfer and mixing characteristics. Dimensional analysis is used to correlate dimensionless numbers (Reynolds number Re, modified Froude number Fr′, capillary number Ca, number of blown lances n, and horizontal angle of the blown lance α) with mixing time and multiphase flow behavior. The results show that when the nozzle diameter and the number of blown lances are constant, Fr′, Ca and α are negatively correlated with the mixing time, and Re is positively correlated with the mixing time. When the angle of the blown lance is constant, Re and Ca are negatively correlated with mixing time, and Fr′ is positively correlated with mixing time. With the increase of Re, Fr′, Ca, the mixing behavior will gradually change from the bubbling regime to the transition regime and then to the steady jetting regime.