TITLE:
Numerical Simulation of the Flow of a Molten Blast Furnace Slag in an Open Channel
AUTHORS:
Miguel A. Barron, Joan Reyes, Aristeo Garrido
KEYWORDS:
Blast Furnace Slag, Molten Slag, Open Channel Flow, Saint-Venant Equations, Supercritical Flow, Transcritical Flow
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.12 No.4,
November
1,
2024
ABSTRACT: Despite its industrial importance, the flow of molten blast furnace slag in open channels has not been sufficiently studied. In this work, the unsteady non-uniform flow of a molten blast furnace slag in a rectangular open channel is numerically studied by solving the Saint-Venant equations by means of an explicit backwards finite difference scheme. An Arrhenius-type dependence of the viscosity of the slag on temperature is assumed. To calculate that viscosity, four temperatures are considered, namely 1450˚C, 1500˚C, 1550˚C and 1600˚C. To study the dynamic response of the system, a half-sinusoidal pulse with duration of 5 s is imposed at the channel entrance. According to the numerical simulations, for all the temperatures considered, the slag flow in the channel for an angle of 5 degrees is supercritical in nature. However, for an angle of 1 degree, the flow is transcritical, that is, it presents a transition from subcritical to supercritical.