Case Study: Wear in Supersonic Nozzle of Tip Lance in Vallourec Brazil Steelmaking
(Room 209A)
10 May 17
9:00 AM
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9:30 AM
Tracks:
BOF Maintenance & Refractory
Oxygen blowing is the main operation in the steel refining process in basic oxygen furnance steelmaking. This blow is made by an oxygen injection lance through supersonic nozzles, which must be designed for the specific operating conditions, such as flow and oxygen pressures, height in relation to the metal bath, lance height, etc. Poor design of these nozzles directly influences the time and process efficiency, and often results in premature wear of the nozzles and their removal from production. This work presents a methodology of studies and results of metallography in samples of tips used by Vallourec Brazil, in addition to computational fluid dynamics simulations of the gas jet. This information was used as a basis for the redesign of the nozzles, in order to reduce the impacts caused by wear.