The present invention relates to a lance nozzle configured to perform oxygen-blowing refining of molten iron charged in a reaction vessel by blowing a gas from a top-blowing lance to the molten iron.
In oxidation refining of molten iron, in order to improve reaction efficiency or a yield, blowing is performed in which a jet flow velocity and a flow rate of an oxygen-containing gas jetted from a lance nozzle of a top-blowing lance onto a bath surface of the molten iron are controlled. For example, in decarburization refining of molten iron in a converter at an ironworks, at an initial or intermediate stage of blowing in which a carbon concentration in the molten iron is high, an operation of increasing a flow rate of oxygen jetted from a top-blowing lance nozzle is performed for the purpose of improving decarburization efficiency. On the other hand, at a final stage of blowing in which the carbon concentration in the molten iron is low, an operation of suppressing the flow rate of oxygen is performed so as to avoid a decrease in yield due to excessive iron oxidation.
In order to meet such an adequate operating condition different between at the initial and intermediate stages of blowing and at the final stage of blowing, Patent Literature 1 proposes a method in which, with respect to an adequate expansion exit diameter D determined from a throat diameter d of a Laval nozzle and an oxygen-blowing flow rate F, a lance nozzle having an exit diameter of 0.85 D to 0.94 D is used in a high carbon concentration region, and a lance nozzle having an exit diameter of 0.96 D to 1.15 D is used in a low carbon concentration region.
Furthermore, Patent Literature 2 proposes a Laval nozzle, a throat port of which is mechanically overlaid with another Laval nozzle having a blowout port identical in area and shape with the throat port, to thus enables an operation under both of an adequate expansion condition for the initial or intermediate stage of blowing and an adequate expansion condition for the final stage of blowing.
The method of Patent Literature 1 has, however, a problem that it requires two different lance nozzles to be used respectively for blowing in the high carbon concentration region and for blowing in the low carbon concentration region, involving switching between the two lance nozzles during blowing. There is another problem that lance nozzle replacement during blowing requires the blowing to be stopped while the lance nozzle replacement is performed, which interferes with the operation. Moreover, there is also a problem that an increased number of lance nozzles on standby during blowing requires a wider space and complicated facilities.
Furthermore, the method of Patent Literature 2 in which a nozzle shape is mechanically changed has a problem that a mechanically movable part is provided in a high temperature atmosphere and in that, when applied to a nozzle having a plurality of spouts, the structure of a nozzle body and peripheral equipment of the nozzle are complicated. In addition, there is also a problem that the movable part includes a part where friction occurs between itself and an inner wall of the nozzle, causing wearing of a lance nozzle to affect the service life of a lance.
An object of the present invention is to provide a top-blowing lance nozzle configured to freely switch an adequate expansion condition to control an oxygen-blowing amount and a jetting velocity independently of each other without requiring a plurality of lance nozzles or a mechanically movable part.
In order to solve the above-described problems, the inventors have found that a blowing hole for blowing an oxygen-containing gas is provided at a particular site on an inner wall of a lance nozzle and the gas is fed through the blowing hole to form a fluid wall inside the nozzle so that an apparent throat diameter of the nozzle is changed, which can achieve both of adequate expansion conditions respectively for high and low carbon concentration regions of molten iron.
That is, the present invention provides a lance nozzle configured to blow refining oxygen to molten iron charged in a reaction vessel by blowing a gas from a top-blowing lance to the molten iron, characterized in that at least one blowing hole for blowing a working gas is provided on an inner wall side surface of the nozzle at a site where the lance nozzle has a minimum cross-sectional area in a nozzle axis direction or at a neighboring site of the site.
In the lance nozzle configured as above according to the present invention, the followings are considered to provide more preferred solutions:
(1) the blowing hole has a ratio of a hole height to a hole lateral width of not less than 0.15 and not more than 1.0;
(2) in the neighboring site of the site where the nozzle has a minimum cross-sectional area in the nozzle axis direction, the nozzle has a cross-sectional area in the nozzle axis direction not more than 1.1 times the minimum cross-sectional area in the nozzle axis direction;
(3) respective centers of the blowing holes lie on the same plane perpendicular to a center axis of the nozzle;
(4) two or more blowing holes identical in shape and opening area are arranged at an equal distance from each other;
(5) a total of hole lateral widths of respective openings of the blowing holes is not less than 25% and not more than 75% of a circumference of the nozzle; and
(6) no steeply enlarged part is provided in a vicinity of each of the openings of the blowing holes.
In the present invention, throughout the description, a “hole height” of the blowing hole refers to a height of the blowing hole at a part of the blowing hole having a maximum length in the nozzle axis direction, regardless of the shape of the blowing hole, and a “hole lateral width” of the blowing hole refers to a width of the blowing hole at a part of the blowing hole having a maximum length in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the blowing hole regardless of the shape of the blowing hole. Furthermore, a “cross-sectional area” of the nozzle refers to an area of the inside of the nozzle perpendicular to the center axis. Thus, in the present invention, a “site where the nozzle has a cross-sectional area not more than 1.1 times the minimum cross-sectional area” refers to a site where the nozzle has a cross-sectional area of more than 1.0 to not more than 1.1 times the minimum cross-sectional area.
According to the present invention, a gas from another system referred to as a working gas is fed through the blowing holes provided, on the inner wall side surface of the nozzle at a site where the nozzle has a minimum cross-sectional area in the nozzle axis direction or at a neighboring site of the site, to form a fluid wall inside the nozzle. As a result, it has become possible to apparently change an open area ratio of the nozzle in accordance with a feeding amount of the working gas so as to control an oxygen-blowing amount and a jetting velocity independently of each other.
In the straight nozzle shown in
In a case where a working gas is spouted through the blowing holes under a condition that a total gas flow rate of a gas jetted from the lance nozzle 1 is set to be constant and a condition that insufficient expansion is brought about when no working gas is introduced, a phenomenon is observed in which a jet flow velocity is increased. Furthermore, in a case where a working gas is spouted through the blowing holes 4 under the condition that a total gas flow rate of a gas jetted from the lance nozzle 1 is set to be constant and a condition that excessive to adequate expansion is brought about when no working gas is introduced, a phenomenon is observed in which the jet flow velocity is decreased. Conceivably, the above-described phenomena occur as a result of the following. That is, in a neighborhood of the blowing holes 4, the working gas causes a main feed gas flowing parallel to the axis direction to be peeled off from the inner wall of the nozzle (and the working gas forms a fluid wall on the inner wall of the nozzle), so that a cross-sectional area of the nozzle is apparently decreased to cause a transition of an adequate expansion condition.
First, under the condition that insufficient expansion is brought about when no working gas is introduced, when the cross-sectional area of the nozzle is decreased, i.e., an open area ratio of the nozzle is apparently increased, an adequate expansion pressure Po determined by Equation (1) below is increased, so that an expansion state of a jet flow shifts from an insufficient expansion condition to approach an adequate expansion condition, and thus energy efficiency is improved. Furthermore, also under a condition that adequate to excessive expansion is brought about when no working gas is introduced, similarly to the above, the adequate expansion pressure Po is increased, so that there occurs a transition of an expansion state of a jet flow toward excessive expansion, and thus energy efficiency is decreased.
Ae/At=(55/2/63)×(Pe/Po)−5/7×[1−(Pe/Po)2/7]−1/2 (1),
where At denotes a minimum cross-sectional area (mm2) of a jetting nozzle, Ae denotes an outlet cross-sectional area (mm2) of the jetting nozzle, Pe denotes an atmospheric pressure (kPa) at an outlet of the nozzle, and Po denotes an adequate expansion pressure (kPa) of the nozzle.
In the present invention, as described above, a designed pressure is switched based on presence/absence of a working gas to cause energy efficiency of a jet flow to also vary, and thus a flow rate can be independently controlled even at the same total gas flow rate. As a result, it has become possible to apparently change the open area ratio of the nozzle in accordance with a feeding amount of a working gas so as to control an oxygen-blowing amount and a jetting velocity independently of each other.
<Description of Shape and Arrangement of Blowing Holes 4 for Blowing Working Gas>
In the above-described shapes of the blowing hole 4 for blowing a working gas, it is preferable to set a ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width to not less than 0.15 and not more than 1.0 for the following reasons. That is, when the ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width is set to less than 0.15, a fluid wall formed in a vicinity of the blowing holes 4 has a shape abruptly and perpendicularly bulges in the nozzle axis direction, and thus a pressure loss is generated to decrease energy efficiency, so that an effect of the working gas cannot be sufficiently obtained. Furthermore, when the ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width is set to more than 1.0, a fluid wall is formed in a reduced region with respect to a plane perpendicular to a nozzle axis, and thus the open area ratio can be changed only within a narrower range, so that the effect of the working gas is attenuated. For the above-described reasons, it is preferable to set the ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width of the blowing hole 4 to not less than 0.15 and not more than 1.0.
In the straight nozzle shown in
In the Laval nozzle shown in
A lance nozzle formed of the straight nozzle shown in
As seen from the result shown in Table 1, compared with Comparative Examples 1 to 8 in which no working gas is fed through the blowing holes, Invention Examples 1 to 8 of the present invention in which a working gas is fed through the blowing holes exhibit an improvement in the average velocity increase ratio. It has also been found that, among Invention Examples 1 to 8 of the present invention, Invention Examples 2 to 4 and Invention Examples 6 to 8 of the present invention with a ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width of not less than 0.15 and not more than 1.0 exhibit a higher average velocity increase ratio than and thus are preferred to Invention Examples 1 and 5 of the present invention with a ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width of less than 0.15.
Furthermore, a flow velocity measurement using the PIV method is performed by use of a Laval nozzle having a throat diameter of 6 mm, an outlet diameter of 6.6 mm, and an open area ratio of 1.21, which is a lance nozzle including various types of working gas holes provided at a minimum circumference part of the nozzle as a throat part (designed to be a part at 14 mm from an outlet of the nozzle). Table 2 shows measurement conditions used and a result of the measurement.
As seen from the result shown in Table 2, compared with Comparative Examples 9 to 14 in which no working gas is fed through the blowing holes, Invention Examples 9 to 14 of the present invention in which a working gas is fed through the blowing holes exhibit an improvement in the average velocity increase ratio. It has also been found that, among Invention Examples 9 to 14 of the present invention, Invention Examples 10, 11, 13, and 14 of the present invention with a ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width of not less than 0.15 and not more than 1.0 exhibit a higher average velocity increase ratio than and thus are preferred to Invention Examples 1, 9 and 12 of the present invention with a ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width of less than 0.15. This is a tendency similar to that in the case of the straight nozzle, and it can be said that it is desirable to set the ratio of the hole height to the hole lateral width of a nozzle to not less than 0.15 and not more than 1.0 regardless of whether the nozzle is a straight nozzle or a Laval nozzle.
The lance nozzle of the present invention is usable in all of decarburization blowing, dephosphorization blowing, and desiliconization blowing. Furthermore, this technique is applicable to any refining process using a lance nozzle such as, for example, refining in an electric furnace. This technique is effective particularly in a case where it is desired to increase a jet flow velocity or a dynamic pressure without changing other gas feed conditions. For example, in a preliminary dephosphorization treatment of hot metal using a converter type refining furnace, when a top-blown oxygen gas feed velocity is decreased in accordance with a decrease in dephosphorization oxygen efficiency at a final stage of refining, an oxygen-blowing refining method using the lance nozzle of the present invention in which a decrease in top-blown jet flow velocity is suppressed using a working gas is applied, and thus a decrease in dephosphorization reaction efficiency can be suppressed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-074289 | Apr 2019 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/015189 | 4/2/2020 | WO | 00 |