CIVS Receives 2021 AIST Ladle & Secondary Refining Best Paper Award

April 16, 2021

CIVS and our collaborator, Nucor were notified on April 14, 2021 that the paper titled, “Computational Studies and Optimization of Inclusion Removal in a Steel Ladle,” has been selected for the 2021 AIST Ladle & Secondary Refining Best Paper Award by the AIST Ladle & Secondary Refining Technology Committee  The authors of this paper are Xipeng Guo (PhD ME Student), Joel Godinez (ME Student), Helmut Oltmann (Nucor), Vivek Thapliyal (Nucor), Abhishek Bhansali (Nucor), Eugene Pretorius (Nucor), and Dr. Chenn Q. Zhou (CIVS Director).

The paper describes the work of the authors to develop a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to analyze transient multiphase flow and inclusion removal in a gas-stirred ladle. The effects of gas stirring with bubble-inclusion interaction is analyzed using Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach for multiphase flow modeling while the effects of bubble coalescence & breakup are modeled via Discrete Phase Model (DPM) and inclusions modeled via Population Balance Model (PBM).

This paper will be featured at the AISTech 2021 Conference that will be held in June 29th-July 1st, 2021 in Nashville, TN.  This award was established in 2005 and is presented to the author(s) of a paper judged by the Ladle & Secondary Refining Technology Committee to be the best technical paper submitted.  AISTech 2021 will feature technologies from all over the world that help steel producers to compete more effectively in today’s global market.

The Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) is a non-profit organization with over 18,500 members from more than 70 countries.  AIST represents a large network of steel industry professionals with tremendous knowledge and expertise.