Abstract:
Pyrometallurgical furnaces, essential for metal extraction, operate at temperatures exceeding
1600°C and represent complex multiphase systems that challenge direct industrial research.
Multiphysics models play a key role in shedding light on their intricate behaviours, supporting
the refinement of design and operational strategies. Integral to the operation are the tap-holes,
which facilitate the removal of molten products and are routinely opened by lancing, a process
comparable to the use of a cutting torch, where high temperatures result from oxygen reacting with
an iron lance. When the lance pierces the clay, oxygen gas enters the furnace, which could influence
the behaviour of the molten material inside.
In this work, a multiphase fluid flow model was used to investigate bulk flow dynamics, with
a focus on the effects of the lancing process on the inside of the furnace, immediately behind the
tap-hole. Incompressible and compressible multiphase fluid solvers were used and compared with
respect their performance – the intention was to assess whether using a compressible solver would
yield a different solution to the incompressible one. It was concluded that there are negligible
disparities in bulk fluid flow behaviour between the solvers for the case studies examined,
indicating that solver selection might be less consequential for certain aspects of oxygen lancing.
