Numerical thermal analysis of a real-case ladle in secondary steelmaking

This paper proposes a 2D axis-symmetric numerical model designed in COMSOL Multiphysics to estimate power demand along the secondary steelmaking process. The analyzed process has been divided into cycles and phases included ladle preheating, waiting, filling, heating, continuous casting, and cleaning. Each cycle is modeled through 17 sequential time-dependent numerical simulations, and has been validated by comparing calculated temperatures with those measured in a steel plant. The study observes that the volumetric power demand decreases progressively over the cycles, stabilizing at 1.95 MW/m3 after six cycles. Notably, the first cycle is by far the most power-consuming, accounting for nearly 20% of the total. Additionally, the ladle's inner temperature drops by 300 °C within 30 min during the waiting phase between preheating and tapping, and by 400 °C within 55 min between two production cycles. The model is designed to qualitatively evaluate various factors associated with the secondary steel-making process, and it could be used within the framework of a DOE analysis for examining the impact of different variables to optimize energy management and other operations involving ladles.