A paper was recently published as part of the TMS Proceedings 11th International Symposium on High Temperature Metallurgical Processing which describes in detail how Thermo-Calc can be applied to steel making processes for new and existing steel grades using the new Process Metallurgy Module, which was introduced last year in Thermo-Calc 2019b.
The paper, titled The application of an effective equilibrium reaction zone model based on CALPHAD thermodynamics to steel making, describes how an expansion to the module, coming this year, incorporates a kinetic model of the steelmaking process based on the concept of effective equilibrium reaction zones (EERZ) and gives a detailed example of how this module can be applied to the entire steelmaking process using a real case from a steel plant in Ontario, Canda.
Using Thermo-Calc for Steel and Slag Applications
The Thermo-Calc platform has been expanding over the past several years to include more process-based simulations. One example of this is the Process Metallurgy Module which, once complete, will allow users to model all stages of steel processing from scrap to fully refined steel. The module was introduced last year in Thermo-Calc 2019b and currently allows users to calculate most reactions occurring during the steel making and steel refining process including carbon removal by oxidation, dephosphorization, desulphurization, deoxidation (killing), alloying, refractory wear, inclusion formation and modification.
While the Process Metallurgy Module already contains a lot of functionality, it does not currently offer a way to consider kinetic effects. This will change in Thermo-Calc 2020b, coming summer of 2020, with the introduction of the effective equilibrium reaction zone (EERZ) model. This model offers a simple but powerful way to combine kinetic effects with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations and has been widely used to simulate the steelmaking process. The model has been shown to be in good agreement with experimental data using the TCOX9 database.
The paper, whose authors are all Thermo-Calc Software employees, describes the EERZ model as well as the thermodynamic database designed to be used with the Process Metallurgy Module, TCOX9, to show how Thermo-Calc can be applied to steelmaking and refining. It then gives a detailed application example using experimental data from a steel making plant in Ontario, Canada.
Access the Paper
The paper was accepted to be part of the 11th International Symposium on High Temperature Metallurgical Processing and will be presented at TMS 2020 during the symposium of the same name. All attendees of TMS can access the paper for free using the access path they were given through the TMS website. Others can read the paper at the link below by either signing in with a Springer account or by purchasing it.