INDUCTION SMELTING PROCESS .1. MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION

The induction smelting process is a direct smelting process in which self-fluxed composite pellets (made of iron ore, brown coal, lime) are melted in a single phase induction furnace in conjunction with top blown oxygen/air. Several direct smelting processes have been reported in the literature, but only a few fundamental studies are available. Therefore, a mathematical model has been developed for an induction smelting process which has three distinct regions: (i) the electromagnetically stirred or liquid region, (ii) the liquid-solid interaction (bed) region, and (iii) the gas jet and solid interaction region. Each region involves the consideration of non-steady state energy and species balances with steady state momentum transfer. The electromagnetic body force has been calculated numerically for the liquid region. To describe the heat, mass, and momentum balance in the bed region a relatively new approach, known as a cell model, has been adopted. All regions have been linked by an overall heat and mass balance for the entire smelting process. An outline of the computational procedure is also given.