A High-Fidelity Arc Discharge Model for Hydrogen-Plasma Smelting Reduction of Iron Ore

Hydrogen-plasma smelting reduction (HPSR) of iron ore has potential for reducing carbon emissions in steelmaking. However, the high temperatures in HPSR create a challenging environment for in-situ measurements and complicate the development of accurate predictive models. This work presents a first-principles continuum-scale model for thermal plasmas in Ar/H₂ gas mixtures typically used for HPSR. The governing hydrodynamic and electromagnetic equations for thermal plasmas are solved, with adaptive mesh generation for enhanced resolution at locations of intense physicochemical interactions. The dependence of heat and mass fluxes, the longevity of hydrogen reductant species and arc impedance on Ar-to-H₂ ratio are presented.

Authors:

Sai Vishnu Korsipati | The University of Texas at Austin
 

Hari Sitaraman | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
 

Rui You | The University of Texas at Austin
 

Laxminarayan Raja | The University of Texas at Austin
 

Session Chairs:

Champion Chigwedu | HT-PEACS LLC
 

Fernando Guerra | Stelco Inc.