The deformation process of compound droplets moving in air flow was studied by using volume of fluid model. In this paper, the kinetic process of air-in-liquid CeO2 compound droplets in air flow is reported by numerical simulation. First, the effects of initial velocity, initial diameter, and internal and external pressure difference on droplet behavior were studied when the compound droplets finally reached the morpho-steady state. The self-compiled program is used to process and analyze the digital image of the simulated broken image. The results show that, under the action of four main forces, namely, external aerodynamic force, internal pressure, viscous force, and surface tension, the inner surface of the hollow droplets gradually begins to break and continues to expand to the outer surface to break. With the increase in the pressure difference between inside and outside of the hollow drops, the pores are severely deformed and cracked. The increase in velocity leads to the imbalance of internal and external surface forces caused by the increase in aerodynamic fluctuation on the outer surface of hollow droplets. With the decrease in the diameter of the hollow droplet, the pressure threshold of the droplet breaking decreases and it is easier to break.
In this study, a water-model experiment and numerical simulation were carried out in a pilot ISASMELT furnace to study the factors affecting mixing time. The experimental results were compared to the simulation results to test the accuracy of the latter. To study the internal factors that affect the mixing time, the turbulent viscosity and flow field were calculated using simulation. In addition, following previous research, external factors that influence the mixing time including the depth of the submerged lance, lance diameter, gas flow rate, and the presence of a swirler were studied to investigate their effect on the flow regime. The results indicated that the mixing time is controlled by the turbulent viscosity and velocity vector. In addition, it was found that the lance diameter should not exceed 3.55 cm to maintain sufficient energy for stirring the bath. Finally, the optimal gas flow rate that offers the best mixing efficiency was found to be 50 Nm3/h.