Modeling of Electric Arc Furnaces ( EAF ) with electromagnetic stirring
Electromagnetic stirring can play an important role in modern Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF), as they often operate far from equilibrium conditions, with tap-to-tap times of 45 minutes or less, high electric power input and significant energy additions from fuel and oxygen. Numerical modeling is used extensively in ABB’s current efforts to optimize the EAF process with electromagnetic stirring. The modeling approach uses a Finite-Element method (FEM) for computing the forces generated by the electromagnetic stirrer, whereas the resulting flow properties, heat and mass transfer in the system is computed using a Finite-Volume (FVM) flow solver. The paper presents the numerical model in greater detail and discusses some important results. We show that electromagnetic stirring gives a more than ten-fold increase of flow velocities and circulation, compared with a flow driven by natural convection alone. The global circulation created by electromagnetic stirring dramatically reduces temperature differences in the melt, thus reducing super-heating of the melt surface and risks for cold regions. Efficient mixing of chemical species, together with even temperatures, is beneficial for efficiency and controllability of the chemical reactions in the slag-metal interface.
A Computational Model for Heat Transfer Coefficient Estimation in Electric Arc Furnace
The paper studies the effects of solid and liquid steel properties on the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) in electric arc furnaces (EAFs). Mathematically speaking, the HTC is a function of solid and liquid steel properties. Different velocities of the bath cause different flow paths around the solid particles and therefore different HTCs—a computational issue that has not been addressed yet. Therefore, a simplified calculation model is proposed, intended for HTC estimation according to the EAF conditions. Although many studies investigated this topic, most of them either assume unconventional conditions for the EAF operation, are computationally complex or focus on a specific case; and are, therefore, hard to implement in general EAF models. The algorithm proposed in this paper introduces simplified, yet accurate equations for calculating the HTC between solid and liquid steels as a function of their properties. Due to simplicity of the algorithm, the computational times are very short; thus, the procedure can be used in online model environments in order to perform different heat‐transfer‐related calculations. The obtained results show high similarity with other practical and theoretical studies. Furthermore, implementation of the HTC calculation submodule in a comprehensive EAF model yielded high accuracy in steel‐bath temperature prediction.
Testing digital circuits using a Mixed-Signal Automatic Test Equipment
This paper presents the results of parametric testing of digital ICs using a dedicated Mixed Signal Automatic Testing Equipment. Due to the prohibitive price of the ATE equipment and dedicated Device Interface Board (DIB) for digital Integrated Circuits (ICs), a DIB for analog circuits was used to perform the testing. Despite the challenges presented by the experiments, the results prove to be accurate for the performed tests, according to the data sheet of the digital ICs and production test data provided by the manufacturer.