Numerical prediction and experimental verification of thermal stratification during holding in pilot plant and production ladles

A 3-dimensional CFD-model has been developed to simulate the natural convec tion flow in ladies. Qualified measurements of temperature and velocities i n 107 and 7 tonne ladies have been made to verify the model. The downward c onvection flow at the ladle wall has been studied using radioactive isotope s and the thermal stratification has been studied by means of continuous te mperature measurements. The experimental techniques are complex and additio nal numerical simulations have been carried out to study the ef feet of the measurement technique on the measurement error. The result indicates that the measurements are of sufficient accuracy for the validation. The measure ments are compared to predictions from the numerical model. The main conclu sion is that the theoretical CFD model gives a very accurate estimation of the temperature distribution during holding.