Modeling of RTFT water atomization steel powder production process

通过水雾化生产金属粉末是一种成熟的工艺，其可用于生产宽范围的颗粒尺寸。为了以低生产成本雾化高质量的粉末，需要仔细控制粒度分布。力拓是高品质铁、钢和特种金属粉末的主要供应商之一。RTFT加拿大矿山的钛铁矿石在加拿大魁北克Sorel-Tracy的冶金综合体中转化为高级产品。拟议的CRD研究计划将确定解决方案策略，以提高可销售的产品产量，目前这是由高达8%的超大产品部分（颗粒大于210微米）的影响。将该分数减少50%将导致大约。每年节省80万美元的生产成本。生产具有更可控形态的颗粒的可能性预计将使新的金属粉末等级的开发成为可能，包括可能适用于新兴的增材制造行业的那些。该项目将包括开发一个计算流体动力学模型，涵盖与熔融金属流、喷嘴和雾化容器几何形状、高压水射流与熔融金属流之间的相互作用以及金属颗粒形成有关的所有方面。该研究将为改进奠定基础，不仅有利于加拿大，而且有利于全球粉末金属行业在产品清洁度，质量和粒度控制方面。在该项目的过程中，将对金属粉末生产领域的几名高素质人员（HQP）进行培训，他们最终将进入加拿大的粉末制造业或学术界

The production of metal powders by water atomization is a well established process, which can be used to produce a wide range of particle sizes. A careful control of the particle size distribution is necessary, to atomize powders with a high quality and at a low production cost. Rio Tinto is one of the major suppliers of high-quality iron, steel and specialty metal powders. Ilmenite ore from RTFT's Canadian mines is transformed into advanced products at their metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada. The proposed CRD research program will identify solution strategies enabling the increase of saleable product yield, which is currently impacted by up to 8% of oversize product fraction (particles larger than 210 microns). Reducing this fraction by 50% would result in approx. $0.8 million annual production cost savings.The possibility of producing particles with more controlled morphology is expected to enable the development of new metal powder grades, including potentially those suitable for the emerging additive manufacturing industry. The project will encompass the development of a computational fluid dynamics model covering all aspects related to molten metal flow, nozzles and atomization vessel geometry, interaction between the high-pressure water jets and the molten metal stream, and metal particles formation. The study will establish a basis for improvements that benefits not only the Canadian but also the global powder metal industry in terms of product cleanliness, quality and particle size control. Several highly qualified personnel (HQP) will be trained in the course of the project in the area of metal powder production, who will eventually enter the powder manufacturing industry or academia in Canada