A Study of Spouts on Bath Surfaces from Gas Bubbling: Part I. Experimental Investigation

Water model experiments were performed simulating spout formation in a gas-stirred ladle. The height and width of the spout region with and without a slag-simulating phase (oil) were obtained using a video technique over a wide range of operating conditions. Using the experimental data, the spout dimensions were correlated to the operating variables, namely, the gas flow rate and heights of water and oil. Nondimensional representations of the spout height reveal that parameters such as the ladle diameter, size, and type of gas injector and physical properties of the gas-liquid system do not play any appreciable role in the spout formation. In Part II of this work, the spout size information has been used to quantitatively characterize the dynamics of gas-liquid plumes.