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This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement N degrees 869268. It was also partially supported by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE through grant PID2021-122625OBI00 and by Xunta de Galicia funds under grant GRC GI-1563-ED431C 2021/15. The authors are particularly grateful to Elkem (especially to Veronika Djupvik and Krister Engvoll) for providing the experimental data used in this paper, and to Fundiciones Rey (especially to Luis Rey and Susana Rey) , as well as to Javier Bullon and Jacobo Otero, for their valuable input and the many insightful discussions throughout the project.

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Multiphysics simulation of slag melting in an induction furnace for sustainable silicon production

Publicado en:Applied Mathematical Modelling. 145 116107- - 2025-09-01 145(), DOI: 10.1016/j.apm.2025.116107

Autores: Bermudez, A; Crego, O; Ferrin, J L; Garcia, B; Gomez, D; Martinez, I; Perez-Perez, L J; Salgado, P

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Resumen

This work presents a multiphysics mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of the slag melting process in an induction furnace, with a focus on the production of sustainable silicon through the EU SisAl Pilot project. The mathematical model incorporates electromagnetic, thermal and hydrodynamic phenomena in a coupled axisymmetric framework to simulate the melting of a CaO-SiO2 slag, a key component in the aluminothermic reduction process for silicon production. The model addresses the challenge of heating the poorly electrically conductive slag using a graphite crucible and it also accounts for buoyancy-driven convection in the molten slag. The numerical simulations are validated against experimental data from pilot scale trials at Elkem's plant in Norway. In addition, sensitivity analyses are carried out considering both the progressive filling of the furnace and the inclusion of surface-to-surface radiation models.

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