Affecting factors of the turnover rate of steel ladle in steelmaking plants

Aimed at the production flow of a steelmaking plant, a simulation model of steel ladle turnover process was constructed to analyze the affecting factors on the turnover rate of steel ladles~such as hot repair time, steel grade and repair age of steel ladles. Simulation results show that the turnover rate decreases with increasing hot repair time. When the daily productivity of typical steel is 45 heats, the turnover rate is 6.43 with the hot repair time of 0 to 20 min, but it is 5.0 with the hot repair time of 50 to 60 min. The turnover rates for different kinds of steel grades are different. When the daily productivity is from 41 to 50 heats, the maximum and the minimum turnover rate for producing SPHC steel are 6.28 and 5.63, respectively; however, the maximum and the minimum turnover rate for producing X70 steel are 5.00 and 4.55, respectively. The turnover rate increases with increasing repair age. When the daily productivity of typical steel is 48 heats, the turnover rate is 4.0 with the repair age of 40, and it reaches the maximum of 6.86 at the repair age of 45.