Analysis of Flow and Thermal Stress in a Blast Furnace Blowpipe

Abstract

The blowpipe is used to transmit hot blast air in blast furnace operation, which is continually manipulated and part of a high-temperature and high-pressure environment. In order to optimize blowpipe functionality and reliability, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was applied to simulate the flow pattern of hot blast air, to generate details of input conditions for mechanical simulation of thermal stress, and to help identify areas of failure corresponding to high stresses and plastic strain. In this investigation, parametric studies were conducted to study the effects of thermal paper thickness, thermal paper length, and refractory thickness on the thermal and stress distributions. The results of this investigation can offer useful information for new blowpipe designs with reduced failure and better reliability.