Cooling efficiency and cooling intensity of cooling staves in blast furnace hearth

Abstract

The main function of the cooling system is to help preserve the refractory lining for as long as possible, but the evaluation indicators of blast furnace cooling system have not been studied in detail. In the study, the blast furnace cooling system was analyzed in-depth from the perspective of cooling essence and heat transfer principle based on the investigation of many blast furnaces. The concept of cooling efficiency and cooling intensity of the blast furnace hearth cooling system were proposed with quantitative characterization. The results show that the cooling efficiency is 88–99% and the cooling intensity is 70–95% generally. The effect of the cooling water velocity and specific surface area on cooling efficiency and cooling intensity are analyzed from a view of optimizing the design. Improving the specific surface area of cooling system and increasing the cooling water velocity can increase the cooling efficiency and cooling intensity. The specific surface area can be designed to be more than 1.1 and the water velocity should be greater than 1.5 m/s. Finally, the blast furnace operation strategy taken in the actual production process and the methods for improving the cooling intensity and cooling efficiency are assessed.