Effect of chute start angle and hopper change on burden distribution during the charging process of a bell-less top blast furnace with two parallel hoppers

Abstract

The distribution of the charged material in a blast furnace is of vital importance to its efficient operation. This work studies the impact of the chute's start angle and the hopper change on the resulting mass distribution of a charged hopper load. A series of discrete element method (DEM) simulations was performed using different chute start angles and rotation directions. Furthermore, burden was charged from both hoppers of a two-hopper, parallel-type hopper bell-less top (BLT) charging system. The resulting charged layer was then assessed by computing the center of gravity (COG) of the charged particles. The chute start angle as well as the specific hopper have an influence on the mass distribution of the resulting layer of charged burden. This was confirmed by evaluating temperature plant-data provided by our industrial partner which covers different regimes with regards to chute start angle and the specific hopper in use. While this study is somewhat limited in its relative simplicity, the insights gained are useful in the assessment and specification of charging programmes.