Heat-transfer phenomena in water-cooled zinc-fuming furnace jackets

Abstract

In the zinc slag-fuming process, zinc is removed from lead blast furnace slag by reduction with a coal-air mixture injected into the slag through submerged tuyeres. The furnace is constructed of water-cooled jackets which freeze a slag layer and contain the bath. This greatly reduces vessel wear caused by the violently agitated and corrosive bath. The jackets, however, fail due to the formation of cracks which grow from the slag face through the working face of the jacket to the water channel. In this study, in-plant measurements and mathematical modeling of heat transfer in the jackets have been combined to elucidate the mechanism of failure. The working face of a water jacket was instrumented with thermocouples and installed in a fuming furnace at the Trail smelter of Cominco Ltd., Trail, BC. Measurements revealed the presence of large thermal transients or temperature “spikes” in the panel in the region immediately above the tuyeres. These were generally observed during charging and tapping of the furnace and are likely associated with disturbances on the surface of the bath or gas injection effects when the liquid level is low. Temperatures at the midthickness were seen to rise by as much as 180 °C above the steady-state level. Under these conditions, low-cycle fatigue may lead to crack formation and propagation. A mathematical modeling analysis of the transient freezing phenomena indicates that the temperature spikes are associated with sudden slag falloff and direct contact of molten slag on the jacket. In order to reduce slag falloff, an increased number of anchoring fins should be used in critical areas.