Influence of burden profile on gas-solid distribution in COREX shaft furnace with center gas supply by CFD-DEM model

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study of the influence of burden profile on gas-solid distribution in a COREX shaft furnace through CFD-DEM model. The model takes into account the transient features of gas and particle flow under evaluation of five burden profiles, and the results show that the burden profile has a minor effect on the burden descending velocity. Caused by the segregation, the overall maximum and minimum porosities in the packed bed are observed in the case of ‘V' shape and ‘Flap’ shape profile, respectively. The mean square deviation of gas velocity in furnace under ‘W' shape profile is relatively small. Further considering the uniform descending behavior of solid in furnace, the ‘W' shaped burden profile should be practiced in actual production to achieve the uniform of gas-solid flow. The lowest pressure drop can be found in the case of ‘V' shape burden profile. When considering the pressure drop in practical production, the ‘V' shape burden profile should be given priority in practice.