Model analysis of gas residence time in an ironmaking blast furnace

Abstract

Gas residence time distribution (RTD) is an effective and convenient indicator for evaluating the performance of complex multiphase chemical reactors including ironmaking blast furnaces (BFs). However, in the open literature, there lacks the systematic RTD research for BFs. In this study, an integrated mathematical model is developed for describing the gas RTD of a BF. The model combines a steady multi-fluid model for describing the in-furnace state of flow and thermo-chemical behavior of gas-solid-liquid phases and a transient model for describing the dynamic behavior of tracer materials. The results show that the gas flow field inside the BF is quite complex, resulting from many factors such as furnace geometry and coupled thermo-chemical behaviors of other phases. The tail of gas RTD curve resulted from the lagging phenomenon of tracer flow inside BFs, is captured. The gas RTD is discussed by using mean residence time, dispersion of molecules distribution, cumulative distribution function and residence time intensity function. Under the given BF conditions, mean residence time and space time of gas fluids are predicted as 13.5 s and 16.3 s, respectively. The existence of stagnant flow in the BF can be both derived and directly identified. Moreover, it is indicated the gas flow patterns in the BF are composed of piston-type flow, stagnant flow and limited mixing flow. This study provides a cost-effective tool for better understanding BF gas flow dynamics and optimizing BF operations.