Numerical simulation of solids flow in a blast furnace

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study of the behavior of solids flow in a 2D blast furnace (BF). The investigation considers the layer-charging of iron-bearing and coke and solids consumption due to, for example, coke combustion in the raceway and is based on a mathematical model recently developed for gas–solid two-phase flow. Input data includes the ore and coke profiles, productivity, and solids volume loss due to shrinkage, meltdown, reduction and combustion as determined from typical operating conditions. The results demonstrate that the mass loss strongly affects the solids flow pattern and deadman profile in a BF. In particular, increasing the solids consumption rate will increase the solid velocity and decrease the size of deadman.