Hi,
I want to simulation a kind of furnace know as blast furnace(Please see attached pics).
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. Blast refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a blast furnace, fuel (coke), ores, and flux (limestone) are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while a hot blast of air (sometimes with oxygen enrichment) is blown into the lower section of the furnace through a series of pipes called tuyeres, so that the chemical reactions take place throughout the furnace as the material falls downward. The end products are usually molten metal and slag phases tapped from the bottom, and waste gases (flue gas) exiting from the top of the furnace. The downward flow of the ore along with the flux in contact with an upflow of hot, carbon monoxide-rich combustion gasesis a countercurrent exchange and chemical reaction process.
The furnace performance is steady and shape of different parts is constant during time in this furnace. Critical zone is cohesive zone and this zone affects on gas flow.
Now I would like simulate this kind of furnace without solid flows(ore, coke) and simplify this model. In fact, I want to consider this solid layers as a solid zone containing Porosity. Is this work possible to simulate it?
if so, could you please give me some ideas to optimize this furnace to increase pig iron(furnace product) in this condition? particularly cohesive zone. How can I optimize this zone in this condition?
Thanks.
Hello Ali,
I am not sure this will be of help to you, but I remember seeing the following article on trying to model blast furnaces: J. P. Norton; Practical problems in blast furnace identification; Measurement and Control; Vol. 6; No. 1; January 1, 1973; pp. 29-34. Perhaps some of the references within this article might be of help.
Regards,
Tom Cuff
Hi Ali ,
I would focus my reply on numerical analysis of furnace.
As you know its very complex cross flow reactor , so start with simplest model- non reactive CFD analysis .
Choose a config : depending upon production rate - there are different modules of furnace ( working volume). Use the temperature zones as Boundary conditions (BC) of a porous media against hot blast flow ( flow rate and Pressure as BC) . Initially keep porosity of furnace constant. Then make that function of height. Later on include the effect of Kinetics ( reaction flows) . As far as I know , its not same for any furnace, because kinetics depends upon the Raw material to furnace ( ore / sinter / pellet) and their internal ratio as raw material feed. So make some assumption based on a published literature. Given my understanding, BF analysis is based on measured conditions at exit, I have never come across the details on internal kinetics of a furnace.
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