CFD Modeling of Skull Formation in a Blast Furnace Hearth

The formation of the protective layer of solidified metal (skull) is critical to the blast furnace hearth operation. Enhancement of the formation of the skull layer could extend the hearth lining life and blast furnace campaign. In this paper, a CFD model that consists of solidification, flow, heat transfer has been utilized to simulate the skull formation phenomena in a blast furnace hearth. The heat transfer characteristics and temperature distribution of the skull and refractory brick has been investigated. The simulated results are comparable with operating experience of U. S. Steel blast furnaces. Parametric study includes lining property and structure, cooling water temperature and flow rate, hot metal (HM) temperature and the production rate, as well as cast practice.

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Numerical Investigation of Cooling Strategy for Reducing Blast Furnace Hearth Erosions

Heat Transfer: Volume 3 ◽

10.1115/ht2005-72633 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Fang Yan ◽

Chenn Q. Zhou ◽

D. Huang ◽

Pinakin Chaubal

Keyword(s):

Blast Furnace ◽

Metal Flow ◽

Cooling Water ◽

Hot Metal ◽

Furnace Hearth ◽

Cooling Water Temperature ◽

Cooling Strategies ◽

Temperature Distributions ◽

Blast Furnace Hearth ◽

Campaign Life

Hearth wearing is the key limit of a blast furnace campaign life. Hot metal flow pattern and temperature distributions are the two key variables to determine the rate and style of the hearth wearing. There are several strategies to control and reduce the hearth erosion, such as changing cooling water temperature and changing the heat transfer coefficient. In this paper, both cooling strategies are investigated using a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, which was developed specifically for the simulation of blast furnace hearth. That program can predict the liquid flow patterns and temperature distributions of the hot metal as well as temperature profiles in the hearth refractory materials under different conditions. The results predicted by the CFD code were compared with actual industrial operation data. The cooling strategies are evaluated based on the energy analysis and effect on the hearth erosion.

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Numerical Investigation on Cooling Strategies in a Commercial Blast Furnace Hearth

Volume 2, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/ht-fed2004-56259 ◽

2004 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anil K. Patnala ◽

Chenn Q. Zhou ◽

Yongfu Zhao

Keyword(s):

Blast Furnace ◽

Cooling Water ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

Cfd Modeling ◽

Dominant Factor ◽

Furnace Hearth ◽

Blast Furnace Hearth ◽

Campaign Life ◽

Parametric Effects ◽

Flow Heat

A blast furnace is the predominant iron-producing process in the U.S. It is widely believed that the blast furnace hearth refractory is the most dominant factor affecting the campaign life of a blast furnace. The hearth, where the liquid metal is collected, is made of carbon bricks. Cooling water is normally applied to the outside wall of the hearth. Wear of the carbon refractory occurs primarily because of erosion, which is related to the operating conditions of the hearth, such as the liquid flow in the hearth and the heat duty to the walls. Evaluation of fluid flow, heat transfer, and erosion patterns in the hearth are critical to the extension of the campaign life of a blast furnace, leading to the increase of productivity and saving of costs significantly. Advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling techniques make it possible for providing detailed information on furnace conditions and parametric effects on performance. In this research, the blast furnace No. 13 at U.S Steel has been simulated using a comprehensive CFD model. The model was validated using the temperatures measured by thermocouples in the wall refractories of the furnace. The effects of cooling water on the temperature distributions as well as erosion patterns were evaluated. The results provide useful information for the furnace operations.

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CFD Modeling and Analysis of The Flow, Heat Transfer and Mass Transfer in a Blast Furnace Hearth

steel research international ◽

10.1002/srin.201100048 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 82 (5) ◽

pp. 579-586 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Bao-Yu Guo ◽

Ai-Bing Yu ◽

Paul Zulli ◽

Daniel Maldonado

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Mass Transfer ◽

Blast Furnace ◽

Cfd Modeling ◽

Furnace Hearth ◽

Modeling And Analysis ◽

Blast Furnace Hearth ◽

Flow Heat

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Properties and application of carbon composite brick for blast furnace hearth

Journal of Mining and Metallurgy Section B Metallurgy ◽

10.2298/jmmb141107018j ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 143-151 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

K.X. Jiao ◽

J.L. Zhang ◽

Z.J. Liu ◽

Y.G. Zhao ◽

X.M. Hou

Keyword(s):

Blast Furnace ◽

Chemical Composition ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Protective Layer ◽

Silicon Powder ◽

Slag Layer ◽

Carbon Composite ◽

Carbon Layer ◽

Furnace Hearth ◽

Blast Furnace Hearth

A type of carbon composite brick was produced via the microporous technique using natural flack graphite, ?-Al2O3 and high-quality bauxite chamotte (Al2O3?87 mass%) as raw materials with fine silicon powder as additive. The composition and microstructure of the obtained carbon composite were characterized using chemical analysis, XRD and SEM with EDS. The high temperature properties of thermal conductivity, oxidization and corrosion by molten slag and hot metal of the composite were analyzed. Based on these, the type of carbon composite brick worked in a blast furnace hearth for six years was further sampled at different positions. The protective layer was found and its chemical composition and microscopic morphology were investigated. It is found that the carbon composite brick combines the good properties of both the conventional carbon block and ceramic cup refractory. The protective layer near the hot face consists of two separated sublayers, i.e. the slag layer and the carbon layer. A certain amount of slag phase is contained in the carbon layer, which is caused by the reaction of coke ash with the refractory. No obvious change in the chemical composition of the protective layer along the depth of the sidewall is found. This work provides a useful guidance for the extension of the lifetime of blast furnace hearths.

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Influence of Hot Metal Flow on the Heat Transfer in a Blast Furnace Hearth

Tetsu-to-Hagane ◽

10.2355/tetsutohagane1955.71.1_34 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 71 (1) ◽

pp. 34-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jiro OHNO ◽

Masaharu TACHIMORI ◽

Masakazu NAKAMURA ◽

Yukiaki HARA

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Blast Furnace ◽

Metal Flow ◽

Hot Metal ◽

Furnace Hearth ◽

Blast Furnace Hearth

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A Methodology for Blast Furnace Hearth Inner Profile Analysis

Journal of Heat Transfer ◽

10.1115/1.2768100 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 129 (12) ◽

pp. 1729-1731 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yu Zhang ◽

Rohit Deshpande ◽

D. Huang ◽

Pinakin Chaubal ◽

Chenn Q. Zhou

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Blast Furnace ◽

Profile Analysis ◽

Furnace Hearth ◽

Temperature Distributions ◽

Blast Furnace Hearth ◽

Computational Fluid Dynamics Cfd ◽

The Difference ◽

New Algorithms ◽

Face Temperature

The wear of a blast furnace hearth and the hearth inner profile are highly dependent on the liquid iron flow pattern, refractory temperatures, and temperature distributions at the hot face. In this paper, the detailed methodology is presented along with the examples of hearth inner profile predictions. A new methodology along with new algorithms is proposed to calculate the hearth erosion and its inner profile. The methodology is to estimate the hearth primary inner profile based on 1D heat transfer and to compute the hot-face temperature using the 3D CFD hearth model according to the 1D preestimated and reestimated profiles. After the hot-face temperatures are converged, the hot-face positions are refined by a new algorithm, which is based on the difference between the calculated and measured results, for the 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) hearth model further computations, until the calculated temperatures well agree with those measured by the thermocouples.

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