2009 Volume 49 Issue 5 Pages 681-686
Using computational fluid dynamics software, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulation models for simulating the mosaic embedding iron ore sintering (MEBIOS) process were developed on the basis of the concept of the multiply shared space (MUSES) method. When one pellet (diameter: 15 mm) was placed at the centre of a sintering bed, the estimated time variations of temperature at the centre and surface of the pellet by both the 2D and 3D simulations were similar to the corresponding experimental results. The calculated cooling rate of the pellet was comparatively high; however, it could be improved further by introducing the fraction of closed pore in the bed in the simulation model.
It was supposed that the 2D simulation of the MEBIOS process was quite effective in decreasing calculation cost; therefore, in the case that several pellets were distributed in lattice and staggered alignments throughout the bed, the 2D model was used for calculating the time variations of temperature at the centre of the pellets. The calculated results showed that the sintering process could not continue when the pellets were distributed in the staggered alignment and the distance between pellet centres was 30 mm. On the other hand, changing the distance between the pellets distributed in the lattice alignment had little effect on the sintering process, and the process accelerated by approximately 300 s due to the high gas velocity around the pellets.
