Thermal Fluid Analysis in Deforming Packed Bed of Ironmaking Blast Furnace

Abstract

Ironmaking blast furnace is a reactor to produce molten iron. In the furnace, iron ore and coke particles are packed in layer-by-layer structure. Iron ore is heated up, reduced, softened, and then melted. During these processes, ore layer deforms and its permeability is deteriorated. It is known that excessively high pressure drop causes in instability of blast furnace operation. Recently, a technique to mix coke particles into the ore layer is attracting interests. Thus, it is important to understand the deformation characteristics of iron ore layer that contains coke particles. In this study, the deforming ore layer was modeled by using Discrete Element Method, and the deformation behavior of coke mixed ore layer was discussed through numerical analysis.