Abstract
Mathematical model of blast furnace operation has been being developed for about four decades. One of the major model frameworks consists of balance of mass, momentum, thermal energy and materials, transport phenomena theory, and chemical kinetics. The models on this basis have been extended from one-dimensional to multi-dimensional, and from steady to transient. This progress has improved the model accuracy and applicability. Although this model extension raised the computational load, recent progress of computer science and technology allows us to get the computed results in practical time period, and shows the capability to apply numerical simulation in the practical operation of blast furnace.
This paper gives an outline of the recent mathematical model of the blast furnace operation, and some applications to the novel operation such as scrap charging and top gas recycling. Next, the expected phases of the model application in the practical operations are shown. Finally some phenomena to be clarified and formulated that are indispensable for the further development of the blast furnace models, and a new direction of model development, such as stochastic process and discontinuity, are shown.
