Modelling the Injection zone of the blast furnace

Worldwide, most iron is made in blast furnaces. The most recent improvement in blast furnace operation is pulverized coal injection technology. The coal combustion inside the raceway heats reducing gases and thus enhances the iron smelting, which leads to a reduction in coke consumption and CO2 footprint, and hence in a reduction of production cost. Therefore, knowledge of the combustion behaviour of coal and coke in the raceway zone and accumulation of unburnt char are of paramount importance for further improvements and optimization of the blast furnace process. This project aims at providing a fundamental understanding of raceway phenomena by developing a comprehensive 3D raceway model integrating fluid flow, and heat and mass transfer. This model is used to simulate the flow-thermal-chemical behaviour of gas-coal-coke multiphase flows in the raceway zone under the full-scale blast furnace condition. The simulations provide information in terms of flow, raceway formation, temperature, gas composition, and combustion characteristics. The gained knowledge can be used for process control and optimization of the blast furnace process.

People involved in this project: Niels Deen & Chih-Chia Huang.