Transient DEM-CFD simulation of solid and fluid flow in a three dimensional blast furnace model

Estimation of the Blast Furnace Hearth State Using an Inverse-Problem-Based Wear Model

An undisturbed and well-controlled hearth state is an essential prerequisite for achieving a long campaign life and low production costs in an ironmaking blast furnace, because hearth wear and hot metal and slag drainage are crucial factors in its operation. With the objective to estimate the hearth state of the refractory of a three-taphole blast furnace, a wear model of the hearth erosion and skull formation was developed. The model is based on thermocouple readings in the hearth lining and solves an inverse heat conduction problem for a series of co-axial vertical slices, where the erosion and skull lines are optimized simultaneously. The model is optimized for fast computation by adopting a novel procedure featuring fixed mesh during the looping calculation. The results revealed that the hearth refractory showed an elephant-foot-shaped profile with excessive erosion in the hearth periphery, indicating that liquid flows are suppressed in the hearth bottom and that the permeability of the core of the deadman is low. These findings were further elaborated and confirmed by a comparison between the estimated hearth state and other key operation variables, including the coke rate, blast kinetic energy, and residual carbon appetite of the hot metal.

Dead-Man Behavior in the Blast Furnace Hearth—A Brief Review

The blast furnace campaign length is today usually restricted by the hearth life, which is strongly related to the drainage and behavior of the coke bed in the hearth, usually referred to as the dead man. Because the hearth is inaccessible and the conditions are complex, knowledge and understanding of the state of the dead man are still limited compared to other parts of the blast furnace process. Since a number of publications have studied different aspects of the dead man in the literature, the purpose of the current review is to compile the findings and knowledge in a comprehensive document. We mainly focus on contributions with respect to the dead man state, and those assessing its influence on the hearth performance in terms of liquid flow patterns, lining wear and drainage behavior. A set of common modeling approaches in this specific furnace area is also briefly presented. The aim of the review is also to deepen the understanding and stimulate further research on open questions related to the dead man in the blast furnace hearth.