Particle Size Segregation during Charging and Discharging Processes in Bell-Less Blast Furnace with Serial-Type Hoppers

Abstract

Burden distribution in a blast furnace not only determines the distribution of gas flow but also affects the thermal efficiency and fuel consumption of the blast furnace. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the burden segregation behaviors during the charging and discharging processes in blast furnaces. Herein, a 3D model of a 1:1 bell-less top blast furnace with serial-type hoppers is established based on the discrete element method. The model is used to simulate the entire process of the burden falling from the belt until it leaves the weighing hopper. The results show that the particle size segregation in the upper hopper is more severe than that in the weighing hopper, which also seriously affects the size segregation in the weighing hopper. Changing the charging sequence will reduce the segregation degree in two hoppers, but it cannot change the trend of particle size segregation in the final stage of the discharging process. The small particles are found to gather at the end of the discharging process, so the chute angle should be increased in the last few revolutions of the charging matrix to decrease the accumulation of small particles.