3-D CFD analysis for blast furnace hearth wear

Distributions of liquid iron flow and refractory temperatures have significant influences on the blast furnace hearth wear. Conditions inside the furnace are generally inferred from the measurements of thermocouples/heat flux sensors embedded in the refractory. A 3-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been developed to simulate hot metal velocities and temperatures as well as refractory temperatures. The CFD model has been validated using both laboratory measurements and industrial blast furnace on-line data. In this research, a new methodology is developed which uses the 3-D CFD model and the 1-D heat transfer model to predict the blast furnace hearth erosion and inner profile based on the detailed hearth refractory temperature records of a blast furnace. Its application to the Mittal Steel IH7 blast furnace has demonstrated the effectiveness of this methodology.