CFD prediction of heat/mass transfer in multi-layer sintering process assisted with gaseous fuel injection

The Chinese government made a pledge to the international community that CO₂ emissions in China will peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality will be achieved before 2060. Iron ore sinter production is an important source of carbon emissions in China. Indeed, the uneven heat distribution in a sintering bed is a long-standing problem that significantly increases the consumption of energy. In the present study, we numerically examined the heat/mass transfer in multi-layer sintering process assisted with gaseous fuel injection in order to improve the energy efficiency. Computational results showed that solid fuel segregation had considerable positive effects on the achievement of a more reasonable and balanced heat pattern distribution due to the increased melting quantity index in the near-inlet region under segregated conditions. The results also indicated that gaseous fuel (vol. 1.0–3.0%) could greatly enhance the heat generated in the melting zone in the near-inlet region by influencing the dynamics of the primary and secondary reaction zones. These findings extend our understandings of the heat/mass transfer under gaseous fuel injection conditions. According to our computations, combined coke segregation and gaseous fuel injection is a feasible and energy-efficient solution that can contribute to reduce carbon emissions.