Three-dimensional modelling of the wall heat transfer in the lower stack region of a blast furnace

This paper describes a mathematical model, together with its solution technique developed by the finite element method, to simulate the three-dimensional heat transfer in the wall of the lower stack region of a blast furnace, with the wall consisting of criss-crossing refractories and water-cooling components. The approach is validated by the good agreement between the computed and measured radial temperature distributions, and subsequently used to study the heat transfer process under various water-cooling and blast furnace operating conditions. The results indicate that the heat transfer and hence the wear process in the furnace wall can be controlled by properly adjusting blast furnace operating conditions, such as the cooling water supply and the gas flowrate of blast furnace.