Cooling process of iron ore pellets in an annular cooler

Abstract

A 3-D mathematical model was presented for the cooling process of iron ore pellets based on the laws of mass, momentum, and heat transfer. The flow, pressure, and temperature fields were obtained by numerical simulation with the commercial software FLUENT. In order to verify the model, a mass and energy balance field test was systematically carried out on an annular cooler in Shougang Mining Company. The maximum relative errors of temperature, pressure, and velocity between computational and testing results are 2.87%, −8.11%, and 7.14%, respectively, indicating the validity of the model. Further, the effects of process parameters, such as pellet diameter, bed thickness, air velocity, and temperature, on the pellet bed temperature profiles were studied.

Keywords

iron ore pellets / mathematical models / cooling / numerical analysis

References

[1] B. Dai, The process design and production practice of the grate-kiln oxidized pellet production line, Hebei Metall., 2006, No.3, p.57.

[2] Xu Y.J., Li C.G., Wang J.Y. Development and application of Grate-kiln pellet process. China Metall., 2005, 15(4): 17.

[3] Zhang J. Familiar broken down and solving methods of the blast annular cooler. Sintering Pelletizing, 1999, 24(5): 56.

[4] V. Niiniskorpi, Grate-Kiln-Cooler. Where to oxidize and why? [in] Proceedings of 61st Ironmaking Conference, Warrendale, 2002, p.533.

[5] Yang B., Wang G.Q., Li H.S., et al. The project and operating practice of Grate-Kiln oxidized pellet process in Xinxinzhuguan Co.. Sintering Pelletizing, 2004, 29(3): 27.

[6] Saastamoinen J.J. Heat exchange between two coupled moving beds by fluid flow. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 2004, 47, 1535.

[7] Saada M.A., Chikh S., Campo A. Analysis of hydrodynamic and thermal dispersion in porous media by means of a local approach. Heat Mass Transfer, 2006, 42, 995.

[8] Delgado J.M.P.Q. A critical review of dispersion in packed beds. Heat Mass Transfer, 2006, 42, 279.

[9] Caputo A.C., Pelagagge P.M. Fuzzy control of heat recovery systems from solid bed cooling. Appl. Therm. Eng., 2000, 20, 49.

[10] Pelagagge P.M., Caputo A.C. Heat recovery from moving cooling beds: Transient modeling by dynamic simulation. Appl. Therm. Eng., 1999, 19, 21.

[11] Ferziger J.H. High-level Simulation of Turbulent Flows, 1983 Washington DC, Hemisphere Publication Services, 93.

[12] Mei Z. The Simulation and Optimization to the Non-ferrous Metallurgical Furnace, 2001 Beijing, Metallurgical Industry Press, 5.

[13] Tao W.Q. The Numerical Heat Transfer, 2001 Xi’an, Xi’an Jiaotong University Press, 15.

[14] Abbott M.B., Basco D.R. Computational Fluid Dynamics—An Introduction for Engineers, 1989 Harlow, Longman Scientific & Technical Press, 16.

[15] Felten F., Fautrelle Y., Terrail Y. D., et al. Numerical modelling of electrogenetically-driven turbulent flows using LES methods. Appl. Math. Modelling, 2004, 28(1): 15.

[16] Feng J.X., Sun Z.B., Zhang Y., et al. Mass and thermal balance and energy-saving analysis of the grate-kiln system. Sintering Pelletizing, 2007, 32(6): 29.

[17] Sun Z.B. Study on the Pellets Heat Process in Annular Cooler, 2007 Beijing, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 34.