Modeling of combustion and heat transfer in an iron ore sintering bed with considerations of multiple solid phases

Abstract

The iron ore sintering was characterized as a relatively uniform process of solid material, coke combustion, various modes of heat transfer, and the complicated physical changes of solid particles. The sintering bed was modeled as an unsteady one-dimensional process of the solid materials with multiple solid phases, which confers a phase on each kind of solid material. Each solid phase had a specific particle size and compositions. Drying, condensation, coke combustion, limestone decomposition, generation of the macroscopic internal pore and shrinking of the bed were considered. Complicated modes of heat transfer including conduction, convection and radiation were considered. Numerical simulations of the condition in the iron ore sintering bed were carried out for various parameters: coke contents and air suction rates, along with some other parameters of the model. Calculation results were compared with the results of the sintering pot test. The temperature profiles and gas compositions showed a good agreement with the experimental data.