Experimental Study of Burden Distribution in the COREX Melter Gasifier

The COREX melter gasifier (MG) is a reduction reactor applied to produce liquid iron from non-coking coal and directly reduced iron. The burden distribution in its operation plays an important role in achieving high stability and energy efficiency. This work establishes a 1/7.5 scale experimental model to study the burden distribution with a mixed charging. First, the relationship between the angle of distributor and the burden falling point is investigated. Then, the effects of the initial burden surface profile and the descending burden are discussed in terms of the radial ore-to-coal ratio and voidage distribution. The results show that the burden flow widths of coal and pellet increase along the radial direction, and the burden flow width of coal is larger than that of coal in a modern blast furnace. The ore-to-coal ratio near the wall is significantly larger than that of the center, possibly leading to worse reduction of burden near the wall. Compared to results with a horizontal initial burden surface, the results under the conditions of a naturally-formed initial burden surface and a descending burden are more realistic helpful for the operation of the MG.