Methodology for the Numerical Simulation of Natural Gas, Coal, and Coke Combustion in a Blast Furnace

A blast furnace is a reaction vessel in which iron ore is converted to molten iron. High rate pulverized coal injection (PCI) into a blast furnace (BF) is an existing process that is known to decrease the amount of coke in the ironmaking process. Natural gas co-injection with pulverized coal increases the burnout and devolatilization rates of pulverized coal. Also, hydrogen produced from natural gas combustion is a powerful reducing agent of iron (III) oxide, releasing pure iron that trickles down and is eventually removed through the taphole. Due to the inherent complexity of the blast furnace ironmaking process, numerical simulation can prove to be quite difficult. This paper describes a three step methodology for modeling blast furnace combustion, and its application to a furnace in operation at USSC Hamilton Works.