EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

In recent years, efforts in the field of ironmaking research have been focused on the process optimization to reach new objectives in terms of low reducing agent operation. As a consequence, mathematical models have become key tools, including advanced numerical methods, to describe accurately physical phenomena occurring in the blast furnace. However, little attention has been paid so far to the description of the hot stove battery, whose optimization also impacts blast furnace performances in terms of consumption of reducing agent. A new modeling of the hot stove battery has been developed to provide an offline optimization tool to the industrial operators. This model is based on a 1D description of the thermal phenomena in the hot stove, such as heat transfer in the checker-work and gas combustion. According to a set of process measurements, main overall characteristics of each stove, like inertia as well as heat transfer efficiency, are calculated by a reverse method. Based on the identified reference state, a complete set of potential stove battery working points can be simulated, to find the most optimal configuration towards the expectations of the plant. As a consequence, the methodology differs from an on-line expert system, as it is focused on the analysis of the battery during a stable working point to simulate prospective process optimizations.