Numerical simulation and optimization of the multi-stage air/gas supply system in a coke oven battery with 7.1 m coking chambers

3-D numerical simulations based on diffusion combustion technology were employed to optimize the multi-stage air/gas supply system in a coke oven battery with 7.1 m coking chambers. In the heating flues, the Eddy-Dissipation Concept (EDC) model and the ideal gas model were utilized to numerically investigate diffusion combustion. What is more, the radiation between the flue gas and the silicon brick was calculated using the Discrete Ordinates (DO) model. After validating the reliability of the model with field-measured data, insights into the temperature field and gas flow in the heating flue, and heat flux distribution over the heating wall were obtained. To characterize the vertical heating uniformity, an index of the standard deviation of the heat flux over the vertical heating walls was proposed. By optimizing the multi-stage air/gas supply design of heating flues, the vertical heating uniformity was improved by 60% according to the index values. The approach developed in this work can be a useful tool for the design of large-capacity coke oven batteries at different scales.