A proposal of ore particle-wall sticking criterion during the flash ironmaking process

Particle-wall sticking is a common phenomenon in high-temperature ironmaking reactors, such as flash ironmaking furnaces. In this study, a new criterion for the reduced ore particles was proposed to predict the sticking propensity based on the components, morphology, and particle motion. A comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was also established, and a newly proposed sticking criterion was coded into the traditional gas-particle framework. The results show that the adhesion of particles is more likely to occur at the medium height on the hemispherical refractory wall, and there is a bias under the side-blowing gas flow. The study also shows that particle-wall sticking did not occur when the reaction temperature was below 1300 degrees C, while more than half would stick to the molten slag surface at a higher temperature. However, the sticking propensity did not always increase at a higher experimental temperature because the intermediate products, such as FeO, can reduce viscosity.