Model analysis of the operation of the blast furnace hearth with a sitting and floating dead man

The phenomena in the blast furnace hearth are extremely complex and the possibilities to directly measure its internal state are practically non-existent. In order to control the process to achieve smooth operation and long campaigns, a thorough understanding of the conditions in the hearth is required. Such knowledge can be gained through mathematical modeling of the internal conditions. Since the properties of the dead man are known to considerably affect the hearth conditions, a model describing the operation of the hearth with a sitting, partially or completely floating dead man has been developed. Simulation of the tap cycle of a one-taphole blast furnace shows the effect of boundary conditions, hearth geometry, coke voidage and dead-man floating state on the evolution of the liquid levels and the slag delay. On the basis of the computed inner geometry of the hearth, the model has been applied to data from a six-year period of a Finnish blast furnace, and it has been found to accurately predict the long-term variations in the slag delay.