Mathematical model for transient erosion process of blast furnace hearth

A mathematical model that can estimate the transient erosion process of the blast furnace hearth has been developed. This mathematical model can treat the molten iron flow, heat transfer and the brick/refractory erosion at the hearth. To verify the availability of the mathematical model, comparisons of computational final erosion profile of the hearth were made with the investigation results of the dissection blast furnace and computational results gave good agreement with the measured one, The effects of the distribution profile of the dripping molten iron flow rate into the hearth, the coke free layer size, production rate of the molten iron, thermal conductivity of the carbon brick and the fluid flow resistance through the coke packed bed were examined by using this mathematical model.