Comparing heat recovery schemes in solid bed cooling

Interesting perspectives are shown by heat recovery from beds of particulate solids which have to be cooled for process requirements. Sinter making plants for blast furnace feeding represent a typical application area where energy saving policies are very attractive. With reference to a sinter cooling bed of the Ilva steel works located in Taranto, several heat recovery schemes were presented under the hypothesis of unsteady-state operation. Assuming both uniform and non-uniform cooling air flow rates, solutions based on single and double (parallel or series) hoods were characterized in terms of arrangement, control criteria and performance. Finally, a comparison analysis was carried out based on plant complexities and benefits of examined heat recovery schemes. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.