Effect of screw casing structure on descending of burdens in COREX shaft furnace

COREX shaft furnace (SF) is a typical screw feeder with a storage container coupled with eight screw casings and screws. The structure of screw casing plays an important role in the moving behavior of burdens, stress distribution, abrasive wear of screws, and energy consumption during the operation of SF. Therefore, a three-dimensional semi-cylindrical model of actual size of COREX-3000 SF was established based on discrete element method to investigate the influences of screw casing structure. The results show that the increase in the gap between the outside of screw flight and screw casing is beneficial for the smooth operation of SF, resulting in uniform descending velocity along the radius of SF in the lower part, decreasing the size of recirculation region, and alleviating stress concentration in the screw casing. Moreover, raising the gap appropriately is also beneficial to weaken screw abrasive wear, decrease energy consumption, and then prolong the service life of the screws. However, enlarging the gap also leads to more undesired high temperature reduction gas into the SF from melter gasifier, thereby deteriorating the operation of SF. Thus, an ideal distance exists between the outside of the screw flight and the screw casing, which is suggested to be equal to the average of particle diameter.