VFM-based modelling of burden descent under varying burden charging matrix for blast furnace

The blast furnace (BF) is the main equipment in ironmaking industry in China. For the BF, the production and the smooth operation largely depend on a reasonable burden structure. In the burden structure modelling, the burden descent is the weak link due to the black-box nature of the burden descending process. The viscous flow model (VFM) is a widely used burden descent model with relatively high accuracy. However, when adopted to determine the burden structure, the VFM can only perform under a constant charging matrix. In this work, we incorporate the VFM into the burden structure model which is capable of utilizing varying charging matrixes. First, to incorporate the VFM, a new layout of the burden structure model is designed. Then, to address the multiple burden descents problem caused by the VFM, a new strategy implementing the VFM is proposed. With this strategy, the multiple burden descents are compact into one solution process, and the model efficiency is thereby increased. Finally, the case study on the performance of the proposed burden structure model is carried out. Results show that the proposed model is able to capture the layer details in the burden. Results also show that, unlike the VFM alone, this VFM-based model is able to utilize varying charging matrix and depict structure of each individual layer.