(87c) Simulation Analysis for Softening and Melting Behavior of Packed Bed Using Adem-SPH

The cohesive zone inside blast furnace, where the ferrous burden softens and melts, significantly affects the productivity of the blast furnace. The deformation of the ferrous burden unit is the macroscopic result of softening, the final step is the meltdown. Considerable gas pressure drop occurs in the cohesive zone, so that requiring the softening temperatures of ferrous burdens to be high and the difference between softening and melting points minimal. A number of tests and experiments have been performed to control the softening and melting behavior by reduction degree, basicity, amount of gangue and flux, phase chemistry and their distribution in the microstructure. However, actual softening melting behavior of ferrous burden strongly affected by physical particle state such as packing structure, load and movement phenomena. It is difficult to observe these kind of physical state in blast furnace, in this situation, the computer simulation will be an effective tool. In this study, a simulation model which represent the softening and melting behavior of particles has been developed. The purpose of this study is predicting the gas permeability in the blast furnace considering the softening and melting behavior of ferrous burden at the cohesive zone.