Model Development of a Blast Furnace Stove

Abstract A large amount of energy is required in the production of steel where the preheating of blast in the hot blast stoves for iron-making is one of the most energy-intensive processes. To improve the energy efficiency it is necessary to investigate how to improve the hot blast stove operation. In this work a mathematic model for evaluating the performance of the hot blast stove was developed using a finite difference approximation to represent the heat transfer inside the stove during operation. The developed model was calibrated by using the process data from the stove V26 at SSAB Oxelosund, Sweden. As a case study, the developed model was used to simulate the effect of a new concept of OxyFuel technique to hot blast stoves. The investigation shows that,by using the OxyFuel technique, it is possible to maintain the blast temperature while removing the usage of coke oven gas. Additionally, the hot blast temperature increases while the flue gas temperature decreases, which allows for an increase of the blast temperature, leading to improved energy efficiency for the hot stove system.