Computational Approaches for Studying Slag–Matte Interactions in the Flash Smelting Furnace (FSF) Settler

Computational methods have become reliable tools in many disciplines for research and industrial design. There are, however, an ever-increasing number of details waiting to be included in the models and software, including, e.g., chemical reactions and many physical phenomena, such as particle and d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Processes 2020-04, Vol.8 (4), p.485
Main Authors: Jylhä, Jani-Petteri, Khan, Nadir Ali, Jokilaakso, Ari
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical reactions
Coalescing
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer applications
Computer programs
Computer simulation
Design engineering
Discrete element method
Droplets
Flash smelting
Flow velocity
Fluid dynamics
Gases
High temperature
Mathematical models
Metallurgy
Methods
Particle interactions
Population
Settling velocity
Slag
Smelting
Smelting furnaces
Software
Software packages
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Computational methods have become reliable tools in many disciplines for research and industrial design. There are, however, an ever-increasing number of details waiting to be included in the models and software, including, e.g., chemical reactions and many physical phenomena, such as particle and droplet behavior and their interactions. The dominant method for copper production, flash smelting, has been extensively investigated, but the settler part of the furnace containing molten high temperature melts termed slag and matte, still lacks a computational modeling tool. In this paper, two commercial modeling software programs have been used for simulating slag–matte interactions in the settler, the target being first to develop a robust computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and, second, to apply a new approach for molten droplet behavior in a continuum. The latter is based on CFD coupled with the discrete element method (DEM), which was originally developed for modeling solid particle–particle interactions and movement, and is applied here for individual droplets for the first time. The results suggest distinct settling flow phenomena and the significance of droplet coalescence for settling velocity and efficiency. The computing capacity requirement for both approaches is the main limiting factor preventing full-scale geometry modeling with detailed droplet interactions.
ISSN:2227-9717
2227-9717
DOI:10.3390/pr8040485