A New Mathematical Model for Description of the Liquid Discrete Flow Within a Packed Bed Original Research Article

The molten liquid discrete flow inside a packed bed is a typical transport phenomenon in the blast furnace. As for the reported mathematical models presenting the liquid discrete flow within the packed bed, there are some barriers for their application to an engineering scale-up, or some imperfections in model descriptions. To overcome these deficiencies, the effects of the packed bed on the liquid discrete flow have been divided into resistance action and dispersal action, and appropriate descriptions have been given for the two actions, respectively. Consequently, a new mathematical model has been built to present the liquid discrete flow inside a coke bed in the blast furnace. The mathematical model can predict the distribution of liquid flux and the liquid flowing range inside the packed bed at any time. The prediction of this model accords well with the experimental data. The model will be much better for the simulation of the ironmaking process, compared with the existent model.