CFD Simulation and Performance Analysis of CJD Burner for Intensified Flash Smelting Process

Abstract

The flash smelting process has been widely acknowledged as a successful modern pyro-metallurgical technology because of its good production flexibility. In past decades, great efforts have been put on the equipment improvement in order to achieve a highly intensive and efficient flash smelting process. However, along with the increasing of the productivity and the intensification of the process, technical problems such as the un-smelted materials accumulated in the settler and the dust generation ratio going higher are found occurring more frequently than before. All these problems however indicate degeneration in the performance of the central jet distributor (CJD) burner. A study was then made on the combustion and reaction processes in the flash furnace equipped with a CJD burner. A steady-state turbulent model was developed and a discrete phase model was included to investigate the velocity and temperature changes of both the gaseous and particle phases in the reaction shaft. The deviation of the numerical model is estimated to be less than 6%. The simulation results reveal a serious delay in the ignition of concentrate particles after they are fed into the furnace. Minor modification was also made by CFD computation, attempting to improve the particle ignition speed, but it was found not so effective. The main reason for the decreased smelting efficiency is found to be the poor mixing between the gaseous and particle phases under the intensified condition. These appeal for a great improvement in the performance of the CJD burner.