Investigation of burden distribution in the blast furnace

In the ironmaking blast furnace a proper control of the burden distribution is important as this is the primary means of affecting the conditions in the upper part, the shaft, of the furnace, where the burden is heated and the indirect reduction of the iron oxides takes place. The present paper studies the charging of pellets and coke in the furnace bothby experiments and mathematical modeling. A small-scale bell-less charging device is used to study the burden distribution experimentally for different charging programs.  Corresponding programs are simulated using the discrete element modeling (DEM) approach. The results are compared and conclusions concerning the findings are drawn. The coke push effect, where lighter coke on the burden surface is shifted by charging of the heavier pellets, is also discussed.