HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS ON ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE REFRACTORY LINING USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

• Main Author: Surya Baihaqi, Riamizar
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/69397
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The processing of nickel ore and iron ore in Indonesia mostly used pyrometallurgical process to produce nickel and steel. Production of nickel and steel use electric arc furnaces requires a large amount of energy. The smelting process in an electric arc furnace occur at high temperature so it requires refractory materials. Refractory materials have good refractoriness and resist from chemical reactions at high temperature. Refractory material contacts with slag and occur degradation. In this study, heat transfer simulation uses computational fluid cdynamics to determine refractory material and degradation of refractory lining, so heat transfer process would not damage steel layer. Heat transfer simulation was carried out by an electric arc furnace to obtain temperature profile and temperature distribution on refractory lining. Simulation use ANSYS Fluent. The geometry used an electric furnace with 7 m high, inner, and outer diameters are 17.66 m and 18 m, respectively. Refractory material use magnesia, chrome alumina, high alumina, and fireclay. The boundary conditions are fixed temperature on inner wall surface, convection, and radiation at outer wall temperature reach 30°C. Simulations were carried out on magnesia, alumina chrome, and highalumina materials at slag refractory interface. Simulation with variation refractory degradation are 46 mm, 68 mm, and 100 mm degradation at refractory slag interface. The results of this simulation will obtain temperature profile and temperature distribution on refractory lining and determine maximum limit of refractory degradation. Heat transfer on variation material, magnesia material can reduce temperature refractory lining higher than other material. Magnesia material conduct heat at distance 9.605 m to temperature 317.1 K, while alumina chrome material reach temperature of 420.2 K, and highalumina material reach temperature of 477.4 K. Simulation of degradation refractory, temperature at position x=9.5 m is 529 K on 100 mm refractory degradation. The maximum temperature for operation on steel layer is around 250 °C (523 K). Based on the simulation results, the refractory magnesia material has high performance and the maximum limit for degradation refractory lining is 100 mm.