Avaliação da drenagem de líquidos do cadinho do alto-forno 2 da ArcelorMittal Tubarão através de modelagem física e matemática.

The technique of physical modeling has been used successfully for industrial processes simulation (hot metal and steel manufacturing), such as blast furnaces, torpedo car, RH, LD converters, tundish and many others. The hot metal and slag flows have very important functions in the blast furnace hearth, both in regard to operational performance as well to extension life. The liquid flow in the hearth can be characterized qualitatively and quantitatively using dimensionless groups with the objective of assuring dynamic similarity between model and the actual equipment. It is known that this flow is influenced by the permeability inside the reactor, the gas flow through the tuyeres (raceway), the production rate and blast furnace profile (shaft, belly, bosh and hearth geometry). Additional information about heat fluxes, temperature profiles and liquid flow in porous deadman can be accomplished by using mathematical models. The physical and mathematical modeling are complementary and can be applied together. Fluctuations are not rare in the blast furnace process, especially those related to the cycles of opening and closing the tap hole. Fluid retention in the hearth and its influence in the burden descent are considered the main result of these fluctuations. In this context, the objectives of this work included developing a physical model of the ArcelorMittal Tubarao blast furnace #2 hearth and applying a mathematical model (CFD, computational fluid dynamics) and heat exchange model, to evaluate the effect of main process variables on the drainage in the hearth. Furthermore, to investigate the flow and liquid velocity effects, evaluate post-mortem data of the blast furnace 2, in order to correlate them to the results obtained in the models thus allowing an understanding of physical phenomena and operational reasons of refractory wear.