Simulation of the mass and heat transfer in a three-electrode round impoverishment furnace

A thermophysical model is developed for a three-electrode round impoverishment furnace operating with electrodes immersed in a slag melt in order to predict the operation of the impoverishment furnaces located at the Nadezhdinsk metallurgical works of the Noril’sk Nikel integrated works and to optimize their energy-technical conditions. This model provides reliable information on the temperature field in the slag bath of a furnace depending on the furnace operating schedule, the velocity and character of motion of a slag melt, the heat release in different regions of the slag melt, and (hence) the heat load applied to furnace elements. The results of calculation by this model were used to make recommendations for improving the designs of the furnaces operating at the Noril’sk Nikel integrated works and for changing their operating conditions.