Design of a Device for Optimizing Burden Distribution in a Blast Furnace Hopper

The coke and ore are stacked alternately in layers inside the blast furnace. The 1 capability of the charging system to distribute them in the desired manner and with 2 optimum strata thickness, is crucial for the efficiency and high-performance operation 3 of the blast furnace itself. The objective of this work is the optimization of the charging 4 equipment of a specific blast furnace. This blast furnace consists of a hopper, a single bell 5 and a deflector inserted in the hopper under the conveyor belt. The focus is the search 6 for a deflector geometry capable of distributing the material as evenly as possible in the 7 hopper, in order to ensure a good disposal of the material released in the blast furnace. This 8 search was performed coupling the Discrete Element Method with a multi-strategy and 9 self-adapting optimization algorithm. The numerical results were qualitatively validated 10 with a laboratory-scale model. Low cost and simplicity of operation and maintenance are 11 the strengths of the proposed charging system. Moreover, the methodological approach can 12 be extended to other applications and contexts, such as chemical, pharmaceutical and food 13 processing industries. This is especially true when complex material release conditions 14 necessitate achieving required bulk material distribution in containers, silos, hoppers, or 15 similar.