The study of the distribution and deformation of burden layer in 250 ton/day mini blast furnace using discrete element method

Based on the abundant nickel ore resources in Indonesia, it is necessary to develop nickel ore processing technology. One of the commercially proven nickel processing technology is Mini Blast Furnace (MBF). The feeding process in MBF using charging system. So, the burden material distribution in MBF can be controlled. The burden material controlling is important process in MBF. The distribution of burden material will affect the gas flow in MBF. This research focuses to study the effect of large bell diameter size to burden materials distribution in MBF using Discrete Element Method. After analysis, the differences of large bell diameter size will affect the burden materials distribution. If the diameter of large bell is greater, the impact point during charging process will be closer to the wall area. Then, the impact area on the surface of the layer will be on top of the layer. The distribution of burden materials in MBF is influenced by large bell size, kinetic energy at impact, particle mass, and particle size and layer stability. For particles distribution, the particles with small density (coal and dolomite) tend to be concentrated in the center zone. On the other hand, the particles with large density (ore) tend to be concentrated in the intermediate and peripheral zone. For the MBF start-up process, the best gas flow can be achieved by using large bell and MBF inner diameter ratio of 7:10.