Effect of chute angle on charging behavior of sintered ore particles at bell-less type charging system of blast furnace by discrete element method

The objective of this paper is to analyze the particle behavior at a bell-less top of blast furnace by using Discrete Element Method. The effect of chute angle on the flowing behavior or the particle segregation was discussed. The particles in the chute are centrifuged by the chute rotation with moving toward the outlet. The most of the smallest particles are pressed up against the chute side wall, while the larger ones stay at the outside of clustered particles due to the particle size segregation. The specific charged mass at charging area increases with increasing the number of charges, and the distribution of charged mass spreads toward the center of blast furnace, because the particles slide downward along with the slope of heap. The coke particles are pressed toward the center of blast furnace by the subsequently charged sintered ore particles with increasing the number of charges. The large collapse of coke layer is seen after 16 times charging under 36.9° and 43.1° in chute angle. It is found that the chute angle affects not only the particle segregation but also the collapse of coke layer strongly.