Proceedings of the Ironmaking, Iron Ore and Agglomeration Seminars

Title

THERMAL BENDING OF COPPER COOLING STAVES IN BLAST FURNACES

Authorship

Soltys, Cameron; Al-Dojayli, Maher; Ghorbani, Hamid

DOI

10.5151/2594-357X-32533

Downloads

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Abstract

 

Cooling staves in blast furnaces are used to minimize the process heat loads on steel shell and refractory system. Copper staves are exposed to significant fluctuating thermal loads which may lead to premature stave failures due to cracks, water leakage, bending, abrasion and resultant wear. In this paper, an assessment methodology is presented to evaluate the effect of thermal cycling on copper staves including bending, fatigue and thermal ratcheting. This approach incorporates temperature-dependent copper properties including creep and plasticity to more accurately capture inelastic deformations, damage and fatigue in staves under transient and cyclic thermal loading conditions. Root cause failure assessment and improvements to copper stave design can be assessed using the presented methodology.

Keywords

Blast Furnace; Copper Staves; Stave Damage; Thermal Bending