Numerical evaluation of the performances of the ventilation system in a blast furnace casthouse

The blast furnace casthouse is a typical heavy-polluting factory building of a steel enterprise. During the tapping process and the taphole opening, the dust concentration in the factory building's workroom can reach tens of thousands mg/m(3). Over time, the air pollutants in the workplace can have unwanted consequences on employees' health. This paper selected a typical blast furnace tapping workshop. The flow, temperature, and soot concentration fields in the workshop are measured on site during tapping, and the distribution characteristics are obtained. The performance of the tapping smoke exhaust system is analyzed based on computational fluid dynamics. The findings are as follows: the concentration of PM2.5 in most of the work area was 80 mu g/m(3), but the concentration reached 1mg/m(3) near the slag ditch, which was heavy pollution. Because the opening and closing of doors and windows was unreasonable, it was difficult for the particulate matter to accumulate in the deep and middle of the plant discharge. The PMV of the worker's work area is about 3, and the waste heat removal efficiency is 4.2. Hence, this article's finding provides a scientific basis for optimizing the air distribution in the blast furnace cast house's workplace.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the air pollution issues in a blast furnace tapping workshop and identifies high soot concentrations and heavy pollution areas. Improper management of doors and windows leads to inefficient particulate matter discharge and accumulation, impacting the working environment and health of employees.