Effect of sinter layer porosity distribution on flow and temperature fields in a sinter cooler

When sinters are filled into the sinter cooler from the sintering machine, it is commonly seen that, due to segregation effects, sinters of larger size usually accumulate closer to the inner wall of the sinter cooler, whereas those of smaller size are to the outer wall. This nonuniform distribution of sinters has led to uneven cooling effect throughout the cooler. This causes the sinters leaving the cooler at a large temperature difference. This undesired temperature difference leads to the deformation and even the destruction of the conveyors. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was used in the present work to investigate the heat and fluid flow phenomena within the sinter cooler corresponding to the different distribution of sinter layer porosity, which was highly dependent on the arrangement and orientation of sinters within the sinter cooler. It is confirmed that a high mass flow rate within the sinter layer causes a low temperature region and vice versa. The flow fields for vertically reducing porosity distribution and random distribution are almost identical indicating the relative insignificance of convective heat transfer mechanism.