The Effect of External Geometry Factors on the Characteristics of Flow Profiles and Segregation in a Vertical Sinter Cooling Bed

Good particle flow patterns and uniform particle velocity distributions enhance the performance of heat transfer and smooth flow processes in vertical sinter cooling beds (VSCBs). The effect of three typical geometries, conical, curved and rectangular, on the performance of flow profiles and segregation in a VSCB is investigated comparatively and quantitatively based on the discrete element method (DEM). The evolution of flow profiles and particle segregation directly influence the evenly distributed sinter layers and the efficiency of heat exchange in VSCBs. In this research, a 3D packed bed model is established for the three geometry types to quantitatively and qualitatively investigate the influence of structural parameters on the evolution of flow patterns and segregation. The comparison of the effect of the three geometry types on the particle flow process showed that the curved geometry types greatly improve the performance of the flow pattern and size segregation. The height of the mass flow pattern for the curved geometry varies with the structural parameters by 1.5-fold that of the flow pattern for the other two geometry types. The curved geometry dramatically reduces the magnitude of the segregation index (SI) near the sidewall, while this magnitude fluctuates near 1.0 in the central flow passage of the VSCB.