Investigation of the oxygen-methane combustion and heating characteristics in industrial-scale copper anode refining furnace

Jiajun Lu, Shiliang Yang and Hua Wang

Energy, 2024, vol. 298, issue C

Abstract: Copper anode refining furnace is commonly utilized for the refinement of crude copper derived from the copper converting process, primarily employing methane combustion to heat the copper material. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics model of oxygen-methane combustion is developed to scrutinize the turbulent combustion characteristics of methane in the industrial-scale rotary copper anode furnace. After model validation, the combustion characteristics and heating behavior in the copper anode furnace are explored. The findings reveal that the local high-temperature zone in the anode furnace appears at the tail of the high-speed jet, located in the middle and lower segments of the furnace. The maximum recirculation zone is situated at the furnace rear, indicating an uneven temperature distribution within the furnace. For small nozzle inclination angles, the gas recirculation zone and high-temperature area are situated in the upper region of furnace. Conversely, when the nozzle inclination angle is excessively large, a substantial recirculation area is not observed. Large nozzle diameter reduces jet velocity of ejected gas from the nozzle. The optimal nozzle inclination angle is determined to be 8°, with a nozzle diameter of 30 mm for the methane inlet and a ring-shaped oxygen inlet diameter of 50 mm.

Keywords: Copper anode refining furnace; Methane combustion; Non-premixed combustion; Optimization; Numerical simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:298:y:2024:i:c:s036054422401051x

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.131278

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