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A Review of Computational Capabilities and Requirements in High-Resolution Simulation of Nonferrous Pyrometallurgical Furnaces

  • Computational Modeling of Metallurgical Furnaces
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Abstract

Tremendous progress has been made over the last several decades in improving the pyrometallurgical processing routes of nonferrous metals, such as aluminum, copper, and lead. Advances in the numerical modeling of pyrometallurgical processes has aided in these improvements by providing a better understanding of the complex transport phenomena occurring in modern furnaces. However, there is a need for a comprehensive discussion of the numerical modeling of a primary and a secondary nonferrous pyrometallurgical furnaces. This review provides such a discussion by surveying recent attempts at capturing the physico-chemical phenomena occurring within these furnaces, including gas-phase combustion, melting/smelting, and multiphase heat- and mass-transfer with the molten phases.This work then identifies a complete set of approaches for simulating these types of furnaces and provides recommendations for applying high-resolution numerical tools towards full-furnace simulation. By identifying gaps in the current state of the art, this review offers suggestions for future developments in commercial codebases, outlining the path to fulfilling the promise of CFD-enabled pyrometallurgy.

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Abbreviations

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

DEM:

Discrete element method

EMP:

Eulerian multiphase

FCF:

Flash converting furnaces

FSF:

Flash smelting furnace

LMP:

Lagrangian multiphase

MCM:

Multicomponent mixture

MPI:

message-passing interface

MSF:

Multiphase segregated flow

MUSIG:

Inhomogeneous multiple size groups

NMI:

Nonferrous metal industry

PBM:

Population balance method

PSC:

Peirce-Smith converters

QSL:

Queneau–Schuhmann–Lurgi

TFM:

Two-fluid model

TSL:

Top submerged lance

VOF:

Volume of fluid

RANS:

Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes

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Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Advanced Manufacturing Office, High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation Program (HPC4EI), under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC., through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Gopher Resource, LLC (NFE-19-07865). The HPC4EI Program is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors would also like to thank Gopher Resource for research support and H. Sceats for editorial contributions.

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  1. Gopher Resource, 6505 Jewel Avenue, Tampa, FL, 33619, USA

    Alexandra Anderson

  2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

    Vineet Kumar & Vivek M. Rao

  3. Gopher Resource, 685 Yankee Doodle Road, Eagan, MN, 55121, USA

    Joseph Grogan

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Anderson, A., Kumar, V., Rao, V.M. et al. A Review of Computational Capabilities and Requirements in High-Resolution Simulation of Nonferrous Pyrometallurgical Furnaces. JOM 74, 1543–1567 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-022-05169-4

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