Altair Case Studies Optimizing Sinter Cooler Charging System with Altair® EDEM™: A Case Study on ArcelorMittal

	Optimizing Sinter Cooler Charging System with Altair® EDEM™: A Case Study on ArcelorMittal Altair

Optimizing Sinter Cooler Charging System with Altair® EDEM™: A Case Study on ArcelorMittal

Altair

Technology Category	Sensors - Flow Meters Sensors - Liquid Detection Sensors
Applicable Industries	Life Sciences Mining
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Digital Twin Virtual Reality
Services	System Integration
Challenge	ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, faced a challenge in optimizing a large-scale charging chute of a sinter cooler plant in Fos-Sur-Mer. The objective was to improve the reliability and efficiency of the device by identifying a better design that enhanced granular segregation, abrasion, and mechanical resistance. The process of charging hot material into the sinter cooler often led to particle segregation, causing severe problems such as fire issues on conveyor belts and sinter quality issues. The R&D team needed to investigate these segregation patterns, particularly the impact of particle sizes and the effect of the filling ratio on the segregation patterns in the trolleys of the sinter strand. However, simulating granular flows in a large system compared to the particle size was complex and time-consuming. The team needed a modelling strategy that balanced computational efficiency and physical realism. Read More
About Customer	ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking facilities in 17 countries. The company employs more than 190,000 people. In a recent project, the company's R&D team was tasked with optimizing a large-scale charging chute of a sinter cooler plant in Fos-Sur-Mer. The goal was to improve the reliability and efficiency of this device by identifying a better design that improved granular segregation, abrasion, and mechanical resistance. Read More
Solution	ArcelorMittal R&D team used Altair® EDEM™, a high-performance software for granular material simulation, to simulate and analyze the granular flows in the charging chute. EDEM provided pre-calibrated material models, enabling the engineers to create and calibrate their model to match the physical experiments. The engineers first analyzed the segregation patterns in the trolleys of the sinter strand, which were in good agreement with the experimental measurements at the plant. They then performed a sensitivity study using different particle sizes to determine whether finer materials would change the segregation pattern. The results revealed that the size of the particles had no effect on the segregation patterns. The team also studied the effect of the filling ratio on granular flow patterns, finding that a large filling ratio led to an even distribution while a low filling ratio had a negative effect. Using these results, the engineers virtually tested different charging chute scenarios to find a design that met all requirements regarding capacity and mechanical resistance. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Sensors - Flow Meters

Sensors - Liquid Detection Sensors

Applicable Industries

Life Sciences

Mining

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Digital Twin

Virtual Reality

Services

System Integration

Challenge

ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, faced a challenge in optimizing a large-scale charging chute of a sinter cooler plant in Fos-Sur-Mer. The objective was to improve the reliability and efficiency of the device by identifying a better design that enhanced granular segregation, abrasion, and mechanical resistance. The process of charging hot material into the sinter cooler often led to particle segregation, causing severe problems such as fire issues on conveyor belts and sinter quality issues. The R&D team needed to investigate these segregation patterns, particularly the impact of particle sizes and the effect of the filling ratio on the segregation patterns in the trolleys of the sinter strand. However, simulating granular flows in a large system compared to the particle size was complex and time-consuming. The team needed a modelling strategy that balanced computational efficiency and physical realism.

About Customer

ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and primary steelmaking facilities in 17 countries. The company employs more than 190,000 people. In a recent project, the company's R&D team was tasked with optimizing a large-scale charging chute of a sinter cooler plant in Fos-Sur-Mer. The goal was to improve the reliability and efficiency of this device by identifying a better design that improved granular segregation, abrasion, and mechanical resistance.

Solution

ArcelorMittal R&D team used Altair® EDEM™, a high-performance software for granular material simulation, to simulate and analyze the granular flows in the charging chute. EDEM provided pre-calibrated material models, enabling the engineers to create and calibrate their model to match the physical experiments. The engineers first analyzed the segregation patterns in the trolleys of the sinter strand, which were in good agreement with the experimental measurements at the plant. They then performed a sensitivity study using different particle sizes to determine whether finer materials would change the segregation pattern. The results revealed that the size of the particles had no effect on the segregation patterns. The team also studied the effect of the filling ratio on granular flow patterns, finding that a large filling ratio led to an even distribution while a low filling ratio had a negative effect. Using these results, the engineers virtually tested different charging chute scenarios to find a design that met all requirements regarding capacity and mechanical resistance.

Impact #1	The use of Altair® EDEM™ software provided valuable insight into the granular flow in the charging chute and segregation patterns, which were difficult and sometimes impossible to measure in experiments. Thanks to EDEM’s fast and scalable compute performance, ArcelorMittal R&D was able to simulate the complex particle system of the sinter cooler charging system and validate it with plant data for segregation. The DEM model provided results that correlated well with the segregation measurements. Building a DEM particle model for agglomerate particles by a calibration procedure helped ArcelorMittal to define the best charging practices and change the charging chute design that acts on the segregation pattern in the trolleys. This led to an optimized design that met all requirements regarding capacity and mechanical resistance.

Impact #1

The use of Altair® EDEM™ software provided valuable insight into the granular flow in the charging chute and segregation patterns, which were difficult and sometimes impossible to measure in experiments. Thanks to EDEM’s fast and scalable compute performance, ArcelorMittal R&D was able to simulate the complex particle system of the sinter cooler charging system and validate it with plant data for segregation. The DEM model provided results that correlated well with the segregation measurements. Building a DEM particle model for agglomerate particles by a calibration procedure helped ArcelorMittal to define the best charging practices and change the charging chute design that acts on the segregation pattern in the trolleys. This led to an optimized design that met all requirements regarding capacity and mechanical resistance.

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Overview

Optimizing Sinter Cooler Charging System with Altair® EDEM™: A Case Study on ArcelorMittal

Operational Impact