Study of Stress and Wear Behavior of Internal Components in Hydrogen-Based Shaft Furnaces Based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM) Model

In the context of the “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” era, China’s steel industry, as one of the pillars of the national economy, must accelerate the exploration and adoption of innovative production processes to effectively reduce its carbon footprint. The numerical simulation of hydrogen-based shaft furnaces is an important method for studying the internal characteristics of steelmaking processes. Its objective is to set reasonable furnace parameters to significantly enhance production efficiency and environmental friendliness, ensuring that sustainability and economic benefits coexist in the steel manufacturing process. In order to develop a new shaft furnace, which simplifies the cooling parts, the mathematical model was used to conduct a numerical simulation analysis of hydrogen-based shaft furnaces. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) was employed to focus on the stress and wear behavior of internal components within the hydrogen-based shaft furnace. The results indicated that during the charging of iron ore pellets, the outlet area experienced friction and compression from Direct Reduced Iron (DRI), resulting in a maximum stress of 47,422.1 Pa at the output section. The stresses on the loosening roller were locally concentrated due to its clockwise rotational motion, with a maximum shear stress of 219,896.1 Pa. By applying the Archard wear theory and the moving bed model, the theoretical wear degrees of the refractory materials in the reduction section and the steel shell in the cooling section were obtained; the monthly wear rate of the loosening roller was approximately 0.601 mm. Reasonably setting the parameters and feeding speed of the hydrogen-based shaft furnace can optimize the force and wear conditions of internal components, achieving optimal operating conditions. This provides a reference for factories to effectively extend the service life of hydrogen-based shaft furnaces and offers reasonable suggestions for the future industrial application of hydrogen metallurgy.