Engineers in France Use Simulation to Develop New Roof Runners

Simon Chiartano,
Terres Réfractaires du Boulonnais (TRB), France

To contain splashes and provide protection at plants where metal is fabricated, blast furnace runners need a roof made of cast iron and concrete. Terres Réfractaires Du Boulonnais, a manufacturing company in France, has hundreds of blast furnaces with a short functional lifespan, so engineers need to design roof runners as economically as possible while maintaining overall safety. During the metal production process, molten metal reaches temperatures near 1500 °C, making it impossible to take temperature measurements, and control the processes in this way.

TRB turned to simulation with COMSOL Multiphysics and the Heat Transfer Module to determine temperature in the roof runners. Simulation results provided engineers with great insight so that they could create new roof runners that are lighter, easier to manufacture, and safer to maneuver.