8th Best Paper Award for CIVS Research of Blast Furnace Models

CIVS blast furnace research received another AIST Best Paper Award in addition to seven other best papers from AIST and AISI in the past. The newly awarded paper, “Investigating the Use of Shaft-Level Tuyere Injection With Computational Fluid Dynamics,” was presented at AISTech 2023 and selected by the AIST Ironmaking Technology Committee for the 2024 Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Best Paper Award.

The authors of this paper include Samuel E. Nielson, Tyamo Okosun, Orlando Ugarte, and Chenn Q. Zhou. The paper applies Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to explore the use of shaft-level tuyeres to deliver syngas, hydrogen, or recycled top gas into the furnace to enable lower carbon intensity in the blast furnace process. The results were validated against industrial conditions and provided insight into the impacts of shaft-level reducing gas supply on gas and burden temperatures, reduction rates, and coke consumption. The first author, Samuel Nielson, is a CIVS Graduate Assistant. He graduated with a B.S. and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue Northwest and is currently studying at Purdue West Lafayette, pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Professor Chenn Zhou.

My work at CIVS provided me with more hands-on experience in industry-relevant projects than coursework alone. Being able to collaborate with engineers in the field and work on research to understand and provide solutions for real problems provided insight into how engineering works in the real world.

Sam Nielson, CIVS Graduate Assistant

The Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Best Paper Award will be presented at AISTech 2024 in Columbus, Ohio, on May 6, 2024. This award was established in 1953 as the Journal of Metals Award by AIME’s Blast Furnace, Coke Oven, and Raw Materials Committee. The name and award rules were changed 1960 to the Ironmaking Conference Award. The name and award rules were again changed in 1982 to the Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Conference Award, then divided into the Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Best Paper Award and the Josef S. Kapitan Cokemaking Best Paper Award in 2005. The award is presented to the authors of a technical paper judged by the committee to be the best submitted for the conference at which it was presented.

AISTech is North America’s largest annual iron and steel technology conference and exposition. Over 8000 professionals attended to learn about the latest products, processes, research, technology advancements, and digitalization transformation. The Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) is a non-profit organization with over 18,500 members from over 70 countries. AIST represents an extensive network of steel industry professionals with tremendous knowledge and expertise.