TONG Jianhui, FENG Qing, LUO Jiang, LIU Jiang, HUANG Xu
( Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China )

Abstract: In order to study the effect of damper opening on flue gas flow in preheating zone of roller hearth kiln, the model for the interior space of the preheating zone with the central exhaust structure was constructed and meshed with tetrahedral grid by using CFD Fluent software. The standard K- two-equation turbulent flow model was selected and the boundary conditions were set. The results indicate that full opening or too small opening of all the dampers fitted on the branch exhaust pipes installed in the kiln roof can lead to serious difference in the flue gas velocity distribution between the upper and the lower section along kiln width. This goes against the uniformity of convection heat transfer between flue gas and green bricks. In addition, further the section located along the upstream of the exhaust device is from the exhaust device, less effect of the damper opening on the velocity distribution of the flue gas of the corresponding section.
Key words: preheating zone of roller hearth kiln; central exhausting; damper opening; velocity distribution; numerical simulation