Numerical simulation on the heating process of regenerative heating furnace affected by buoyancy force

On the basis of wholly analyzing the mechanism of the heat transfer in the 1880 regenerative furnace, the physical and mathematical 3-D model was set up to describe the heat transfer and combustion in the furnace, and the CFD software was used to simulate the whole combusting process. Lastly, the flow profile and the temperature field were calculated under the condition of whether to consider the buoyancy force. Comparative analysis revealed the combustion and heating process in the furnace were not affected by the buoyancy force. The research precise can be satisfied for the engineering application with no view of the buoyancy force. © 2010 IEEE.