Comparison of new two-step calcium carbide production process and traditional production process using numerical simulation of heat transfer and chemical reaction

The traditional calcium carbide (CaC 2 ) production process (TCCPP) uses block CaC 2 and coke as the main raw materials and produces CaC 2 through electrothermal smelting in an arc furnace. The new two-step CaC 2 production process (NTCCPP) uses hot pellets of calcium oxide powder and pulverized coal after pelletizing and pyrolysis as raw materials in the arc furnace to replace the block calcium oxide and coke to produce CaC 2 . In this study, the single-particle heat transfer and reaction models of TCCPP and NTCCPP were established. The reactions of the two processes under the same production conditions were numerically simulated, and the strengthening mechanism of NTCCPP was explored. The result showed that after the same time period, the mass of CaC 2 in the traditional CaC 2 raw material was lower than that in the pellet raw material of the new process. A higher initial temperature (973 K) can shorten the heating time required for the pellet to reach the reaction temperature and the CaC 2 average mass fraction of the pellet with a higher initial temperature was higher than cold pellet in the same reaction time. These findings provide a reference for improving the design and operation of the NTCCPP. • Compared traditional (TCCPP) with two-step CaC 2 production (NTCCPP). • CaC 2 mass in the raw material was lower for TCCPP than for NTCCPP. • A high initial temperature, a higher CaC 2 mass in pellet. • NTCCPP saves significant energy compared to TCCPP.