Junjie Li PhD completion

We warmly congratulate Dr. Junjie Li on being awarded his PhD for his thesis titled “Numerical Optimization of Blast Furnace Geometry for Enhanced Low-Carbon Ironmaking.”

This research represents a significant contribution to our mission of advancing low-carbon ironmaking through innovative process modelling and design. The project builds on a 3D blast furnace process model that has been developed, continuously refined, and advanced at Monash over the past decade. The development of the 3D model originated from a 2D model completed in A/Prof Kuang’s earlier work in 2012-2013, with the first full 3D version delivered through a project led by A/Prof Kuang in partnership with Baosteel from 2017 to 2019.

Using this advanced model, Dr. Li successfully reproduced the evolution of blast furnace geometry over more than 100 years of development in the Japanese steel industry. His work provides clear technical insight into the rationale behind these long-term design changes and, more importantly, establishes geometry optimization strategies that have been numerically demonstrated to deliver substantial value for both conventional and next-generation blast furnace operations.

We are proud of this outstanding achievement and look forward to continuing our efforts to support the steel industry in designing more efficient, sustainable, and low-carbon blast furnace technologies.