A 3-D mathematical model was presented for the cooling process of iron ore pellets based on the laws of mass, momentum, and heat transfer. The flow, pressure, and temperature fields were obtained by numerical simulation with the commercial software FLUENT. In order to verify the model, a mass and energy balance field test was systematically carried out on an annular cooler in Shougang Mining Company. The maximum relative errors of temperature, pressure, and velocity between computational and testing results are 2.87%, -8.11%, and 7.14%, respectively, indicating the validity of the model. Further, the effects of process parameters, such as pellet diameter, bed thickness, air velocity, and temperature, on the pellet bed temperature profiles were studied. A 3-D mathematical model was presented for the cooling process of iron ore pellets based on the laws of mass, momentum, and heat transfer. The flow, pressure, and temperature fields were obtained by numerical simulation with the commercial software FLUENT. In order to verify the model, a mass and energy balance field test was systematically carried out on an annular cooler in Shougang Mining Company. The maximum relative errors of temperature, pressure, and velocity between computational and testing results are 2.87%, -8.11%, and 7.14%, respectively, indicating the validity of the model. Further, the effects of process parameters, such as pellet diameter, bed thickness, air velocity, and temperature, on the pellet bed temperature profiles were studied.