The Taguchi and analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods were applied to investigate the effects of the structural and operational parameters on the heat transfer performance of a vertical sinter cooling packed bed. The analysed parameters were the gas flow rate, the air inlet temperature, the sinter inlet temperature, the cooling bed diameter and the cooling bed height, all of which contain three levels. The purpose was to improve the heat transfer performance of a vertical sinter cooling bed. A numerical analysis model was established to assess the heat transfer performance with respect to the varying parameters and their different levels. This mathematical model was validated by using data from practical industrial processes. The Taguchi method for the L27 (35) orthogonal design experiment was selected to evaluate the impacts of the design parameters on the heat transfer performance and to acquire the optimum combination of parameters. The analysis of variance was applied to assess the impact weights and the order of significance of the design parameters. The results show that the sinter inlet temperature and cooling bed diameter have great influences and impact the exergy of the wasted heat recovery by 61.65% and 23.31%, respectively. However, the gas flow rate and the air inlet temperature have small effects on the response. Furthermore, the air and sinter inlet temperatures have the most significant impacts on the efficiency of heat transfer by 68.83% and 23.31%, respectively. The optimal parameter combination (A1B1C3D3E3) was obtained, and the optimal results were validated by confirmation tests.