Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
Ahindra Ghosh and Amit Chatterjee: Ironmaking and Steelmaking Theory and Practice, Prentice-Hall of
India Private Limited, 2008
David H. Wakelin (ed.): The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel (Ironmaking Volume), The AISE Steel
Foundation, 2004.
Richard J.Fruehan (ed.): The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel (Steeelmaking Volume), The AISE
Steel Foundation, 2004.
A.Ghosh, Secondary Steel Making Principle & Applications, CRC Press 2001.
R.G.Ward: Physical Chemistry of iron & steel making, ELBS and Edward Arnold, 1962.
B. Ozturk and R. J. Fruehan,: "Kinetics of the Reaction of SiO(g) with Carbon Saturated Iron": Metall.
Trans. B, Vol. 16B, 1985, p. 121.
B. Ozturk and R. J. Fruehan:.Transfer of Silicon in Blast Furnace": , Proceedings of the fifth International
Iron and Steel Congress, Washington D.C., 1986, p. 959.
P. F. Nogueira and R. J. Fruehan: Blast Furnace Softening and Melting Phenomena - Melting Onset in
Acid and Basic Pellets", , ISS-AIME lronmaking Conference, 2002, pp. 585.
INTRODUCTION
THE
400KG/THM
AVERAGE
RESPECTIVE
Introduction
Liquid slag
Liquid Metal
B.F. Gas of considerable calorific value
0.8-0.6t
0.5-0.6t
1.7-1.8t
+
80kg dust
Fuel
Reducing agent supply
Permeable bed (spacer)
2500 m3
0.6t
1t
Numerical:-
The Metal
All the reduced elements join the metal. A typical composition of the
Metal (Iron) produced in Blast Furnace is presented below.
The Slag
Al2O3
20.45%
CaO
32.23%
SiO2
33.02%
MgO
9.95%
S
0.89%
MnO
0.54%
TiO2
1.01%
FeO
0.41%
K2O+Na20 1%
Trace Oxides 0.5%
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
cont
Introduction
o
Useful Volume
Useful volume
V =k D2H
V=Useful volume
H=Total height
D=Diameter at the bottom of the shaft
Bosh Parallel
Diameter:
The Hearth
The hearth is designed such that its volume
between the iron notch and tuyeres is sufficient
to hold the molten metal and the slag.
The dia of hearth depends upon:
The
The
quality of burden.
The
Stack/Shaft
The shaft height must be sufficient to allow the
heating, preparation and reduction of ore before
the burden reaches the bosh. In the upper
regions of the shaft , volume changes due to
increase in temperature and carbon deposition.
These demand an outward batter for smooth
flow of materials. In the lower region of the shaft
, the material starts fusing and tends to stick to
the furnace wall. So to counteract the wall drag
an outward butter is necessary.
Cont..
The
Since
Throat Diameter
Cont..
Throat Diameter
Throat
lnter-tuyere Space
A considerable
Cont..
Number of Tuyeres
The number of tuyeres mainly depend upon the
diameter of the hearth. The diameter of the tuyeres
depend upon the blast volume.
The following formulae can be used to determine the
number of tuyeres
Pavlov: n = 2d +1
Rice:
n = 2.6d-0.3
Tikhomirov et al : n = 3d-8
Where n= Number of tuyeres,
d=hearth diameter
Capacity
2000
3000
5000
1700
2550
4250
33.08
36.46
41.22
29.11
32.08
36.27
9.96
11.62
14.11
2.32
2.55
2.89
4.37
4.81
5.44
9.1
10.92
13.74
65.04
93.66
148.27
3.308
3.646
4.122
17.64
19.77
22.77
6.87
7.85
9.29
84.32
85.84
88.05
85
84.55
83.96
Nos. of Tuyeres
20
25
34
(THM/Day)
Parameter
Bell-less top
using the gas. The gas is, therefore, cleaned before its
use and in so doing the sensible heat of the gas is
invariably lost. The chemical heat of the cleaned gas
is what is utilised.
Two adjacent uptakes are joined together to form one single duct
and the two such ducts, thus formed, are connected to form only
one duct which carries the gas downwards into the dust catcher.
The downcoming pipe or duct is called downcomer.
The uptakes and the downcomers are steel pipes and are lined from
inside with firebricks. The sizes of the uptakes and downcomers and
the angle of their joints are such that gas flows out of the furnace
smoothly without any hindrance.
Cont
The
maximum
temperature
during
combustion
is
The Raw
Materials
0.8-0.6t
0.5-0.6t
1.7-1.8t
+
80kg dust
Fuel
Reducing agent supply
Permeable bed (spacer)
2500 m3
0.6t
1t
The composition of
gangue associated with an ore may reduce the value of an ore
otherwise rich ore or in some case may even enhance that of a lean
ore.
Cont
e.g. Value of an ore is drastically reduced by the presence of alkali
oxides , reduced to some extent by the presence of alumina and is
in fact enhanced by the presence of lime and/or magnesia.
Location:
Treatment
and
before smelting
preparation
needed
Cold strength
Porosity
Decrepitation
Cold strength:
Cold strength measurement comprises of tumbler or
drum test for abradibility, shatter test for impact and
compression test for load during storage.
mm surviving the test and dust index by the percentage of - 0.6 mm.
For good pellets the respective percentages are 85-95 and 3-7, for
sinters 60-80 and 5-10 and for ores they vary greatly, 60-95 and 2-
25.
In
open porosity which can be measured from the true and bulk
densities.
Although reducibility increases with increasing open porosity, the
latter changes continuously during reduction on load. Generally,
a high initial porosity results in earlier softening of the material.
It has been observed in the experimental blast furnace that the iron
bearing materials do disintegrate at low temperatures under mildly
reducing conditions, that is in the upper part of the stack, affecting
the furnace permeability and consequently the output adversely. It is
believed that deposition of carbon in this region of the stack is also a
RDI
Lump ores, sinter and pellets disintegrate into smaller pieces during
their downward travel through the blast furnace owing to the weight
of the overlying burden, as well as abrasion and impact between the
burden materials.
It has been found that this tendency gets aggravated when the
oxides are in a reduced state. Reduction of hematite into magnetite
occurs in the upper stack at 500-600C, and this is accompanied by
Blast furnace operators prefer a low RDI (below 28 or so) since the
adverse effect of high RDI has been clearly demonstrated in
practice.
Where
n0 = number of moles of oxygen originally combined with iron only;
n = number of moles of oxygen left combined with iron after experimental time, t.
particle size
porosity
crystal structure
pore size
volume change
impurities
Ore Quality
Reduction of natural hematite ores by CO or H2 starts between 2005000C,
depending
upon
the
physical
characteristics
and
Cont..
There are three forms of iron oxide: hematite (Fe203), magnetite (Fe30.)
and wustite (FeO).* These oxides are reduced in stages. Their
reactions with CO, the equilibrium CO/C02 ratios and CO-utilization
factors CO at 900C are given below. The extent of utilization, i.e., the
fraction or percentage of CO converted to CO2 is denoted as,
% CO =100%CO2/(%CO+%CO2)
Euilibrium at 900C
0
0.25
2.3
CO/C02
100
80
30
CO %
This has a great significance in the blast furnace process where about
30-40 percent of the coke carbon is oxidised to CO2 and the rest into
CO.
Although a part of this heat is redeemed by burning the gas out of the
furnace, it means conversion of expensive metallurgical coke to a gas
which could be obtained from a less valuable fuel.
The heat values in the given equations are for pure carbon. For
a good quality coke with 86% C, the respective values will be
about 2000 and 7000 kcal/kg.coke.
between 500-5500C.
Chemical Influence
It is well known that the reduction rate of wustite is critical in the
overall kinetics of iron oxide reduction.
Natural ores can contain iron oxides as compounds with gang materials, such as,
2FeO.Si02, FeO.AI203, FeO.Cr203, FeO.TiO2 etc where wustite exists in a state of low
activity. The activity of wustite can also decrease when it undergoes sintering with
the impurities present, such as SiO2, Al2O3 etc.
0.4 m/s. The figure also shows that the critical velocity is
independent of the degree of oxidation. In blast furnace, the
linear gas velocity does not affect the reduction rate since it ranges
Temperature
For the reduction of iron ores the reducing gas has to diffuse
into the interior of the body where transformations can occur.
Cont..
Hence, a stage will arrive where diffusion will become ratecontrolling. Depending upon the degree of reduction, at lower
mixed-control exists.
temperatures.
Gas Composition
Natural COAL is too dense and fragile to be used in the modern BF.
(a) The blast will not be able to penetrate it quickly for burning.
(b) It is not strong enough to stand nearly 25 m high burden lying
over it.
(c) The volatiles present will be released in the BF
However, we need C for giving heat and to reduce iron ore into
iron metal
Yes, fortunately certain coals when heated out of contact with air
result in a carbonaceous mass, which is strong, porous, volatile free,
just suitable for use in BF.
Fields
Jharia
(IX seam & above)
Gross
Net Reserve
Reserve (Mt)
(Mt)
5288
2312
20388
2752
2067
47728
27733
5569
Type
%
% H2 %
F.C.
V.M.
Prime coking
88-91
4.8-5.2 23-32
8800
86-88
90-91
5.1-5.4 22 max
4.7-4.9 22-32
8600
8800
1-2
1-2
Semi-coking
Weakly coking
83-85
83-84
5.4-5.8 37-44
5.1-5.6 38-46
8300
8300
2-3
3-5
Moist
Kcal/kg ure
FUNCTIONS OF COKE
Coke fulfils the following major roles in a BF:
1. It is a fuel provides heat for endothermic chemical reactions and
2.
3.
4.
5.
QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
OF COKE
Coke must possess the following properties:
1. Proper chemical composition w.r.t. Fixed Carbon, ash, S, P etc.
2.
3.
4.
5.
QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
OF COKE
Value of coke is assessed in terms of its:
1. Room temperature strength.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Requirements
Grade I of Grade II
Grade III
20
2
0.70
0.30
24
2
0.70
0.30
28
2
0.70
0.30
-
85
97
85
97
75
14
75
14
40
35-48
40
35-48
MODIFICATIONS IN COKE
MAKING PRACTICE
The modifications include:
1. Pre-heating.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Briquette blending.
Stamp charging.
Admixing oil in the charge.
Admixing water in the charge.
Using a better coal blend.
COMPARISON OF EFFECT OF
SOME PARAMETERS
Binderless briquetting
Parameters
Conventi
onal
Charging
Bulk Density of
coal charge(kg/m2)
M 10 of coke
CSR of coke
Oven throughput I
10-11
30-40
100
8.5-9.5
Maintenance
requirement index
100
105
Briquette
.
blending
Preheating
Stamp
charging
800850
11001200
8-9
9-9.5
45-50
35-45
35-45
110105-110
115
105-110
100-105
150175
5.5-6.5
60-65
112115
110115
Coke
Coke
Properties of coke
Coke size: Coke comprises about 50-60 percent of the volume of the
charge material. The coke size is important as it provides
permeability in the dry as well as in the wet bosh zone The coke size
is always 3-4 times larger than the ore size, since coke is partially
burnt as it descends. It also has a lower density, and hence a greater
tendency for fluidisation. Of course, in the lower bosh region of a
blast furnace, coke is the only solid that remains, and which helps to
support the burden. The optimum size range for lump ore is 10-30
mm and for coke is 40-80 mm. Since the coke size becomes
Cont
Cont..
soaking time;
Ash and moisture content in coke. Low moisture & ash content
are desirable in metallurgical coke.
Density & Porosity. The more completely the coal is devolatalised, the
more closely the density of coke approach that of the graphite (i.e. 2.3).
Coking follows formation of a porous structure which increases in
density by shrinkage during further heating at a high temperature. Since
all cokes contain traces of hydrogen and mineral matter of the coal, its
absolute density never reaches that of graphite. The higher the rank of
the coal, the higher is the density of coke made (Varies from 1. 7 to 1.95
for C% in coal from 81 to 89%).
coke are 80% on 2" screen, 90% on 1.5" screen and 97% on 0.5"
screen.
High M40 and low M10 values are desirable for metallurgical coke.
As per ISI minimum M40 index should be 75% and maximum M10 index
should be 14% for metallurgical coke.
For use in 2000 m3 volume blast furnace, coke M40 should be more
than 78 and M10 should be less .than 10.
Reactivity of Coke
More reactive cokes have higher thermal values of their volatile matter.
Coke of high reactivity ignites easily and gives rapid pick up of fuel bed
temperature. However, low reactivity coke gives a higher fuel bed
temperature than a highly reactive coke
Cont
For blast furnace coke, size and hardness are more important than
reactivity. Satisfactory hearth temperature is obtained with
unreactive coke containing little breeze.
value for oven coke is 0.065 ft3/minute. More reactive coke has got
lower CAB value.
Cont.
Burden Preparation
(-
Objectives of Sintering
Principles of Sintering
Iron ore sintering is carried out by putting a mixture Iron
bearing fines mixed with solid fuels on a permeable bed. The
top layer of sinter bed is heated up to the temperature of 1200
- 13000C by a gas or oil burner. The combustion zone
initially develops at the top layer and travels through the bed
raising its temperature layer by layer to the sintering label.
The cold blast drawn through the bed cools the already
sintered layer and gets itself heated.
Cont..
Mechanism of Sintering
Two types of bonds may be formed during sintering.
Diffusion or Recrystallization or Solid State Bond : It is formed as a result of
recrystallization of the parent phase at the point of contact of two particles in solid
state and hence the name.
Slag or Glass Bond: It is formed as a result of formation of low melting slag or glass
at the point of contact of two particles, depending upon the mineral constitution, flux
addition, etc.
As a result the sinter can have three different types of constituents:
Original mineral which has not undergone any chemical or physical change during
sintering.
Cont
The proportion of each of the physical and chemical change during
sintering depends upon the time-temperature cycle of the process.
Cont..
Bed permeability
suction is less. Higher the bed permeability, more will be the air
drawn. But, higher permeability leads to loss of strength in the
resulting sinter due to reduction in bond strength. Hence a compromise
is made between these two factors. It is usual practice to draw about
700 1100 m3 of air/ton of charge.
Cont..
For effective sintering, the use of larger ore lumps is undesirable. Iron
ore size > 10mm is rarely preferred.
Higher proportion of 100 mesh size fines adversely affects the bed
permeability. Better is that 100 mesh size fraction should be screened
off and used for pelletization. Ideal size of iron ore for sintering is
0.07 10 mm.
Pelletising
During mining and ore dressing operations, especially
where very fine grinding is necessary for wet concentration,
a large amount of - 0.05 mm fines is generated which
are not amenable to sintering because of very low
permeability of the bed. They can, however, be
agglomerated by balling them up in the presence of
moisture and suitable additives like bentonite, lime, etc. into
8-20 mm or larger size. These green pellets are
subsequently hardened for handling and transport by firing
or indurating at temperatures of 1200-1350C.
Feed preparation.
(a) Drying
(b) Pre-heating
(c) Firing
The ease with which material can be rolled into balls is almost directly
proportional to the surface area of particles, i.e. its fineness.
Cont
The capillary action of water in the interstices of the grains causes a
contracting effect on them. The pressure of water in the pores of the
Cont..
Water-particle system
The funnicular state, when some pores are fully occupied by water
in an aggregate system.
The capillary state, when all the pores are filled with water but there
is no coherent film covering the entire surface of the particles.
Water-particle system
maintained and without which the process cannot proceed properly. Growth
takes place by either layering or assimilation. It has been observed that the
size of the balls produced in a pelletiser from a charge containing right amount
of moisture depends on the time and speed of the pelletiser, i.e. number of
Transition region
Transition Period
After nucleii are formed they pass through a transition period
Growth by Assimilation
If no fresh feed material is added for balling the rolling action may break
some of the granules, particularly the small ones, and the material
coalesces with those which grow. The bigger the ball the larger it will grow
under these conditions. Since smaller granules are weaker they are the first
victim and growth of the bigger balls takes place at their expense.
Growth by Layering
Growth of the seeds is said to be taking place by layering when the balls
Advantages of Pellets
Advantages of Pellets
More accessible surface per unit weight and more iron per unit of furnace volume
because of high bulk density, 3-3.5 tonnes/m3 .Larger surface and increased time of
residence per unit weight of iron give better and longer gas/solid contact and improved
heat exchange;
Degradation of sinter during its transit is much more than that of pellets. The sinter
therefore has to be produced nearby the blast furnace plant while pellets can be
carried over a long distance without appreciable degradation. Ease in handling
It should also be noted that If high rates of productivity demand elimination of fines
and since sinter happens to contribute more to the generation of fines than that of
pelllets, the later will have to be chosen as the burden in preference to sinter.
Disadvantages of pellets
o
o
o
Temperature.
Blowing-in procedure.
If the bricks are porous, carbon penetration takes place, causing the
bricks to disintegrate.
Rigby and Green, however, state that the total iron oxide content of
the firebrick is no criterion of the resistance of the material to carbon
monoxide attack, as the ease with which the iron nodules can be
reduced to metallic iron appears to be the determining factor. This
view is supported by many authorities.
It will also be obvious that carbon monoxide attack will be reduced by the use
of a dense brick of low permeability.
. The blast furnace burden consists of small amounts of alkalis and some
cyanogen is generated by the interaction of nitrogen and carbon. These alkalis
and cyanides are volatilized in the hotter parts of the furnace, and tend to collect
in the cooler places.
Kraner shows that the alkalis react with the brickwork forming nephelite (Na20 .
Al203 2Si02), whilst Rigby, Booth and Green quote microscopic examinations
of brickwork taken from furnace linings 20 ft. down the stack, which shows the
formation of kaliophilite (K20. A1203 2Si02) and leucite (K20. AI20a 4Si02).
Green and Hugill state that experience demonstrates that these vapours,
particularly cyanide vapours, can lead to general corrosion and modification
of the surface of the lining with consequent loss of strength and
refractoriness.
. The action of blast furnace slag on the refractory lining is a function of the
basicity of the slag. Since the ash of the coke is not released until the coke
is burnt in the tuyere zone, it follows that the CaO/Si02 ratio must be high in
the bosh. Therefore there will be a tendency for these high-lime slags to
attack the brickwork.
. There are other volatile materials, such as zinc and lead, which may be
included in the blast furnace burden. These metals volatilize in the hotter
zones and condense in the pores of the brickwork in the cooler parts. Their
Abrasion
drops from the large bell. To some extent the severity of the
abrasion in this zone will depend on the nature and size of the raw
materials. Further abrasion in the form of wall drag takes place lower
down the furnace.
Blowing-in Procedure
Unless great care is taken and patience shown during the drying
of the lining and the blowing in of the furnace, considerable
damage may be done to the lining. The importance of drying the
lining course by course as it is built is now appreciated.
Stack Lining
The lining here should have a very good abrasion resistance and
used.
..
The entire stack below the top few metres of height is lined with high
duty firebricks. A 35-40% Al203 firebrick with a close texture is usually
preferred for the stack,
A 60% Al203 brick have been recommended for the lower parts of the
stack.
These bricks are made by machine moulding under high pressures and
de-aired conditions since these lead to a high bulk density and low
permeability.
The Bosh
In the bosh the brickwork has to withstand:
Considering the severity of temperature and chemical attack in this region the
lining should possess good refractoriness, refractoriness under load, low
after expansion and resistance to action of molten limy and alkali slags.
The majority of bosh linings are of high duty or super duty firebricks with 45-65%
Al203, laid in the conventional banded bosh construction with copper cooling
plates.
Cont
The extremely successful use of carbon blocks for lining the hearth and its
walls led to its adoption even in the bosh region since carbon refractory
possesses better properties, especially high thermal conductivity, than those
Carbon lined walls can be cooled by either spray coolers, or water jackets.
The changeover from firebrick lining to carbon lining, therefore, eliminates
Hearth Lining
The lining in hearth should primarily prevent breakouts. The use of
bricks of high alumina to silica ratio, lower permeability and porosity
with well laid joints can minimise breakouts. In spite of this the
earlier firebrick hearth still suffered from frequent breakouts and the
attendant troubles. The occurrence of breakout was believed to be
This finally lead to the development and use of carbon lined hearths.
High refractoriness, high thermal conductivity, high abrasion
resistance, high bulk density coupled with low porosity, good
crushing strength, almost complete inertness to carbon
saturated iron and slag and such other properties make carbon
Blowing-in
The process of starting a newly lined furnace is called blowing-in. In
general the operation involves four main steps, viz. drying, filling, lighting
taken in ensuring careful and gradual drying of the furnace is more than
repaid in its subsequent operation.
Filling
At the end of drying, depending upon the method used for drying,
the furnace is cleared off all the things used for filling. The coolers
packed in position.
Filling of the furnace usually means filling the hearth with light kindling wood
and shavings saturated with oil up to the tuyere level and laying over this a
scaffold of old timber slippers. Coke is charged above the timber scaffold
from the top upto the bosh level. A quantity of limestone sufficient to flux the
ash in the charged coke, is also charged along with the coke after the initial
coke blanks. A small amount of old blast furnace slag is also incorporated
with coke after the coke level rises beyond the mantle level. The early slag
volume is deliberately maintained at high level to heat up the hearth and
prepare it to receive iron. On the coke blanks are laid light burden charges of
ore, stone and coke i.e. the ratio of iron ore to coke is low, about 05-06.
The furnace is lighted either by inserting red-hot bars through the tuyeres or slag hole
and iron notch. Alternatively gas torch may also be used. Generally highly combustible
material is kept in front of the tuyeres during filling to light the furnace readily. Burning is
allowed with natural draught alone for the first 2436 hours; a light blast is put on only
thereafter.
As soon as good amount of gas emerges from the furnace top the bells are closed and
the dust catcher dump valve is slowly opened to conduct exit gases through the gas
cleaning system.
The blast volume is fairly rapidly increased to normal volume of blowing. Usually more
than three fourth of the standard volume of blast is blown by the end of fourth day and full
blast is on by the end of a week after the furnace is ignited.
Tap holes are kept open for hot gases to escape out during the early period. Once
coke burning and slag formation starts furnace crew are vigilant in observing the
tap holes. The first indication of a sudden decrease in the out coming gas through
the tap hole is taken as an indication of beginning of slag accumulation in the
hearth and the tap hole is immediately closed thereafter. Nearly six to eight hours
may elapse after this before sufficient slag has accumulated to warrant flushing.
After nearly two days, as the ratio of iron ore to increase in the burden, that first
cast may be due. The amount of slag and metal flowing out of the furnace is
correlated to the charge schedule and proportion in order to assess the progress of
blowing-in operation. After the first cast is over charging and tapping schedules are
established and are strictly adhered to until routine production is established. It
generally takes nearly a week to establish normal routine practice so that metal
and slag of desired composition will be tapped out of furnace at the desired
intervals.
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
Burden Distribution
Cont
big bell.
Additional mechanical
of these factors is
constant).
obtaining better
distribution.
Speed of lowering of
large bell.
Angle of repose of raw materials and other physical characteristics of the charge.
Inconsistency in
physical properties of
charge materials
(deficiencies caused by
this should be
eliminated by improving
quality of the burden.
Distribution of charge on
the big bell
The density of three important raw materials viz. the ore, the
coke and the limestone are quite different.
The heaviest is iron ore with around 5-6 glcc, the lightest is
coke with density of around 15 glcc and the limestone is
It means that the rolling tendency of coke particles is maximum and that of the ore is minimum. Since the density values
Angle of Repose
Cont..
cont..
The higher is the angle of repose the more it has the tendency to
form ridges on charging in a blast furnace.
The more dried is the ore and the more it is free from fines the
less pronounced is the angle of repose and thus less is the
tendency towards segregation.
The clayey ores tend to form ridges because of their high angle
of repose. The effective way to reduce the angle of repose of any
iron ore is to eliminate the fines, dry the ore if wet and to wash
off clay, if any, adhering the ore.
M and V Profile
surface (M-shape)
Cont
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
Internal Zones
Right at the top of the furnace is the granular zone that contains the
coke and the iron bearing materials charged, sometimes along with
small quantities of limestone and other fluxes. The iron-bearing
oxides charged get reduced to wustite and metallic iron towards the
Its shape, position and extent in the B.F. affect the gas
flow pattern.
Also the solid phase gets deformed due to the weight of the
burden.
This deformed solid may occupy the gaps between the solid
ferrous pieces also causing loss of permeability.
The different phenomena simultaneously occuring in the
cohesive zone are
a. softening and melting of the oxide phase.
b. carburisation of the metalic phase
c. softening and melting of the metallic iron phases
Softening and melting of the oxide phase will be affected by :
a. the quantity of non ferrous oxide ( slag formers) present
b. distribution, morphology and chemistry of slag formers
c. degree of pre reduction (this will affect the availability of
FeO as a slag former).
the
Cont..
Further down the furnace, impure liquid iron and liquid slag are
formed. The absorption of carbon lowers the melting point of iron
drastically. For example, an iron alloy containing 4 wt. % carbon
melts at only 1185C..
In the cohesive zone and below it, coke is the source of carbon for
carburisation of liquid iron. However, carbon directly does not
dissolve in liquid iron at this stage. The possible mechanism of
carburisation of iron entails the formation of CO by gasification of
Combustion Zone
Coke is the only material of the blast furnace charge which descends to
the tuyere level in the solid state. It burns with air in front of the tuyeres
Beyond the raceway there is a closely packed bed of coke, the central
coke column or dead man's zone.
Raceway
The raceway is a vital part of the blast furnace since it is the heat
source in a gigantic reactor and at the same time a source of
reducing gas.
The salient features of Combustion zone are summarized below:
The force of the blast forms a cavity the roof of which is formed of
loosely packed or suspended coke lumps and the wall more closely
packed.
Cont..
Combustion zone
The primary slag of relatively low melting point which forms in the lower part
of the stack or in the belly consists of FeO-containing silicate and aluminates
Cont..
As the liquid primary slag runs down the bosh and loses its fluxing
constituent FeO, the liquidus temperature also increases. If, therefore,
the slag has to remain liquid it must move down to hotter parts of the
furnace as rapidly as its melting point is raised. As the reduction of FeO
is almost complete above the tuyeres the resulting bosh slag, composed
mainly of CaO-Si02-AI203
The hearth slag is formed on dissolution of the lime which was not
incorporated in the bosh and on absorption of the coke ash released
Cont..
This slag runs along with the molten iron into the hearth
of heat.
Fe-O-H System
H2 VS CO as Reducing Gas
The different phases of iron oxides in equilibrium with H2/H2O mixtures at
various temperatures are shown in previous fig. by the dotted lines. The
reduction of FeO by H2 is endothermic and therefore the curve inclines
downwards with increasing temperature whereas the corresponding curve
for reduction by CO (full line) inclines upwards because of the exothermic
nature of the reaction. These two curves intersect at about 821C, i.e., at
821C hydrogen and CO have the same reducing power over FeO.
Thermodynamically, below this temperature, the reducing power of CO is
much greater.
The curve for Eq. (iii) slopes upwards because the reaction is
exothermic, i.e., FeO becomes more stable with increasing
The curve for Eq. (ii) slopes downwards the reaction being
endothermic.
Lumpy Zone
Below 600C :
Pre-heating and pre-reduction
600 -950C:
Indirect reduction of iron oxides by CO and H2
Zone through which liquids trickle down to the hearth. It is the final
stage of iron oxide reduction
Raceway
Blast, injectants and coke are converted to hot reducing gas. This
gas reduces the ore as it moves counter currently towards the top of
the furnace.
Hearth
The charge in the blast furnace descends under gravity against the
frictional forces of solids and buoyancy of gas. With increasing gas
velocity, the pressure drop increases approximately quadratically
until the upward thrust of the gas and downward thrust of the solids
are held in balance.
i.e., the resistance to gas flow drops (due to increase in void age at
places where the fines become suspended).
Cont..
The
increasing size.
The size range of materials charged in the blast furnace
represents a compromise to give both good stack permeability
Concluding Remarks
cont..
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
Lowering RAFT
Cont.
Removal of Si from metal by slag-metal reaction at the hearth by:
cont..
High
basicity
High
endothermic reaction
Kinetic
factor
Time
of desulphurisation
Introduction
P=Q/K
Where,
P= Productivity, THM per day
This has a great significance in the blast furnace process where about
30-40 percent of the coke carbon is oxidised to CO2 and the rest into
CO.
Although a part of this heat is redeemed by burning the gas out of the
furnace, it means conversion of expensive metallurgical coke to a gas
which could be obtained from a less valuable fuel.
The heat values in the given equations are for pure carbon. For
a good quality coke with 86% C, the respective values will be
about 2000 and 7000 kcal/kg.coke.
between 500-5500C.
Analysis of ironsteelIndustry
Power
sectors
Transport
CO2
emission
Steel
other
Contribution %
51
16
10
23
HTP
The purpose of HTP is to introduce more
oxygen to burn more carbon by blowing more
air and at the same time maintaining the
linear gas velocity (and pressure drop)
identical to that in the conventional practice
without any formation of channels,
maldistribution of gas, increase in coke rate
or flue dust emission
Advantages:
For
Cont..
Cont
HTP
RAFT
'raceway adiabatic flame temperature
This is the highest temperature available inside the furnace. There
is temperature gradient in vertical direction on either side of this
zone. This temperature is critically related to the hearth temperature
known as operating temperature of the furnace. It is equally related
to the top gas temperature such that the hot raceway gasses have
to impart their heat to the descending burden to the extent expected
and leave the furnace as off-gases at the desired temperature.
RAFT Calculation
Blast additives
Humidification of blast
H20 + C = CO + H2 (1)
Humidification of blast
cont..
The more the moisture the more will be this additional hydrogen
available.
Humidification of blast
advantages
Humidification of blast
advantages
PCI
PCI
Cont
Coal
Fluxed Burden
The coke savings from fluxed burden emanate from the following
causes :
smaller and the slag is pre-made; the primary slag melts at higher
temperatures and does so within a vertically narrow softening zone;
DR Processes
Coal-based Processes
Gas-based Processes
Cont
This is also a counter current process to the extent that solid oxide
travels downwards and the gases formed on burning of coal ascend
with respect to the inclination of the kiln or the shaft reactor.
The throughput rate of solid iron oxide, its reducibility, its size,
gangue contents, the rotation of kiln and other related factors are
adjusted such that the oxide is reduced to the extent of 93-95% by
the time it travels the whole length of the kiln. This reduction is slow
and continuous and takes place over the length of the kiln. In this
process the iron oxide gets heated to a maximum of 1050C.
Midrex Process
The gas-based shaft furnace processes, which have become by far the
most popular for the production of sponge iron, employ a vertical shaft
furnace in which, as in the case of a blast furnace, lump ore and pellets
are charged at the top using a charging system similar to a blast
furnace. Reformed natural gas after pre-heating is introduced in the
lower portion of the shaft. As the hot reducing gas flows upwards,
reduction takes place continuously. Hence, these processes are often
referred to as continuous countercurrent moving bed processes. In this
category, the Midrex process is dominant, followed by HYL III and
HYL IV.
The iron oxide feed to a Midrex shaft can be in the form of pellets or
lump ore However, generally speaking, the charge consists of
around 60% pellets and 40% lump ore of a particular type. Pellets
are the preferred feedstock owing to their superior physicochemical
characteristics compared with lump ores.,
The spent reducing gas (or top gas) leaving the shaft furnace at a
temperature of 400-450C is cooled and cleaned in a gas scrubber
before approximately 60% of the gas is returned to the reformer; and
the rest used as a fuel. The process gas is compressed and pre-
Smelting Reduction
plants
using
the
Blast
Furnace-BOF
Reduction
(SR)
have
come
into
Cont
This essentially eliminates the coke making step and uses directly
Cont..
The reducing gas containing nearly 85% CO is hot dedusted and cooled to
800-900C before leading it into the pre-reducer. The process is designed
to operate at up to 5 bars.
Fluxes like limestone, dolomite, silica sand, etc. are added along with the
ore to finally make up the right quality of slag.
The export gas generated in the melting zone is rich and may have
calorific value of around 7500 kJ/Nm3 and can be used in the plant
usefully.
Finex process
FINEX PROCESS
The fine DRI is compacted and then charged in the form of Hot
Compacted Iron (HCI) into the melter gasifier. So, before charging to
the melter- gasifier unit of the FINEX unit, this material is compacted
since the melter- gasifier can not use fine material (to ensure
permeability in the bed).
By
Dr. Smarajit Sarkar
Associate Professor
Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engg.
National institute of Technology, Rourkela
Plan of Presentation
Introduction
Silicon Reaction
Manganese reaction
Phosphorous Reaction
Carbon Reaction
Vacuum Degassing
Introduction
Cont
Characteristics of LD Process
The interaction of the oxygen jet(s) with the bath produces crater(s)
on the surface, from the outer lip(s) of which, a large number of tiny
These droplets reside for a short time in the slag above the bath.
Therefore, the existence of a metal-slag-gas emulsion within the
Cont.
depicted schematically .
not be too viscous, or too 'watery'. Only in this way can the kinetics of
the removal of the impurities be enhanced.
Cont
The rate at which oxygen is blown through the lance, the number of openings
(holes) on the lance tip, the distance between the lance tip and the bath surface
(lance height), the characteristics of the oxygen jets as they impinge on the bath
surface, the volume, basicity and fluidity of the slag, the temperature conditions
in the bath and many other operational variables influence the refining.
Refining at BOF
There are two distinct zones of refining in a LD vessel viz. the
reactions in the emulsion and in the bulk phase. The
Cont
Conditions for dephosphorisation are that the slag should be basic, thin and
oxidising and, that the temperature should be low.
Dephosphorisation, therefore, does not take place efficiently until such a slag
is formed. Such a slag is formed in LD process only after the initial 4-6 minutes
of blowing.
vessel in part or full, the decarburisation rate curve rises more steeply in the
beginning
Dephosphorisation
is very rapid in the emulsion because of
Cont
the increased interfacial area and efficient mass transport.
Phosphorus should, therefore, be fully eliminated before the
emulsion collapses. If this is not achieved the heat will have to
Cont
oxygen.
vice versa.
Oxidation of Carbon
The process of decarburization includes at least three stages:
gaseous
phase .
. The apparent activation energy of the reaction [C] + [0] = CO is
relatively small (according to various researchers, E = 80000120000 J/mol), which suggests that the reaction occurs practically
Cont
This means practically that, if the carbon content of the metal is sufficiently
high, the rate of carbon oxidation will be higher at a higher intensity of oxygen
supply. At low concentrations of carbon, however, a higher level of intensity of
oxygen supply will not produce the desired effect and the bath should be
agitated forcedly (in order to intensify the supply of carbon to the reaction
place) so as to increase the rate of carbon oxidation.
The rate of decarburization can also be limited by the third stage, the evolution
of CO. For a bubble of CO to form in metal, It must overcome the pressure of
the column of metal (pm), slag (psl), and of the atmosphere (pat) above the
bubble and also the forces of the cohesion with the liquid, 2/r i.e.
pCOev pm + psl + pat + 2/r
The value of 2/r becomes practically sensible at low values of bubble radius: at
r > I mm it can be neglected. Formation of bubbles in the bulk of liquid metal is
practically impossible.. They can only form on interfaces between. phases, such
as slag - metal, non-metallic inclusion - metal, gas bubble - metal or lining -
metal. The most favorable conditions for the nucleation of CO bubbles exist on
boundaries between the metal and refractory lining which has a rough surface
and is poorly wettable by the metal.
Silicon Reaction
Silicon Reaction
Silicon reaction
Silica is a very stable oxide, hence once silicon is oxidised to SiO2 the
danger of its reversion does not arise.
Silicon reaction
Silicon Reaction
Manganese Reaction
Manganese reaction
( a Mn 2 ) a Fe
( a Fe 2 ) a Mn
( Mn 2 ) f Fe % Fe
( Fe 2 ) f Mn % Mn
( Mn 2 ) % Fe
( Fe 2 ) % Mn
( 23)
( 24)
Manganese reaction
( 26)
Manganese reaction
From the figure it is evident
that for slags containing about
20% MnO, a maximum of 0.1%
Mn is found in metal.
The slag containing 50% SiO2
(the rest being FeO and MnO),
with increasing Mn content of
the metal the (MnO) content
of the slag increases whereas
the oxygen content of the
metal decreases and silicon
content increases.
Phosphorous Reaction
Phosphorous Reaction
Phosphorous Reaction
(12)
Phosphorous reaction
2
a PO
3
a P .a O .a ( O 2 )
2
PO
3
4
f P % P fO % O
2
(13)
(14)
3
O 2
The dephosphorising index, D P which is the ratio of phosphorus in slag to that in metal, is given as
DP
( PO 3 )
4
% P
1/ 2
% O 5 / 2 ( O
)3/ 2
(15)
Phosphorous reaction
From the figure it is clear that DP
increases with increase in the (FeO)
content upto 15% due to the high
oxidizing power.
Beyond this DP decreases due to
decrease in the lime proportion.
Phosphorous reaction
Phosphorous reaction
Phosphorous Reaction
The optimum conditions for dephosphorisation can be
derived from the equation defining the index:
DP
( PO 3 )
4
% P
1/ 2
% O 5 / 2 ( O
)3/ 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
Carbon reaction
Carbon reaction
Thus solubility of carbon in steel can be calculated by combining the binary data from the following equation:
Carbon reaction
Carbon reaction
C + O = CO,
pCO
pCO
K
ac aO [ fc%C ][ fo%O]
pCO
pCO
[% C ][% O ]
K fc fo K
(33)
Carbon reaction
Carbon Reaction
Carbon reaction
Carbon reaction
Carbon reaction
VACUUM DEGASSING
Nitrogen in Steel
[wt.%H] =
Solubility of nitrogen in
Since nitrogen dissolves atomically in liquid iron and steel
steel
in very small proportion its solubility can be discussed in
terms of Sieverts and Henrys laws
Solubility of nitrogen in
steel
Hydrogen in steel
atmospheric humidity
Decreases ductility
Solubility of Hydrogen in
Water vapour coming in
steel
contact with steel or slag
leads to the formation of
hydrogen which gets
dissolved in steel melt as per
reaction:
H2O (g) = 2[H]1wt.% + [0]1 wt.%
Solubility of hydrogen in
steel
Vacuum treatment of
steel
Vacuum treatment of
steel
2[H] = H2 (g)
2[N] = N2 (g)
Degassing Methods
A number of methods available on commercial scale for
vacuum treatment of steel may categorized into three
groups :
1. Ladle Degassing
The teeming ladle filled with steel to one fourth of its
height is placed inside a vacuum chamber.
the melt is stirred either by bubbling argon or by
electromagnetic induction
Introduction of gas for stirring provides interface which
facilitates degassing.
Degassing Methods
2.
Stream Degassing
Degassing Methods
3.
Circuilation Degassing
Degassing Methods
D-H Vessel.
to
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
Cont..
Slopping
Better mixing and mass transfer in the metal bath with closer
Hybrid Blowing
A small amount of inert gas, about 3% of the volume of oxygen
blown from top, introduced from bottom, agitates the bath so
Cont..
The more the oxygen fraction blown from bottom the less is the post
combustion of CO gas and consequently less is the scrap
Blowing of inert gas from bottom has a chilling effect on bath and
hence should be minimum. On the contrary the more is the gas
blown the more is the stirring effect and resultant better metallurgical
results. A optimum choice therefore has to be made judiciously.
Cont..
At what stage of the blow the inert gas is blown, although the blow,
at the end of the blow, after the blow ends and so on?
If oxygen is blown from bottom as well then how much of the total
oxygen is blown from bottom ?
The processes have been developed to obtain the combined advantages of both LD
and OBM to the extent possible. Therefore the metallurgical performance of a hybrid
process has to be evaluated in relation to these two extremes, namely the LD and
the OBM. The parameters on which this can be done are :
Deoxidation of steel
The oxidizing conditions of a heat in a steelmaking plant, the
presence of oxidizing slag, and the interaction of the metal with the
surrounding atmosphere at tapping and teeming - all these factors
are responsible for the fact that the dissolved oxygen in steel has a
definite, often elevated, activity at the moment of steel tapping. The
If the metal is tapped and teemed without being deoxidized, the reaction
[O] + [C] = COg will take place between the dissolved oxygen and
carbon as the metal is cooled slowly in the mould. Bubbles of carbon
monoxide evolve from the solidifying metal, agitate the metal in the
mould vigorously, and the metal surface is seen to 'boil'. Such steel is
In some cases, only partial deoxidation is carried out, i.e. oxygen is only
partially removed from the metal. The remaining dissolved oxygen
causes the metal to boil for a short time. This type of steel is termed
'semi-killed'.
The activity of oxygen in the metal can be lowered by two methods: (I) by
lowering the oxygen concentration, or
(2) by combining oxygen into stable compounds.
There are the following main practical methods for deoxidation of steel:
(a) precipitation deoxidation, or deoxidation in the bulk;
(b) diffusion deoxidation;
(c) treatment with synthetic slags; and
(d) vacuum treatment.
Continuous casting
The advantages of continuous casting (over ingot
casting) are:
METALLURGICAL COMPARISON OF
CONTINUOUS CASTING WITH INGOT CASTING
Cont
Endogenous inclusions are smaller in size, since they get less time
to grow. For the same reason, the blow holes are, on an average,
smaller in size.
Since the ingot is withdrawn continuously from the mould, the frozen
layer of steel is subjected to stresses. This is aggravated by the
stresses arising out of thermal expansion/ contraction and phase
transformations.
Such stresses are the highest at the surface. Moreover, when the
ingot comes out of the mould, the thickness of the frozen steel shell
Use of a tundish between the ladle and the mould results in extra
temperature loss. Therefore, better refractory lining in the ladles,
tundish, etc. are required in order to minimise corrosion and erosion
by molten metal.
Secondary Steelmaking
SMARAJIT SARKAR
DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
NIT ROURKELA
Secondary steelmaking
Primary steelmaking is aimed at fast melting
and rapid refining. It is capable of refining at
a macro level to arrive at broad steel
specifications, but is not designed to meet
the stringent demands on steel quality, and
consistency of composition and temperature
that is required for very sophisticated grades
of steel. In order to achieve such
requirements, liquid steel from primary
steelmaking units has to be further refined in
the ladle after tapping. This is known as
Secondary Steelmaking.
in quality
improvement in production rate
decrease in energy consumption
use of relatively cheaper grade or
alternative raw materials
use of alternate sources of energy
higher recovery of alloying
elements.
Quality of Steel
Lower
impurity contents .
Better cleanliness. (i.e. lower
inclusion contents)
Stringent quality control. (i.e. less
variation from heat-to-heat)
Microalloying to impart superior
properties.
Better surface quality and
homogeneity in the cast product.
Clean Steel
The
Inclusions
Sources of Inclusions
Removal of Inclusions
Cont
Process Varieties
Stirring treatments
Vacuum treatments
Decarburisation techniques
Injection metallurgy
Plunging techniques
Post-solidification treatments.
VAD)
Sketch of a RH degasser
RH DEGASSER
Molten steel is contained in the ladle. The two legs of the vacuum
chamber (known as Snorkels) are immersed into the melt. Argon is
injected into the up leg.
Rising and expanding argon bubbles provide pumping action and lift
the liquid into the vacuum chamber, where it disintegrates into fine
droplets, gets degassed and comes down through the down leg
RH-OB Process
Hence,
decarburization in RH degasser is to be
speeded up. This is achieved by some oxygen
blowing (OB) during degassing.
Subsequently,
of ULC steels.
The
AOD PROCESS
AOD PROCESS
Cont..
Finex process
FINEX PROCESS
The fine DRI is compacted and then charged in the form of Hot
Compacted Iron (HCI) into the melter gasifier. So, before charging to
the melter- gasifier unit of the FINEX unit, this material is compacted
since the melter- gasifier can not use fine material (to ensure
permeability in the bed).