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Blast furnace

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Iron Production Ore, lime,

coke

Waste gas
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Hot air

Slag out
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Molten iron
out

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Ironmaking in the Blast Furnace Plant

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Bell Less Top
Sinter Coke
Gas Cleaning
Hot Blast Stoves

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Stock House Gasholder

Scrubber

Enrichment Gas

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Combustion Air Slag, Hot Metal

Blower

Combustion Gas

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STEEL PRODUCTION

Steel production includes following three phases:

• Production of pig iron

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• Refining pig iron into steel
• Forming the steel into products

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Production of pig iron

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Raw materials include:
• The iron with impurities (i.e., iron ore):
• Mostly iron oxides (Hematite, Fe2O3, and magnetite)
• Iron carbonates, silicates, and sulfides
• Coal

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• Limestone to remove impurities, such as
silica and alumina

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STEEL PRODUCTION:
Production of pig iron-----contd.

Pig iron is produced using a blast furnace in the

following steps:
• The ore is crushed and the iron containing material
is magnetically sperated from the waste. The
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processed ore contains about 65% iron.

• It is heated in the presence of carbon in a blast
furnace. Oxygen in the ore reacts with carbon to
form gases.
• A flux (limestone) is used to help remove alumina
and silica impurities from the ore.
• The molten iron, with an excess of carbon in the
solution, collects at the bottom of the furnace (pig
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iron). The excess carbon and slag must be

removed to produce high-quality steel.
• The impurities (slag) float on the top of the molten
pig iron

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STEEL PRODUCTION:
Refining pig iron into steel

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•Following three types of furnaces are used for
refining pig iron into steel:
• Open Hearth Furnace has been used since the
early 1900's

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• Basic Oxygen Furnace is more efficient than open
hearth, can refine 300 tons of steel in 25 minutes
• Electric Arc Furnace uses an electric arc between
carbon electrodes to melt and refine steel. It

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requires high amount of energy
• Primarily used to recycle scrap steel
• Alloying elements and agents are added

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Inside BF
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• Hot Blast 200-300 m/s

2 – 4 atm
• Flame race way 1-2 m
• Coke is the only solid in
Bosh and hearth
• Percolation reduction
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• Partial reduction of P, Si, Mn

… etc
• Inverted U shaped fusion
zone
• Supports burden – aided by
gas pressure
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• Coke slits in cohesive zone become part of he active coke

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zone
• Charge between coke slits melts and trickles through
active coke zone
• Slag in cohesive zone is rich in FeO
• FeO in slag gets reduced by coke in active coke zone

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• Slag while moving through the active coke zone –
absorbs ash in coke
• Fe in liquid form, while tricking through the active coke,
absorbs some C

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Equilibrium CO/CO2 ratios with T

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Reactions in Tuyere zone

• Coke is the only solid at Tuyre zone
• Gets preheated to 1500 C
• Comes in contact with preheated air blast – 800 – 1300 C
• Burns with great intensity with lot turbulence
• A raceway forms in the shape of pear- in which burning coke is
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suspended
• Burning temperature - ~2000 C
• Raceway provides- heat to maintain furnace operation and
reducing gases
2C+O2 = 2 CO

Coke Quality – Raceway shape and stability

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Coke rate- 600-750 kg/t (best is 450 kg/t)

There may be some moisture in blast
H2O + C = H2 +CO

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Humidification of blast

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H2O + C = H2 +CO
Is endothermic

But the above reaction produces extra reducing gasses

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If excess heat is available in tuyere area – add moisture to blast

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Fuel Injection

• Coke is expensive
• Liquid fuels can be injected along with hot blast
(natural gas, coke slurry, tar,
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oils… etc)
• Reduces the total coke consumption
• These liquid fuels are hydrocarbons – hydrogen
as reducing agent
• Min. blast temp. of 900 C is required for this
Blast contain lot of N2 – Inert
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Large volume of this gas help carry heat from tuyere

to upper parts

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Sulphur in fuel

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• Combustion releases Sulphur in fuel
• Almost completely Absorbed by charge
• Reaches hearth and gets distributed between
metal and slag

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• Almost 90% sulphur in furnace source is coke (1.5%
S)
• Select fuels with less S

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Mn ore can help with S problem

Mn ore was intentionally added to burden

Now this process is becoming less popular
– external desulphurization plants before steel making

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External desulphurization

• Reduce amount of Mn in pig iron

• Reduce the furnace operating temp
• Less Si enters pigiron at low furnace operating temp
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Good for steel making

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Reaction is Stack

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Functions of stack
• Progressively reduce the iron oxide
• Extract heat from ascending gasses

Gas temp at stock line ~ 200 C

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CO/CO2 ratio 1.3
Still got reducing potential

• Thus efforts are to make CO/CO2 ration as small as

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possible at stock line
• Higher oxides of Mn (MnO2, Mn3O4) also gets reduced
to MnO
• Further reduction of Mn takes place in bosh at high
temp.
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Several reactions take place before the iron is finally produced...

•Oxygen in the air reacts with coke to give carbon

dioxide:
C(s) + O 2(g)  CO2(g)
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•The limestone breaks down to form carbon dioxide:

CaCO3(s)  CO2 (g) + CaO(s)

•Carbon dioxide produced in 1 + 2 react with more coke

to produce carbon monoxide:
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CO2(g) + C(s)  2CO(g)

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• The carbon monoxide reduces the iron in the ore
to give molten iron:

3CO(g) + Fe2O3(s)  2Fe(l) + 3CO2(g)

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• The lime from 2, reacts with the sand to form slag
(calcium silicate):

CaO(s) + SiO(s)  CaSiO3(l)

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Reaction Kinetics

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Kinetics of iron Oxide reduction
1.Physical nature of Iron oxide and its previous
history
2.Nature and composition of gangue in the charge

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3.CO content of gas phase at level of consideration
4.Temp of charge and gas at the level of
consideration

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5.Chemical nature of iron oxide
6.Pressure at the top of the furnace
7.Extent of solid-solid reaction
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Reaction Kinetics- Bosh region

1.Indirect reduction – slows down

2.Direct reduction of iron oxide by C
3.FeO rich slag trickles down through the coke bed
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4.Results in Solid Iron

5.All P, most of Cr
6.Some of Si and Mn
7.Sampling at bosh region
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8.Fe carburization
9.Solid Fe contains Si (SiO gas)
10.SiS gas from FeS and CaS
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Reaction Kinetics- Hearth region

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1.Slag 2-3 hrs; PI 5-6hrs
2.Must be at minimum possible temp
3.Molten Pig Iron- 1200 C
4.Molten slag 1300-1400 C

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5.High total gangue
6.Al2O3 content.

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Ore selection
Low gangue ore
Beneficiate – remove Al2O3
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Gangue sources in BF
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Other Aspects
1.Originally S is removed in the BF itself.

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1.Reducing conditions in BF is suitable
2.With time, S level specification become stringent
1.Not economical any more in BF
2.MnO, Si and high BF temp

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3.External desulpharization
1.Low temp BF operation
2.Low Si

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3. no need to add Mn ore

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Si Issue
1. Low temp,
2. low ash coke, ,
3. lime injection,
4. high P- supress SiO gas
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5. Minimize irregularities in BF operation

0.5% Si is ideal for steel making

TiO2 in burden or addition to burden

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1. Precipitate refractory carbides and nitrides

2. Protect bosh, tuyere and hearth linings

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Main reactions in
blast furnace

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•Both the slag and iron are drained from the bottom
of the furnace.
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•The slag is mainly used to build roads.

•The iron whilst molten is poured into moulds and

left to solidify - this is called pigiron

•Used to make cast iron - railings and storage tanks.

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•The rest of the pigiron is used to make steel.

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Products

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Chemical composition

Fe C Si Mn P S
Pig Iron
3,0-
90-95% 0,5-3,0% 0,5-3,0% 0,05-2% 0,1%
4,3%

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Products

Chemical composition

MgO, MnO, FeO, CaS,

SiO2 CaO Al2O3
MnS, P2O5, BaS, atd.
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26-40% 36-48% 10-20% negligible

Slags

- basic
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(CaO + MgO)/SiO2 = 1,0 – 1,5

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Products

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Chemical composition

CO2 CO H2 CH4 N2

8-14% 23-32% 1-4% 0,2-0,4% 55-60%

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Stock gas

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- fly ash ( 3 - 30g/m3)
- 3800 - 4000m3 gas per 1t of coke
- fuel value 3700 – 4200 kJ/m3

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Blast Furnace construction

Blast Furnace refractories

Life of linings dictates – the furnace campaign
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(few years)
Thickness – depends on furnace size/ location
of furnace (~ 1m)
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Causes of lining failure

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• CO attack
• Action of Alkali vapours
• Acton of limy/alkaline slags
• Action of other volatiles matters

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• Abrasion by solids/liquids/gases
• Temperature
• Action of molten metals
• Operation conditions and design

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• Blowing in procedure

Not all are active at all the times and locations

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Attack of lining @ various locations

•Stack: abrasion of burden and CO attack

•Bosh: High T and erosion by ascending gas,
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attack in molten lime and alkali slags

•Hearth: molten metal and slags
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Stack: abrasion of burden and CO attack

•Refractoriness is relatively less significant
•A good dense refractory is good
•Throat : lined with armour plates
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•Upper Stack: ( 2 to 3 m): high fired, super duty

fire bricks
•Remaining stack: High duty fire bricks

•35 to 40% Al2O3 bricks – dense - for stack

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•60% Al2O3 for lower stack

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Hearth: molten metal and slags

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• High alumina to silica ratio – fully dense
• Often failed:
• gasses from fire bricks
• Fe  FeO
• FeO lowers the melting point of refractory

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• Ramming of carbon and tar mixture – excellent solution
• Development of carbon lined hearths
• High refractoriness
• High thermal conductivity

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• High abrasion resistance
• High bulk density
• Low porosity
• Good crushing strength
• Inert to C rich melt and slag

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Hearth walls

• Carbon block facing and heavy duty fire brick

backing
• Full Carbon lining until tuyere level - development
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Bosh lining

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•Severe temperature and chemical attack
•Good refractoriness, refractoriness under load,
low after expansion, resistance o action of limy
and alkali slags.

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•High duty super fire bricks – 45 to 65% Alumina
•Carbonaceous bricks as well- High conductivity
•Chilled slag forms on carbon bricks and act as

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additional lining.

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Carbon lining

• Increase in campaign life

• Min. breakouts and scaffolds
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• Simpler cooling design

• More uniform wear
• Stack cooling is not needed
• Clean surface contact with metal and slag.
• Relatively thinner lining is sufficient
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Tap holes

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Slag notch
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Tuyere assembly

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Slag granulation

• Raw material is used for cement making

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Blast Furnace Gas

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BF Gas Contain
1. CO-20 to 30%
2. 900 Kcal/m3 of CO (Natural Gas 9,400
Kcal/m3)
3. 1 ton coke – 4000 m3 of effluent gas

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4. Lean fuel

Can’t be used as fuel directly

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Needs cleaning - lot of dust
Sensible heat is lost during cleaning
Chemical heat only utilized
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Dust in BF gas

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• 6mm down to few microns
• 7-30 g/m3

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Cleaning is done in 3 stages
1. Coarse
2. Semifine

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3. Fine

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BF gas cleaning

•The primary function of the blast furnace gas

cleaning system is to remove particulate
matter from this gas.
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•In addition, the system also cools the gas to

reduce its moisture content, thus increasing
its calorific value.
•The recovered sludge/dust contains relatively
high quantities of iron and carbon and can
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thus be recycled through the sinter plant.

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Dust catchers
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•based on the gravity separation principle and is

used for the removal of large particles of the dust.

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• It is the dry separation of dust particles in the
blast furnace top gas before wet scrubbing
•In this stage all the coarser particles are removed.
•remove as much dust as possible in a dry

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condition for reuse and recycling.
•The dust catcher is usually lined to insulate it and
prevent the condensation of moisture in BF gas

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• the dust remains dry and does not ball up and
flow freely into the conical portion of the dust
catcher at its bottom for its periodical removal.

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Dust catchers

• The gas is sent to the dust catcher by a single down comer

and enters through the top by a vertical pipe that carries
the gas downward inside the dust catcher.
• This pipe flares at its lower extremity like an inverted
funnel, so that as the gas passes downward its velocity
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(and thus its dust carrying potential) decreases

• most of the coarser dust drops out of the gas stream and
is deposited in the cone at the bottom of the dust catcher.
• the direction of the travel of the gas must reverse 180
degrees.
• This sudden reversal in the direction of flow causes more
of the dust to get settle down.
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Wet Scrubber

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• In this stage, BF gas is cleaned in
contact with water and almost
all the suspended particles are
separated (more than 99 %).
• Polluted water from the system

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at the same time contains high
concentrations of suspended
particles in the range of and
500-10,000 mg/l

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• sent to settling ponds/ clarifier-
thickener where the dust settles
down and the clear water from
the top is pumped for reuse.
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• The scrubbers for the blast furnace gas cleaning

operate on the basic aerodynamic principle.
• A simple analogy of the aerodynamic principle is
that if water droplets of very large size are
projected to collide with gas-stream particles of
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much smaller size then the statistical chances of

collision are very small.
• As the size of the water droplets is reduced to more
nearly the size of the gas stream particles, the
chances of collision improve Efficient scrubbing,
• therefore, requires atomizing the water to a
fineness related to particle size to afford maximum
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contact with the particles to be captured.

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• 80-90% of dust in incoming gas is cleaned
• 3.5 to 4.5 litres of water for I cubic metre of gas
• Outgoing gas – 0.5 to 1.5 g/m3 dust

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• Outgoing gas temp – 30-35 C – low moisture

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Ventury washer
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Wet Electrostatic Precipitator -ESP

• uses electrical forces to move

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the particles out of the flowing
gas stream and onto collector
plates.
• The particles are given an
electrical charge by forcing them

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to pass through a corona, a
region in which gaseous ions
flow

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Corona discharge
• an electrical discharge brought on by the ionization of a fluid
such as air surrounding a conductor that is electrically
charged.
• Spontaneous corona discharges occur naturally in high-
km

voltage systems unless care is taken to limit the electric field

strength.
• A corona will occur when the strength of the electric field
(potential gradient) around a conductor is high enough to
form a conductive region, but not high enough to cause
electrical breakdown or arcing to nearby objects.
It is often seen as a bluish (or other color) glow in the air
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•
adjacent to pointed metal conductors carrying high voltages
• In many high voltage applications corona is an unwanted
side effect.

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Utilization of BF Gas

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• Preheating the blast for BF
• Firing reheating furnaces
• Firing open hearth furnaces

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• Steam making for various uses

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25 to 40 % of all the BF gas
• Used for preheating the blast
• Firing the hot blast stoves
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Utilization of BF Gas

•Cleaned has is stored in huge gas holders

•Supplied based on need
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•Storing needs huge investments for holders

•Bhilai steel plant – no holders
•Balance the amount of Gas produced and the
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consumption.
•Excess can be burnt off

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Hot Blast

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• Most of the heat from BF gas is sent back to BF
• Over years Blast temps increased (~1200 C)

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Hot Blast stove

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Stove operation

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• Tall cylindrical structure
• Combustion chamber
• Heat regenerators with checker bricks
• Clean BF gas is burnt in combustion chamber

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• Hot exhaust gasses pass through the ‘Heat regenerators’ and give
away heat to brick structures
• Called ‘on gas’
• Until checker bricks reach a preset temp

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On Blast

• Firing is stopped
• Cold blast is passed through the checkers
• Produce the preheated blast
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• Continue this until certain minimum blast temperature

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Stove design and number of stoves

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• Ensure steady supply
• Thermal efficiency of the process – 75 to 90 %
• Checkers cool faster then the time taken for heating it

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• Three or four stove system is needed for uninterrupted blast supply
• Four stove is more flexible for maintenance

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Stoves
• Steel shell with inner
insulation of fire bricks
• Height – 20 to 36 m
• Diameter 6 to 8 m
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• Dome on top

Two pass or three pass or for

pass stoves

Two pass is enough with

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improved checkers

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Checkers

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• Refractory construction of special brick shapes
• Should absorb maximum heat while firing
• Should desorb maximum heat while on blast
• Larger weight – more heat storing capacity
• Large surface area- faster the heat exchange

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• Expected to last 15 to 20
years
• Spalling, deformation,

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clogging etc
• Top 3 to 6 m of bricks –
replaced after each
campaign ( 4 to 7 years) et
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Blast Furnace Operation

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Blowing in
•The process of starting newly lined furnace

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Involves 4 steps

•Drying

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•Filling
•Lighting
•Operation until normal production
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Drying

•New lining of BF contain significant amount

of H2O
•Must be removed – slowly and completely
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Stoves
•Brought to normal operating temperature in
10 to 15 days
•Repaired stoves need a day or two
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BF Drying

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•Hot blast from stove
•Auxiliary furnace to supply hot gasses
•Wood or coke fire in hearth

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Time and efforts spent during this stage
is well repaid during subsequent

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operation.

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Filling

•Furnace is cleared off

•Furnace is cooled to reasonable temperatures
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•Furnace personal enter the furnace and prepare

filling
•Coolers are inspected at this stage
•Materials and charging systems are kept ready
•Tap holes are prepared ( which were removed
for personal to enter)
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Filling

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Hearth :
• Light wood and wood shaving up to tuyere level
• On top of this – timber
• Coke is added up to bosh level
• Lime stone is added- based on amount of ash in

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coke
• Old BF slag is added along with coke
• Slag level is maintained in the hearth
• To heat hearth and to prepared the hearth to receive iron

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• Burden of varying amount is layered on top of the
coke bed

Ready for lightinget

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Lighting or Igniting

•Bells are opened and dust catcher is closed

•Insert red hot bars through tuyeres, slag
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notch and metal notch

•Gas torch may be used
•Burning is allowed with natural draught – 2
to 3 days
•Light blast after 3 days
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•Bells are closed and dust catcher is opened

•Full blast after a week

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Lighting or Igniting

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•Tap holes are open during early period
•Once coke starts to burn and slag forms,
taps are closed
•Nest 6 to 8 h- slag fills the hearth

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•After another 2 days – first cast is
produced
•Routine tapping and charging after a

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week

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Iron and its Alloys

Fe Oxides Fe2O3(hematite), Fe3O4(magnetite), FeO

Pig Fe 3.5%-4.5% C + Si, Mn, P, S impurities.
Very brittle (why called “pig” iron?)
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Cast Fe 2%-4% C + 1%-6% Si + Mn impurities.

Produced by heating pig iron to reduce
P and S.
C Steel 2% C with Mn, S, P and Si

Wrought < 0.25% C. Very malleable

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Fe
Alloy Steel Low C, but with added Cr, Mb, Ni, W
HSLA Microalloyed, high strength, low alloy
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