-BHILAI STEEL PLANT

The purpose of a blast furnace is to reduce and convert iron oxides into liquid iron called "hot metal". The blast furnace is a huge, steel stack lined with refractory brick. Iron ore, coke and limestone are put into the top, and preheated air is blown into the bottom.

Blast Furnace (Constructional features)

A blast furnace has a typical conical shape. The sections from top down are: Throat, where the burden surface is. The shaft or stack, where the ores are heated and reduction starts. The bosh parallel or belly and The bosh, where the reduction is completed and the ores are melted down. The hearth, where the molten material is collected and is cast via the taphole.

SPECIFICATIONS OF RAW MATERIALS

Material Chemicl Analysis Fe (Lumps) SiO2 P Al2O3 / SiO2 Sinter Fe FeO SiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO Coke Ash VM M S C Limestone CaO SiO2 MgO Specification 64.0 % min. 2.5 0.5 % 0.10 % max. 0.88 % max. 50% 10% 6% 3% 14-15 % 4-5% 15-16 % 0.3-0.4 % 5 0.5 % 0.5-0.6 % 75-80 % 38% Min. 6.5 0.25 % 8.5 0.5 % 6-50 mm 52 -55 mm Softening Melting range: 1330 1600 oC CRI: 22 -24 max. CSR: 60 min. M40: 80 82 % M10: 7.8 8.4% RDI: 23 - 25 5-40 mm Softening Melting range: 1175 - 1540 C Size 10-40 mm Other Properties

MAIN DIMENSIONS OF BLAST FURNACES

UPPER STACK ZONE Reduction of Oxides 3 Fe 2O3 + CO = 2 Fe3O4 + CO2 Fe3O4 + CO = 3FeO + CO2 FeO + CO = Fe + CO2 Decomposition of Hydrates Water - Gas Shift Reaction CO + H2O = CO2 + H2 Carbon Deposition Decomposition of Carbonates MIDDLE STACK ZONE Direct / Indirect Reduction FeO + CO = Fe + CO 2 CO2 + C = 2CO FeO + C = Fe + CO Gas utilization

LOWER STACK ZONE Calcination of Limestone Reduction of Various elements Reduction of unreduced Iron Reduction of Silicon Reduction of Mn, P, Zn etc. Formation / melting of slag, final reduction of FeO and melting of Fe. COMBUSTION ZONE Burning and combustion of Coke C + O2 = CO2 + 94450 cal (direct reduction) CO2 + C = 2CO - 41000 cal (solution loss reaction) Complete reduction of Iron Oxide RACEWAY Coke and Hydrocarbons are oxidized Large evolution of heat HEARTH Saturation of Carbon with Iron Final Reduction of P, Mn,Si and Sulfur .

1.

2.
3.

Raw Material section(Charging) Furnace Section Auxillary Section

ORE YARD STOCK HOUSE COKE CHARGING SYSTEM HOIST HOUSE CHARGING OPERATORS CONTROL ROOM (COCR)

The main responsibility of this section is to receive the raw materials required for the production of Hot Metal from various sources, storing and transporting them to the top of the furnace in time, for the smooth running of the furnace.

Raw material is arriving to the Blast Furnace department Unloaded in the Ore Trench of Ore Yard. The materials from Ore Trench are transported to Ore Yard with the help of Ore Bridge Cranes (OBCs) having a span of 76.2 meters. Approx the following amount of materials can be stored in Ore Yard at a particular time.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Fine Ore : Iron Ore (Lumps): Limestone : Mn. Ore : Quartzite : 85,000 tonnes 1,80,000 tonnes 40,000 tonnes 11,000 tonnes 3,000 tonnes

STOCK HOUSE:

Feeding materials-> Bunkers Vibro-feeder Screens Conveyor Belts Weighing hopper Skip Car

COKE CHARGING SYSTEM :

Coke from coke bunkers falls on a vibratory screen. BF size coke from the screen collects in a weighing hopper. The fines below 25 mm size collect in a bottom bunker from where it is hoisted to top bunker by means of coke breeze skip (Volume 0.5 m3 to 0.75 m3 ). Top bunker is emptied in every 4th hour into dump cars that carry coke breeze to sintering plants.

For taking charged materials to the Furnace top, two-way skip hoist with 2 skips of useful volume 6.5 m3 for BF# 1,2,3; 10 m3 for BF #4,5,6 and 13 m3 for BF # 7 are provided. The hoist house operates the skip that is driven by two motors

CHARGING OPERATORS CONTROL ROOM (COCR)

All the charging activities are monitored from the COCR round the clock. Thus raw materials are transported to the top of the furnace.

Top Charging Equipment: Charging Sequence Hot Blast Stoves Auxiliary Fuel Injection The Cast house Furnace Foreman Control Room

The hearth bottom, hearth, bosh, belly and the shaft are cooled by means of coolers of various designs. Steel refractory lined plates protect the walls of the furnace top. The bigger furnaces are lined with carbon blocks in the hearth and in the periphery of the hearth bottom.

TOP CHARGING EQUIPMENT

The burden material which reaches to the top of the furnace by skip car is to be distributed into the furnace. Double bell charging system ,Rotating Charging Unit (RCU) , Paul-Wurth Bell Less Top (BLT) charging system are used in different furnaces.

To facilitate smooth working of furnaces, the coke and the non-coke material is to be distributed in a particular fashion in the whole circumference of the blast furnace. Sequence 1: COC / COOCC / CCOOC Sequence 2: CCOO

Each stove consists of a combustion chamber and refractory checker brickwork. There are two cycles in the stove operation.
1. 2. ON GAS: Stove in the heating mode ON BLAST: Stove in the blast mode

The fuels used for this purpose are pulverized coal, and coal tar. Economic and operational benefits achieved by using Pulverized Coal Injection (PCI). Lower consumption of expensive coking coals, extended coke oven life, higher BF productivity, reduced overall emissions, greater flexibility in BF operation are some of the advantages of using this method.

The liquid iron and slag collect in the hearth of the furnace, from where they are tapped via the taphole into the cast house and to transport ladles. The equipments available at the cast house are:
1. Drill Machine used for opening the tapping 2. Mud gun used for closing the tapping 3. Cast House Crane for material handling during cast preparation 4. Rocking Runner to divert the metal into a different ladle 5. .Pusher Car used for local placement of the metal ladle house metal

FURNACE FOREMAN CONTROL ROOM

All the activities burden distribution, stoves, cast house, auxiliary fuel injection etc. are controlled from FFCR located in the furnace. LEVEL-0 and LEVEL-1 automation facilities are there in all BFs. All the details regarding the furnace are monitored using DDCs and mimic panels kept in the FFCR.

Ladle Repair Shop Pig Casting Machine Cold Pig Yard Tap-hole Mass Shop Slag Dump Post

Ladle Repair Shop: There are 3 ladle repair shops provided for relining, repairing and leaning of the iron ladles. Each shop contains an E.O.T. crane (75T) for speeding up the job. Pig Casting Machine: There are 4 double strand Pig Casting Machines, each having a capacity of 1600 T/day. Each machine contains 308 moulds in one belt with lime coating arrangement underneath the machine. Moulds are filled with the hot metal from the ladle at the spout, cooled by water sprays on the bed while on movement and the pigs are separated from mould chain by knockout arrangement. Each pig weights about 45 kg. Cold Pig Yard : Cold Pigs from PCM come here. These are stacked according to their quality, and loaded in box wagons for dispatch to stack yards of customers. Tap Hole Mass Shop: Here, Refractory Mass required for Blast Furnace department is made e.g. Mudgun clay, Tap hole frame mass and Runner Mass etc.. Slag Dump Post: The slag ladles from BF 1,2 &3 and slag coming from BF 4,5 &6 in case of SGP failure is sent to the dump post for emptying the ladles. Provision exists at the dump post for tilting and hammering out the slag with the help of cranes.

FOUNDRY
Foundry is a manufacturing unit where castings are produced by melting metal and pouring it

into the moulds of desired shape and size.

CASTING
It is a metal forming technique like Forging, Stamping, Rolling , Pressing etc. TYPES OF FOUNDRIES: 1. Jobbing Foundry 2. Production Foundry 3. Captive Foundry

PATTERN MAKING ( Including core boxes) SAND PREPARATION MOLDING & CORE MAKING MELTING

POURING
CLEANING ( FETTLING) INSPECTION AND QUALITY CONTROL FINISHED CASTINGS

1. PATTERN MAKING
Patterns are replica of the casting. Material :

Deodar wood, teak wood, Aluminum, M.S. plate,

Expanded foam polystyrene ( thermocol), wax etc. Types
a. Single or loose patterns b. Gated patterns c. Match plate patterns d. Cope and drag patterns e. Special patterns and devices

2. SAND PREPARATION
Sand is the principal material for moulding because of the following qualities.
a. b. Quite cheap and is available in plenty. It has refractoriness.

c.
d. e. f.

Can take any shape.

Can withstand the pressure of molten metal when mixed with Bentonite or clay. Does not chemically react with molten metal. Can be reused.

TYPICAL SAND MIXTURE

SAND BENTONITE MOLASSES

: : :

78 80% 10-12 % 2%

SAW DUST WATER

: :

1% 7%

SYSTEM STORAGE

NEW SAND

SAND CIRCULATION

SAND MIXER

MOULDERS HOPPERS FINES EXHAUSTER

MOULD

POURING

SCREENING METALLIC CHIPS & FINS

MAGNETIC SEPARATOR

SHAKE OUT LUMP BREAKER & SEPARATOR CORE LUMPS CASTING

CORE BUTTS DISCARD

3. MOULDING & CORE MAKING

Moulding requires the ramming of sand around

the pattern
As the sand is packed , it develops strength and becomes rigid within the flask

FOUNDRY & PATTERN SHOP (BSP) CASTINGS :

STEEL
RATED CAPACITY 6500 TON / Year

CAST IRON
RATED CAPACITY 79000 TON / Year

NON-FERROUS
RATED CAPACITY 500 TON / Year

Ingot moulds Bottom plates/stools, Trumpet, Track plates, Thimble stand, Dumping bell, Gate carrier top, Inserts, Weight for SLI , Door body Door frame Break Blocks for locomotives, etc.

CAST IRON

STEEL
Charging Box, Twin hearth beams, Sill plates, Ladle cover, Tong Ladle bush, L1 &R1 guard, Wobler coupling, Coke crusher band, wear plates Reheating furnace parts Sinter crusher guide, mould bogie plate form Thimble

Aluminium shots/cubes, Various types of Bushes, Slide Blocks, Liners, Copper tuyeres, Copper coolers Monkeys,, Leading Nuts and Body covers Mud gun nut, Screw Down Nut, etc.

Steel Melting Sop - 1 (SMS-1) follows the conventional route of steel making in which steel is produced through Twin Hearth furnaces and cast into ingot moulds. The ingots are stripped off from the ingot moulds and are sent to BBM for further heating and rolling into blooms.

 SMS-I comprises of various sections for melting, casting & stripping of 2.5 MT ingots annually. The main sections are:

1. Mixer 2. Stock Yard 3. Furnace 4. Pit side 5. Mould Yard 6. Stripper Yard

FURNACE
There are at present 4 Twin hearth furnaces of 2 x 250 T capacity. Of these, The furnaces are fixed type with basic lining (magnesite) and basic roof (magnesite -chrome).The technological regime of a Twin Hearth. furnace is based on equal duration for both "Solid" and "Liquid" periods of a heat in both hearths. The major operations during Solid period are : 1. Tapping and fettling 2. Charging 3. Heating and sill making 4. Hot metal pouring.

The major operations during Liquid period are : 1. Melting 2. Refining 3.Holding.

PIT SIDE
It is an important area of multifarious activities. All the pit side activities can be divided into two groups i.e. major activities and supportive activities. Major Activities 1. Launder making and timely supply to furnace. 2. Providing thimbles for flushing & tapping. 3. Providing ladles for tapping. 4. Teeming of steel into ingots as per steel grade. Supportive Activities 1. Dismantling of ladles. 2. Relining of ladles. 3. Heating of ladles. 4. Mech. repair of Ladles, Launders, thimbles etc. 5. House keeping & cleaning 6. Disaster Management.

MOULD YARD
There are two mould yards attached to SMS-I. Functionwise they are similar.
The main objective of mould yards are: i) Preparing & supplying mould train to pit side. ii) Receiving moulds on cooling plates after stripping. iii) Receiving bottom stool trains after charging of ingots in the soaking pits.

THANK YOU