Downtime, % of nominal time 1.28 2.

61
Slow speed, % of nominal time 0.3 0.8
Top-dust volume, kg/ton pig 42 48
We took as the comparison period the time of furnace operation immediately prior to
the beginning of the trial heats. The main difference in furnace operation during the trial
period was an increase in the oxygen content of the blast from 24 to 25.1%. Thus, the total
increase in the consumption of natural gas was I0 m3/ton pig, which was significantly in
excess of the increase calculated as a correction. Considering that an increase in the
oxygen content of the blast does not in itself necessarily lead to a reduction in coke con-
sumption, it is valid to compare the above periods and to thus determine the efficacy of
using the automatic system for correction of natural-gas and air flow rates. After adjust-
ing both periods for comparable conditions, the coke consumption in the trial period turned
out to be 450.5 kg/ton pig and the savings in coke 1.5 kg/ton pig.
The reduction in furnace productivity in the trial period can be attributed to the hot-
ter running of the furnace (an increase in pig Si content) and an increase in downtime from
1.28 to 2.61%. However, if corrected for conditions in the comparison period, productivity
during the trial period shows almost no drop.
The study results allowed us to distinguish the basic factors which determine coke sav-
ings when the parameters of a combination blast are cyclically corrected. For example, an
increase in the mean-integral temperature in the furnace stack (it was empirically established
that this temperature increases 50-60 ~ improves the thermal preparation of the charge
before it enters the zones where active reduction takes place. This in turn improves the
degree of utilization of the reducing agents in the furnace, particularly hydrogen.
Thus, long-term use of the automatic system developed to correct the parameters of com-
bination blasts has shown the system to be cost-effective and capable of alleviating the
transience of blast-furnace smelting processes due to the periodicity of tapping. The sys-
tem is also relatively simple and reliable in operation.

AUTOMATIC SYSTEM TO CONTROL ROUTING OF IRON-BEARING MATERIALS

TO THE BLAST FURNACE

G. D. Mal'kovskii, A. D. Maksin, V. L. Eidel'nant, UDC 669.162.24:62-52

O. V. Danilov, N. K. Rukhadze, and A. A. Gulyanskii

The Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine has introduced an automatic system to control the
flow of iron-bearing materials to the blast furnace. The system uses portion batchers in
the place conventional weigh hoppers. Before reconstruction of the furnace on which the
system was installed, we fed the iron-bearing charge materials from bins onto a common belt
conveyor and thence through intermediate hoppers in which the materials were weighed with
strain gauges.
Such a charging system has several shortcomings: the presence of "tails" of material
on the belt which later fall unaccounted-for into the skip; a limited baching range associated
with the small size of the intermediate hoppers; the fact that the batching process takes
place in two stages (collection of enough material for a batch, then discharge of the weighed
material into the skip); the presence of the intermediate hopper and gate, which leads under
certain conditions to "boring" of the material.
The portion batchers developed by VNIPIavtomatprom (in Rustavi), which are located di-
rectly under the bins containing the pellets and furnace additions, do not have these pro-
blems.

Magnitogorsk Gipromez (State All-Union Institute for the Planning of Metallurgical

Plant). All-Union Scientific-Research and Planning Institute of Production-Process Automa-
tion (VNIPlautomatprom). Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine. Translated from Metallurg,
No. 6, pp. 17-18, June, 1981.

0026-0894/81/0506- 0209507.50 9 1982 Plenum Publishing Corporation 209