Blast furnace

SHAFT FURNACE Structure and principle-It is a

Operation- Moderate velocities of the gaseous combustion vertical refractory lined
products are characteristic of shaft furnace. The bulk of the cylinder in which a fixed bed
lumped materials(the charge) not entrained by the ascending gas or descending column of
stream and, in contrast to the fluidised bed furnace, maintains solids is maintained ,and
aerodynamic stability. through which an ascending
The counter-current motion of the charge (top to bottom) and of stream of hot gas is forced.
the gases forced through the charge(bottom to top) and the It works on counter current
direct contact between the charge and hot gases result in good principle where the iron ore
heat exchange and generation of low temperature exhaust gases. feed material moves
Consequently, shaft furnaces are characterized by a high thermal
downward in the furnace by
efficiency and a relatively high output and
gravity and gets reduced by
are used to smelt iron ores
the up flowing reducing gases.

Parts of Simplified Shaft furnace shown

alongside:
(1) charging device
(2)gas outlet
(3)Tuyere
(4)outside crucible
(5)slag notch
(6) matte hole
(7) inside crucible
Blast Furnace Operation

o
250 C
CO+N2

Stack

o
1200 C

Bosh

o
1700 C

Tuyeres
o
1500 C

o
1350 C

Hearth
In the upper part of the
furnace, free moisture is
driven off from the
burden materials and
hydrates and carbonates
are disassociated.
In the lower part of the blast
furnace shaft, indirect
reduction of the iron
oxides by carbon
monoxide and hydrogen
occurs at 700-1,000 C.
In the Bosh area of the
furnace where the
burden starts to soften
and melt, direct reduction
of the iron [and other]
oxides and carbonization
by the coke occurs at
1,000-1,600 C. Molten
iron and slag start to drip
through to the bottom of
the furnace [the hearth].
Modern blast furnace runs continuously day and night for some three to seven years and
thereafter the furnace must be shut down for repairs.

Charge: Lumpy iron ore (10/40mm), in the form of hematite or magnetite or iron oxide in the
form of pellets and sinters, flux and metallurgical coke form the charge to the blast furnace. The
physical nature of the solid material and lateral distribution of the charge are of great
importance- fundamentally the action of the iron blast furnace (or any shaft furnace) involves
the chemical reaction between the solid charge and the rising column the gas in the furnace.
The charge must, therefore, be uniformly porous to permit a uniform flow of gas through the
interstices.

A blast furnace cannot be charged with all the fine material because a good deal of it would be
blown out by the gas current, and part of it would pack in such a way as to cause the gases to
channel and leave portions of the charge cold and un-smelted.

Smelting Action: The iron blast furnace operates on a counter-current principle: the charge
moves slowly down in the furnace shaft and current of gas that reacts with the charge moves
upward. This operation is reduction smelting.

The furnace has two functions to perform

(1)To reduce the oxides of iron to metallic state, and
(2)To fuse the entire mass to form molten metal and liquid slag.
INPUTS
Iron ores are the most important raw material
charged to blast furnace. Other minor material
Can be Mill scale (Fe3O4 byproduct hot-rolling)
Coke in the blast furnace has two functions:
• As a fuel producing the heat required for
reduction and melting the iron.
• To supply the reducing agent (mainly CO).
Besides, a small amount of carbon dissolves in
the hot metal, thus lowering its melting point.
Main requirement for coke are: high calorific
value, high mechanical strength, and low
impurities.
Coke burns intensively near the tuyeres;
temperatures in this region reach 17000C.
At this temperature, CO2 reacts immediately
with carbon to form CO:C+02~C02 C +C02--2CO
Sulfur in the coke accounts for about 90% of
the total sulfur entering the blast furnace.
The function of limestone is to render the
gangue in the ore and the ash of the coke,
mainly Si02 and Al2O3 which have high
melting points, easily fusible (helps to
remove acidic impurities from the iron by
reacting with them to form molten slag).
In the blast furnace, limestone is
decomposed ~ at 800°C: CaC03 == CaO + CO2
Air for the blast furnace has to be preheated
to 500-1000°C and compressed to 200-300
kPa to burn the necessary amount of coke to
furnish the required temperature for the
reaction: C+ 1/O2 ==CO
Near the tuyeres zone, any moisture in the air
will react with coke: C+H2O==CO+H2,
Since this reaction is endothermic, variation in
atmospheric humidity greatly affects the
thermal balance of the furnace to such an
extent that it would cause wide variation in
the chemical composition of the iron
produced.
PRODUCTS
Pig Iron
Pig iron is transferred molten as hot metal
or molded in pig-machine. The hearth
temperature influences the carbon content in
pig iron.
Slag formed in the blast furnace serves two
purposes:
• To collect the impurities in the molten metal
• To protect the metal from oxidation by the
furnace atmosphere
Molten slag from a blast furnace:
• It is poured into a pit and after solidifying
and cooling it is excavated, crushed, and
screened. The product is called air-cooled
slag and is used in concrete and railroads.
• It is either allowed to run directly into a pit
of water producing a coarse, friable product,
or a stream of molten slag is broken up by a
high-pressure water jet as it falls into the pit.
The product in both cases is called granulated
slag and is used in making building blocks.
Gas coming out of furnace top is more than
that introduced at the bottom due to the
gasification of carbon. The CO content in the
gas is due to the reaction: C02+C==2CO
About 20% of the total fuel requirement is
consumed in this manner. This reaction not
only consumes coke but also consumes heat
since it is endothermic.
Carbon dioxide is a product of ore reduction
and CaCO3 decomposition.
Because of its CO content, the blast furnace
gas is used as a fuel to preheat the air
blast and to generate power (boilers). The
gas leaves the furnace at 120-370 oC.
The Blast Furnace is a large steel
structure about 30 mt high. It is lined
with refractory firebricks that can
withstand temp. ~2000oC.
The furnace gets its name from the
method that is used to heat it. Pre-
heated air at about 1000oC is blasted
into the furnace through nozzles
near its base.

•The impurities (are removed) react with calcium oxide to make a liquid slag that floats on top of the molten
iron. The slag is collected after the denser iron has been run out of a tap hole near the bottom of the furnace.
The production of iron in a Blast Furnace is a continuous process.

•The furnace is heated constantly and is re-charged with raw materials from the top while it is being tapped
from the bottom. Iron making in the furnace usually continues for about ten years before the furnace linings
have to be renewed.

Refining iron
•The metal that leaves the Blast Furnace contains between 4% and 5% of carbon. This much carbon makes a
very hard but brittle metal which is not much use. The next step in the production of steel is to reduce the
levels of carbon and other impurity elements in the hot metal.
Segregation and angle of repose

Coke 35 - 38 deg.

Sinter 29 - 33 deg.

Pellets 25 - 26 deg.
Temperature profile of the
blast furnace
• The performance level of blast furnace has enhanced remarkably during the last 2 decades
leading to higher cost efficiency.
• Presently, a single large size furnace produces more than 10000 tons of hot metal per day
(tpd).
•Notable features of the efficient BF in good International scenarios are:
•Productivity, t/day/cu m .. >2.5, Coke rate, kg/ton of hot metal (thm) <300, Coal rate, kg/ton of
hot metal (thm) ~200, Silicon content, % 0.3, Sulphur content, % 0.020, Utilisation, % .. >98%,
Campaign life, years .. >15
 The Blast Furnace as a countercurrent mass and heat exchanger
The driving force i.e., the counter current process creates voidage at the indicated areas
causing the burden to descend

Hot gas ascends through the

furnace–Heats up the coke in
the bosh/belly area.
– Melting the iron ore in the
burden, creating voidage.
–Heats up the material in the
shaft zone of the furnace.
–Removes oxygen of the ore
burden by chemical reactions.
–Upon melting, the iron ore
produces hot metal and slag,
which drips down through the
coke zone to the hearth,
– In the dripping zone the hot
metal and slag consume coke,
creating voidage.
-Additional coke is consumed
for final reduction of iron
oxide and carbon dissolves in
the hot metal.
Main Forces in the Blast Furnace

Burden Weight

Upward force by blast

Upward force by liquid

 Zones of blast furnace
A blast furnace has a typical conical shape.
The sections from top down are:
– Throat, where the burden surface is.
–Stack, where the ores are heated and
reduction starts.
–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.

At any moment, an operating blast furnace

contains, from top downwards:
–Layers of ore and coke.
–Area where ore starts to soften and melt,
known as the softening–melting zone.
–Area where there is only coke and liquid iron
and slag, called the “active coke” or dripping
zone.
–The dead man, which is a stable pile of coke
in the hearth of the furnace.
 Example: reduction of pellets or porous material

• Pellet:

Oxide Oxide Oxide Pure Fe

Fe2O3 Fe3O4 FeO Fe

• Porous hematite:

Oxide Pure Fe

Fe2O3 Fe3O4 FeO Fe

Blast furnace
insights….
•Blast furnace is a circular shaft furnace with 30 m high with a max
internal dia of ~10 m. The furnace is a refractory –lined steel shell
and practically all the refractory material is fireclay brick.
•Some furnace linings are made of carbon blocks. The thickness of
refractory brick layer is about 1 m in the bosh and 1-2 m in the
upper part of the shaft.
•Just below the bosh there are 10-16 equally spaced tuyeres along
with circumference though which the pre-heated air (at 1000-1100
0C) enters the furnace at the pressure of 2Kg/cm2

•Bosh: Portion of the furnace between the mantle and the

upper part of the hearth: it is the smelting zone, the
hottest part of the furnace (1900-20000C). As the hot
reducing gas travels upwards, it heats up the solid charges
& participates in various reactions at different zones.
•Hearth (below bosh) where the molten metal and slag
collect. The tap hole near the bottom of the hearth allows
the removal of molten iron and 1.5 m above the hole is the
cinder notch through with the molten slag is withdrawn.
•The top of the furnace is sealed by double bell and hopper
which permits the solid material to be charged without
allowing the furnace gases to escape to the atmosphere.
The charge is dumped from the skip on upper bell, and the
bell is then lowered to permit the charge to drop on the
lower bell: the lower bell is dropped while the upper bell is
closed, so that at least one of the bells is always closed to
prevent escape of the gases. The top off take gas is known
as blast furnace gas, has a considerable fuel value (lot of
CO); the gas is de-dusted and used for pre-heating of air.
Double-bell Top with movable armour Paul Würth Top (Bell-less Top)

Blast furnace
Tops
Coke only: Plug flow Coke/ore layers
 Upward Force by Liquid in Hearth
Resulting upward force:
6.5 ton/m³

Weight of coke:
1.0 ton/m³

Weight of hot metal:

7.5 ton/m³
Internal Gas Flow
• Gas distributed via coke layers

• In melting zone: gas passes

through “coke layers”

• Coke layers have equal pressure

over diameter

• With “ore free center” gas speed in

center can be high  coke can
fluidize

• Gas flow in stable BF  low

cooling losses
Ore and coke are charged in discrete layers at the top of
the furnace. These layers of ore and coke remain until
the temperatures are high enough for softening and
melting of the ore to begin. The quenched blast furnace
shows clearly the layer structure of coke and ore.

Reduction progress:
quenched furnace
The principal reducing agent is the CO in the gas and
equation (1-4) indicates that iron oxide are reduced by CO.
The coke itself has practically no reducing action in the
upper part of the furnace. At high temperature carbon
oxidises carbon (6) and CO2 can not exist over 10000C in
the presence of free carbon; CO therefore can not act as a
reducing agent in the lower part of the furnace, without
being oxidised to CO2.

The sponge iron in the upper part of this furnace absorbs

some carbon and as the iron melts and trickle down over
the incandescent coke it dissolves carbon until it is
practically saturated. In the smelting zone the more
refractory oxides are reduced by hot carbon-SiO2,P2O5 and
MnO2 (7, 9 and 10). (8) some of the S is converted from
FeS to CaS. The reduced elements pass into the iron and
the oxidised elements dissolved in the slag.

Iron contain dissolved carbon, Si, Mn, S and P; the slag

contain CaO,CaS,SiO2,Al2O3,MgO and some MnO in the
form of FeS is soluble in the iron but CaS will dissolve in
the slag). The composition of the pig iron can be regulated
to a certain extent by increasing or decreasing the amount
of fuel and hence a regulating the temperature of the
smelting zone. High temperatures promote the reactions
shown in equation(7-10) and therefore, iron from a “hot”
furnace is comparatively high in Si, Mn and low in sulphur.
All the P in the charge will be reduced and enter the iron
ore; a most of Mn will be reduced, but only a small part of
silica will be reduced to Si.
Among the different zones formed in a blast furnace the
cohesive zone (CZ) is considered as the most
important. This is because the blast furnace process is
Cohesive zone
controlled to a large extent by the properties and the
shape of the cohesive zone. It plays a key role to
achieve stable and efficient blast furnace operation.
The height of the CZ (number of layers), the extent (how
much of each layer that consists of cohesive masses)
and the properties of the cohesive masses
determines the overall gas resistance in the furnace.
This is important for furnace productivity and the
possibility to inject large amounts of auxiliary
reducing agents, like pulverised coal (PC)
The shape of the CZ is also important as it controls the
gas distribution in the blast furnace and the flow of
materials in the shaft. There are a number of factors
that controls the cohesive zone properties.
- Properties of the ferrous burden, mainly
softening/melting properties and reduction behaviour
- Burden distribution control - “History” of the
process, disturbance in the gas distribution caused by
scabs or channels that affects burden permeability -
State of dead man - Raceway conditions. - Reducing
gas composition, temperature and volume - Injection
of auxiliary reducing agents like PC, oil or natural gas
It is shown that the softening/melting zone is located in an area where temperatures are between 1100 and 1450 °C. The
temperature differences in the furnace are large. In the example the temperature gradients are bigger in the horizontal
direction than in the vertical direction,

Temperature profile in blast furnace