Ironmaking and Steelmaking

(MM 439)

UG-level Core Course

Part A: Ironmaking
 IRONMAKING

Section #2

●
Outline of the ironmaking blast furnace
●
Raw material addition techniques
●
Fluid flow inside the blast furnace
●
Steps in reduction of iron oxide and metallic Fe output
●
Reactions in the raceway
●
Thermal and chemical features inside the blast furnace
●
Raw material charging systems
 What is Blast Furnace?

●
A reactor for smelting-reduction of iron oxides
 Produces liquid iron + dissolved solutes (C, Si, Mn, S, P, etc.)

●
Vertical-axis, counter-current reactor
 Solid input from top**, gas injection from bottom
 Upward movement of gases, downward motion of solids (and liquids)

●
Liquid iron (a.k.a. hot metal) tapped near the bottom of the furnace
 Hot metal = molten iron (product of reduction) + dissolved solutes
 Close to saturation with carbon

●
Unreduced oxides + added flux forms slag and exits along with hot metal
 Recycling / alternate use of blast furnace slag

●
Gaseous products exit from the top
 Recovery of sensible heat for steam/power generation, etc.
 Calorific value; used as fuel gas
Overall view of the blast furnace

Source: MSTS, 11th Edition (1998)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 7
Key geometric features of a blast furnace

Throat (cylindrical)
Solid material charging

Stack / shaft
(frustum of a cone, downward expanding)
Gas-solid (counter-current) interaction
Stage-wise reduction of iron oxides
Thermal and Chemical Reserve Zones

Belly / Parallel Bosh (cylindrical)

Fusion of solids, liquids dripping

Bosh (frustum of a cone, upward expanding)

Meltdown of iron produced, shower of metal and
Tuyere slag droplets; intense heat transfer

Tap hole
Hearth (cylindrical)
Reservoir of molten metal and slag, plus solid coke,
C dissolution
 Inside a blast furnace

Material layers inside a blast furnace

Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979)

 Inside a blast furnace
Solid inputs:
Material layers inside a blast furnace Iron ore; raw + prepared
(metallics)
Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979) Coke
Flux

Role of coke
Why is coke required in
the blast furnace?

Inputs through tuyere:

Preheated air
Oxygen, Steam
Pulverised coal
Other fuel
 Inside a blast furnace
Solid inputs:
Material layers inside a blast furnace Iron ore; raw + prepared
(metallics)
Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979) Coke
Flux

Alternate layers of iron

oxide and coke

Melting of oxides and Fe

Flooding of pores

Combustion of coke
Inputs through tuyere:
2 C (s) + O2 (g) = 2 CO (g)
Preheated air
Oxygen, Steam
Pulverised coal
MM 439: Iron and Steel Making Other fuel
 Inside a blast furnace

Estimated gas temperature inside a blast furnace

Stock-line
Source: Nakamura (1978) and Peacy & Davenport (1979)

Blast furnace centre-line is

typically hotter than its periphery

Why?

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 Inside a blast furnace

Stock-line

Moore (1990)

Blast furnace centre-line is

hotter than its periphery

Nakamura (1978) MM 439: Iron and Steel Making Peacy & Davenport (1979)
Shape of isotherm inside a blast furnace

V-shape
Unstable operation

Horizontal / flat
Mostly theoretical possibility
Difficult to maintain in practice

W-shape
Deliberately crafted
Reduces sticking along the walls
Requires careful distribution of burden

Bell (inverted V)-shape

Most common proifile
Simple to maintain
 Blast Furnace – a few images

Blast preheating
stoves

Gas collector
(downcomer)

Blast furnace Tuyere

shell

Blast furnace

Image source: Tata Steel, Kalinganagar (India) and Port Talbot (UK)
 Blast Furnace – a few images

Tapping of hot metal into torpedo ladle Transporting a torpedo ladle

Source: MSTS, 11th Ed. (1998)

Pouring out hot metal from torpedo ladle

 IRONMAKING

Section #2

●
Outline of the ironmaking blast furnace
●
Raw material addition techniques
●
Fluid flow inside the blast furnace
●
Steps in reduction of iron oxide and metallic Fe output
●
Reactions in the raceway
●
Thermal and chemical features inside the blast furnace
●
Raw material charging systems
 A closer look at the raceway

Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making
 A closer look at the raceway

Combustion
of falling
and flying
particles

Preheated air
(O2, H2O)
C + O2  CO/CO2

Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 A closer look at the raceway

Combustion
of falling Coke consumed faster
and flying
particles

Preheated air
(O2, H2O)
C + O2  CO/CO2
C + H2O  CO + H2
Auxilliary fuel

Coke consumed slowly

Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 Gas composition ahead of a tuyere

 Hot O2 enters the BF and starts

reaction with C
 Regions immediately ahead of
tuyere exit contain excess O2

 C is first oxidised to form CO2

C (s) + O2 (g) = CO2 (g)

 CO2 then reacts with hot coke

CO2 (g) + C (s) = 2 CO (g)

 CO2 is gradually replaced by CO

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 27

 Gas composition ahead of a tuyere

 Hot O2 enters the BF and starts

reaction with C
 Regions immediately ahead of
tuyere exit contain excess O2

 C is first oxidised to form CO2

C (s) + O2 (g) = CO2 (g)

 CO2 then reacts with hot coke

CO2 (g) + C (s) = 2 CO (g)

 CO2 is gradually replaced by CO

 Gases leaving the raceway

contain practically no CO2

 Relative proportion of N2
decreases due to molar dilution
Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979)
(1 mol. O2 º 2 mol. CO)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 CO/CO2 equilibrium in Blast Furnace

Continuous interaction between C, CO and CO2, throughout the

entire height of the blast furnace

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 CO/CO2 equilibrium in Blast Furnace

 CO/CO2 ratio varies with height

inside the BF
 Remains practically constant over
a range of height Thermal
Chemical Reserve
 Reserve
Apparent stability of wustite over zone
zone?
a range of CO/CO2 ratio

 Dynamic equilibrium between CO

consumption for reduction and its
generation through Boudouard
Reaction
 Apparently constant gas
composition matches fairly well
with thermal reserve zone

Source: Peacy & Davenport (1979)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 CO/CO2 equilibrium in Blast Furnace

 CO/CO2 ratio varies with height

inside the BF
 Remains practically constant over
a range of height
 Apparent stability of wustite over
a range of CO/CO2 ratio Chemical
Reserve
 Dynamic equilibrium between CO zone

consumption for reduction and its

generation through Boudouard
Reaction
 Apparently constant gas
composition matches fairly well
with thermal reserve zone
Tuyere level

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making

 Thermal profile in Blast Furnace

 Temperature profile inside the

blast furnace appears similar (in
shape) to the CO concentration
Gas
profile S/L

Height above tuyere level

 Remains practically constant over
a range of height
 Apparently constant gas Thermal
Reserve
composition matches fairly well zone
with thermal reserve zone
 Thermal balance between
endothermic and exothermic
reactions, as well as heat transfer
between gas and solids 0
?

Gas temperature profile starts from Temperature

tuyere level upward

Why?
MM 439: Iron and Steel Making
 Thermal profile in Blast Furnace

 Temperature profile inside the

blast furnace appears similar (in
shape) to the CO concentration
profile
 Remains practically constant over
a range of height
 Apparently constant gas
composition matches fairly well
with thermal reserve zone
 Thermal balance between
endothermic and exothermic
reactions, as well as heat transfer
between gas and solids

Source: Matsuzaki et al. (1979): Nippon Steel Technical Report

 Thermal profile in Blast Furnace

100% Fe2O3 Surplus CO, after

reduction of Fe2O3

Generated CO yet to be utilised

for iron oxide reduction

100% Fe

Thermal reserve zone

Chemical reserve zone

Source: Matsuzaki et al. (1979): Nippon Steel Technical Report

Thermal and chemical profiles in blast furnace

Are the theoretical predictions really true?

●
Has anyone measured the temperatures and compositions (of gas as
well as of the metallics being reduced) inside a blast furnace?
 Thermal and chemical profiles in blast furnace

Yes!!!

●
Temperature and composition
of gas measured at multiple
locations using probes
●
Samples of iron oxide (and
other solids) collected after
dismantling furnaces
●
Quenching of furnace before
dissection and sample
collection

Ref: Matsuzaki et al.: Nippon Steel Technical Report (2006)

Layering of materials inside a blast furnace

Ref: Blast Furnace Phenomena and Modelling, Report of ISIJ

Committee on Reaction within Blast Furnace (1987)
 Layering of materials inside a blast furnace

●
Samples collected from inside blast furnaces quenched at
the end of service life
●
Different blast furnaces have variations in reduction
profile
●
However, overall trend remains similar

Ref: Blast Furnace Phenomena and Modelling, Report of ISIJ

Committee on Reaction within Blast Furnace (1987)
 Suggested references
●
Alternative Routes to Iron Making; Arabinda Sarangi and Bidyapati Sarangi, 2 nd Ed., PHI
Learning (2015)

●
Alternate Methods of Iron Making; Sujay Kumar Dutta and Rameshwar Sah, S. Chand
Publishers (2011)

●
R. H. Tupkary: Introduction to modern Iron Making, Khanna Publishers (2004)

●
A. K. Biswas: Principles of Blast Furnace Ironmaking, Cootha Publishing House.
(Indian edition by Shankar Book Agency, 2005)

●
A. Ghosh and A. Chatterjee: Ironmaking and Steelmaking: Theory and Practice, Prentice
Hall India (2008)

●
D. Mazumdar: A First Course in Iron and Steelmaking, Orient Blackswan (2015)
 IRONMAKING

Section #2

●
Outline of the ironmaking blast furnace
●
Raw material addition techniques
●
Fluid flow inside the blast furnace
●
Steps in reduction of iron oxide and metallic Fe output
●
Reactions in the raceway
●
Thermal and chemical features inside the blast furnace
●
Raw material charging systems
 Raw material charging system

●
What is “charging system” for raw materials in a blast furnace?

●
Device(s) for addition of solid raw materials from top

●
Need to maintain the layered structure (permeability of bed)

●
Adjust radial distribution of different solids, at any height

●
Also known as “burden” charging system
 Burden charging systems in blast furnace

 Two-bell system, including its variants

earliest (and longest-running) system

 Movable Throat Armour (MTA)

also known as Variable Throat Armour (VTA)

Source: Naito et al. (2015)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 47

 Burden charging systems in blast furnace

 Two-bell system, including its variants

Points to ponder
earliest (and longest-running) system
●
Need for a burden charging system?
 Movable Throat Armour (MTA)
●
Why is the BF top not left open?
also known as Variable Throat Armour (VTA)
●
Main function(s) of the charging system?

Source: Naito et al. (2015)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 48

 Burden charging systems in blast furnace

Longitudinal section of a blast furnace

with multiple Bell charging system

Erstwhile Fukuyama no. 5 of JFE (NKK)

Daily production: 9900 tonnes

Sealing the furnace top

(prevent release of CO and dust)

Distribution of raw materials across

the furnace cross-section

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 49

 Burden charging systems in blast furnace

 Two-bell system, including its variants

earliest (and longest-running) system

 Movable Throat Armour (MTA)

also known as Variable Throat Armour (VTA)

 Bell-less top (BLT)

 Compact Bell-less top (CBLT)

modification of BLT

Schematic of a Compact Bell-less Top

charging system for blast furnace

Source: Nag et al. (2004)

F-BF of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 50

Burden charging systems in blast furnace

Schematic of bell-less (BLT) charging systems

Source: Naito et al. (2015)

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 51

Schematic of a Bell-less top
charging system for blast
furnace

Source: MSTS

Discharging
from this bin Filling this bin

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 52

Schematic of a Bell-less top
charging system for blast
furnace

Source: MSTS

Advantage(s) of bell-less
charging systems over multi-bell
and bell + MTA charging?

MM 439: Iron and Steel Making 53

 Blast furnace tuyere and injection lance

●
Tuyere is made of high purity Cu
(plus small amount of Cr, Ag, etc., to optimise thermal conductivity and creep resistance )
●
Tuyere is provides with water-jacket for cooling
●
Auxilliary fuels (pulverised coal, natural gas, coal tar, etc.) are injected through a
separate lance but never mixed with the preheated air upstream

Source: MSTS
 Blast furnace trivia

Copper smelting blast furnace of ~1850

Ref.: Peters (1907)

 Bibliography

●
Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel (11 th Edition) – Ironmaking Volume, AISE Steel
Foundation, 1998.
●
E. D. Peters: The Principles of Copper Smelting, Hill Publishing Co., 1907.
●
S. Nag, V. M. Koranne, T. Bhattacharya, U. Singh and S. Basu: “Mathematical simulation of
material trajectory for compact bell-less top of ‘F’ blast furnace”, Tata Search, 2004, pp. 84-90.
●
M. Naito, K. Takeda and Y. Matsui: “Ironmaking technology for the last 100 years: Deployment
to advanced technologies from introduction of technological know-how, and evolution to next-
generation Process”, ISIJ International, vol. 55 (1), 2015, pp. 7-35.
●
Blast Furnace Phenomena and Modelling, Report of ISIJ Committee on ‘Reaction within Blast
Furnace’, Elsevier Applied Science, 1987.
●
S. Matsuzaki, A. Shinotake, M. Naito, T. Nishimura, K. Kunitomo and T. Sugiyama:
“Development of mathematical model of blast furnace”, Nippon Steel Technical Report, No. 94,
2006.
●
J. G. Peacey and W. G. Davenport: “The Iron Blast Furnace. Theory and Practice”, Pergamon
Press, 1979.