AISTech 2019 — Proceedings of the Iron & Steel Technology Conference

6–9 May 2019, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA

DOI 10.1000.377.034

The Evolution of Blast Furnace Gas Cleaning Technologies

Robert Mawer1, Robert Horwood2

Primetals Technologies
7 Fudan way, Stockton, Teesside, TS176ER, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0) 7468 477 563
Email: Robert.mawer@Primetals.com

Primetals Technologies
7 Fudan way, Stockton, Teesside, TS176ER, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0) 7468 477 503
Email: Robert.Horwood@Primetals.com

Keywords: Annular Gap Scrubber, Davy Cone, Tri-Ax Cyclone, MERIM

INTRODUCTION
This paper charts the history of gas cleaning systems for blast furnaces leading to the latest annular gap scrubbers and then
moving onto the newer more novel developed solutions for gas cleaning. The primary focus will be around the development
of the “Davy Cone” which was developed in the 1980s and its staged progression to todays modern day solution. The paper
will then discuss the problems experienced and how issues caused by acid gases were resolved. Newer technologies to the
market place will then be explored focusing primarily on the newly installed Tri-Ax cyclone and MERIM dry cleaning
solution along with some of the advantages that these technologies offer.

DISCUSSION

BF Gas Cleaning: a brief history

Pre 1970 and early 70’s the blast furnace gas cleaning system typically consisted of a gravity dustcatcher combined with a
secondary gas cleaning / gas cooling device. A historical review of such secondary gas cleaning systems typically showed
three stages of cleaning and control: The first stage consisted of either of a spray tower and centrifugal separator, or
alternatively venturi washers with a water separator, basically conditioning the gas. The second stage of the process was
typically a wet electrostatic precipitator. Finally furnace pressure control was generally achieved by using a septum valves or
low pressure venturi.
Attempts to bring all these stages together resulted in new types of “gas scrubbers”, utilising pressure reduction to clean the
gas. An early concept was based on a low-pressure venturi and as furnace top pressures increased the high pressure venturi
was developed.
During the 1970s Davy was developing the single-venturi gas scrubber, which was deemed as a simpler yet very reliable
version suitable for small and mid-sized furances. The triple-venturi scrubber would be retained for larger furnaces. The
design remit was to provide final cleaning of the blast furnace gas prior to its use as a fuel gas in the hot blast stoves, and to
provide accurate pressure control of the furnace top pressure. Because of the venturi size along with the potential problems
with casting quality and reaction to thermal shock, the fixed and moving cones were fabricated constructions, initially
manufactured using carbon steel. From the first unit, commissioned in 1981, three variations of single-cone gas scrubber
were developed over the next 2 decades.
The venturi “cone” assembly was seen as a significant improvement that offered an accurate top pressure pressure control
with the advantage of low noise levels compared to the conventional pressure control methods at the time i.e. Septum Valves.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 339

These main scrubber arrangements are illustrated below and demonstrate the improvements of the vessel over time:

Spray Tower

Demister

Scrubber
Vessel
Dustcatcher

Figure 1:- Dustcatcher followed by a single-cone scrubber with a separate pre-wash tower, and an external demister installed
horizontally into the clean gas main.
The technology shown in figure 1 was a common solution for much of the 80’s, as at this time many existing spray towers
were available for conversion into a wash tower. A new vessel was required for only the venturi scrubber. This helped keep
capital expenditure down while achieving the technical benefits offered by an annular gap scrubber.

Dustcatcher

Spray Tower

Demister

Scrubber
Vessel

Figure 2:- Dustcatcher followed by a single-cone venturi scrubber (wash tower and venturi in same vessel). The demister
continued to be installed in the clean gas main
In 1988 the primary focus of discussions between the designers and operation teams was on design optimisation and how to
reduce the footprint of the gas cleaning plant. By this time conditioning tower operating constraints and challenges were well

340 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

understood and there was a drive from operators for a more economical solution for new furnaces that were operating at
higher top pressures.

Dustcatcher
Spray Tower

Internal
Demister

Scrubber
Vessel

Figure 3:- Dustcatcher followed by a single-cone venturi scrubber (wash tower, venturi and demister in same vessel)
These new arrangements, as shown in figure 3, were first installed in the early 90’s. They closely resemble the current design
of wet scrubbing unit. The above configuration was driven by the demand from plant operators to further reduce capital cost
of gas cleaning plants while also achieving a minimised plant footprint. This basically removed the centrifugal type external
demisting unit and moved it into a packed bed demister located inside the scrubber vessel.
As mentioned the physical appearance of the figure 3 gas cleaning plant resembles the modern day gas cleaning plant,
however, it should be noted that it was not a straight forward development and a number of operational challenges were
resolved over the last 40 years to make the ‘Davy Cone’ the successful solution that can be seen operating worldwide in
numerous plant locations.

OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES FACED AND SOLUTIONS IMPLEMENTED.

Three main issues associated around operating with an annular gap scrubber are detailed below along with the experiences
and solutions:

Challenge 1: Cone Wear

In the earlier days of operation the cone was made of carbon steel and would experience high levels of wear which were
manageable for the campaign lives at that time – cone wear could be typically 0.6mm per year and a cone thickness of 20mm
would last the life of the furnace.
As time progressed and furnace operational trends became more focused on coke reduction methodologies, high levels of
Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) were introduced to the blast furnace. The injected coal increased the sulphur and chlorides
content in the furnace top gas. These components created weak acids in the scrubber vessel and at this time cone wear (via
corrosion) was observed to increase to about 4mm per year. Solutions such as hard-faced cones, steel wear liners and ceramic
tiles were all trialled but found to be inadequate long term solutions, although some improvement was seen. This led to the
question could another more suitable material be used?

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 341

The final solution for cone erosion / acid attack that was developed on the 80’s and which is still used to this day was to
replace the fabricated carbon steel design with a duplex stainless steel fabrication that is used for both the male and female
cones. Duplex stainless steel is known for its very high resistance to both erosion and corrosion and especially for its ability
to withstand chloride attack and stress-corrosion cracking. Once this solution was implemented cone wear reduced to under
0.1 mm/year, and the solution has been repeated on a very large number of furnaces.

Figure 4:- Wear Rate of Davy cone under different operational scenarios.
A secondary problem that could cause wear in the cone region was erosion from dust particulate. It was observed that this
was witnessed in the event that uneven water flow occurred across the face of the cone, or if significant particulate was found
in the spray water. As time went on better control systems became available and allowed the flow to the spays to be
controlled to tighter tolerances hence maintaining a full even coverage of the cones. In addition water quality was managed
better and this helped produce the “two-campaign” lives seen on the ‘Davy Cone’ today.

Challenge 2: Acid attack of the scrubber vessel

The acid attack issues also affected other areas of the vessel in particular around the lower sections of the spray tower and
water sump, and also the internal platforming.
Similar protection methodologies which had been utilised around the cone were adopted and wear plates were installed on the
spray arms and stainless steel was used for the sprays and internal platforming. In addition to these methods, how to protect
the scrubber shell from acid was explored. The most viable option was found to be acid resistant paint, which was found to
work very well in almost all situations except high temperatures i.e. greater than 200oC. This scenario arises primarily when a
water system fails combined with a high temperature excursion on the furnace.
Since all operators have slightly different experiences and preferences this aspect of scrubber technology has been in a
permanent level of flux. Some operators prefer to install paint and have back up water systems to cool the gas whilst others
are prepared not to install acid resistant paints but manage the analysis of the water systems and the coal quality put into the
furnace. Other operators have had success with a refractory lining in front of the paint, but with a risk of pieces of refractory
breaking and entering/lodging in the cone assembly. For this latter reason designers will tend to offer a painted system with a
backup water system.

Challenge 3: Cone Vibration

On the early scrubber units, the angles of fixed and moving cones were parallel. This meant that the area for gas flow was
constantly diverging. In conjunction with a high pressure drop across the cone this led to vibration of the cone support shaft.
This constant vibration then led to fatigue of the shaft and cracking to occur at the join of the shaft to the cone.
Investigations took place around the design of the cone and it revealed that sonic velocities were being generated at the inlet
of the cone and these were then transferring as shock waves between the male and female cones. This was transferring
through to the shaft and causing failure at the weakest point.
The problem was resolved by using a continuously diverging annular area between the two cones which created a stable
region of gas flow and dissipated any shock waves generated in the void below. A robust shaft design was also specially
developed using machined castings.

342 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

 THE MODERN DAY SCRUBBER
Smaller footprints still demanded
The main development from the figure 2 gas cleaning plant to the figure 3 gas cleaning plant was primarily driven by the
requirement to reduce the footprint and reduce CAPEX. As described an internal demister configuration that could fit inside
the annular gap scrubber was found. This removed the need to have an external demister at all and kept all units within the
compact design. Again this was initially implemented in the single cone design then also brought forward into the triple-cone
design.
The plastic random packing displayed below (figure 5) became the “packing of choice”, although only after solutions to
retain the packing within the scrubber (rather than to be carried out in the gas stream) were developed! Today the main
discussion point that is had with operators is whether to use metallic or plastic elements. Plastic elements are generally easier
to remove and install due to their light weight, additionally they are more self-cleaning and offer superior acid resistance,
however there can be difficulties if they are exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time. For some operators this
fear is enough that they will change to a metallic type packing.
In addition to the above advantages another benefit of the internal demister was that it was not susceptible to low gas
velocities like the external swirl type demisters, and allowed effective moisture removal at all operating conditions. This
advantage was particularly observed as furnace top pressures increased and wider operating windows of blast furnace became
possible.
As Primetals Technologies look to develop their gas cleaning solutions further, the latest developments in 3d printing are
allowing novel design techniques of packing configurations and this is currently a focus of R&D efforts.

Figure 5 :- Example of the arrangement of an internal demister.

Of course, for those operators who remain comfortable with a centrifugal demister, these solutions are also available.

Single Cone or Triple Cone?

Especially for larger blast furnaces, it is popular to utilise triple-cone configurations, to provide redundancy in terms of
equipment failure. This does increase the capital cost of the unit but it does offer a level of automation protection as one
venturi can be held in a semi-open position whilst the other two venturis control the furnace pressure. In the event there is
any issue with one cone then the scrubber can still perform at the designed duty, without blowing the bleeder valves. It must
be remembered though that a dirty hydraulic system will stop the entire system whether you have a single venturi or three!

CONE DESIGN REACHING ITS LIMITS

Throughout this paper it can be seen that over the last 40 years the annular gap scrubbers have been refined almost to the
limit of their development. This has meant designers are now turning to newer ways of improving the gas cleaning of the

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 343

furnace off gas. Some of these methologies look at optimising existing technologies and developing them for the top gas
where as other technologies are considered completely innovative. This section of the paper will now consider two areas that
are being focused upon:

1. Tri-Axial Cyclone – Why not a single “conventional” Cyclone?

Despite its simplicity, the relatively low dust-removal efficiency of a dustcatcher results in the production of a large amout of
wet slurry which must be treated, prior to recycling the valuable ferrous/carbonaceous materials or separating out the heavy
metals.
A cyclone can in no way be deemed as a new technology and is commonly used now in many domestic as well as industrial
applications. Traditionally cyclones are single entry vessels, however, when applying this to furnace top gas system there are
some inherent challenges that need to be solved.
A single entry tangential cyclone requires a large sweeping inlet downcomer duct and therefor has a relatively large layout
footprint, and therefore cost. The single entry arrangement is generally only possible for greenfield sites and is an expensive
solution for a brownfield retrofit because of layout restrictions.
The double-entry cyclone requires additional height and also includes wear-parts (vanes) to generate the gas swirl.
The triple axial entry cyclone is unique, as the downcomer is not swept to give a horizontal tangential entry into the cyclone,
but is positioned vertically onto the cyclone centre allowing the three inlet ducts free space for isolation. The downcomer
load is taken directly onto the cyclone.
With this load-bearing design the outer inlet ducts are able to incorporate goggle valves to allow positive isolation from the
blast furnace. In the development of the triple inlet axial cyclone the inlet ductwork was CFD modelled and compared with
the single inlet tangential cyclone. Examination of the results showed that the triple inlet gas flows were more symmetrical
with less flow impingement on the walls, so reducing refractory wear.
A particular operational benefit of the triple inlet is that no internal vanes are required to generate the cyclonic flow. This
eliminates the possibility of dust build up and wear on an item which is critical to the double-entry cyclone.
The triple inlet cyclone can also be fitted with a bypass de-rating mechanism to optimise the zinc loading in the collected dry
dust.

Figure 6:- CFD modelling of the triple inlet based on actual operational data captured. High velocity ‘wear points’ can be
identified and counter measures taken.

2. MERIM – Maximised Emission Reduction and Energy recovery in Ironmaking

Stricter environmental regulations, especially in developed countries, are meaning that the iron making process and operators
are facing increased challenges to reduce environmental emissions.

344 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

This means plant designers are looking for innovative solutions that meet the above regulations while achieving the
economical market requirements. One way in which Primetals Technologies is meeting this challenge is with the MERIM.

Figure 7:- 3D Model of the MERIM on the Blast Furnace.

The MERIM gas cleaning process is a dry gas cleaning process that comprises two important steps, the coarse cleaning in a
cyclone and the fine cleaning in a bag filter system.
The highly efficient coarse cleaning takes place in the cyclone where typically a minimum of 85% of the dust is removed.
This generated dust can be easily recycled.
Fine cleaning is carried out in the high pressure bag filter system. The fine-dust laden gas enters a number of pressure
resistant filter vessels. Inside this system the dust is collected on high performing filter media which allow a dust
concentration in the clean gas of less than 5 mg/Nm³. The removed dust is collected on the bottom of the filter and transported
via pneumatic conveying into a storage silo system. This high pressure filter operation is based on the successful
development of the use of bag filters in other parts of the iron and steel flowsheet and is a logical step forward.
The clean top gas from the filter vessels is collected and directed into a top gas recovery turbine (TRT), where the high
energy content of the gas (both pressure and temperature) is converted into electricity. As a lower pressure drop is required
for cleaning purposes (the pressure drop across the bags is less than the pressure drop required by a wet annular gap
scrubber), then there is more pressure energy available to the TRT. Furthermore, the gas at the TRT is hotter since there is
less temperature loss in the filter compared to the wet scrubber and as a result more electrical energy can be realized.
Beside the benefits, restrictions also need to be considered. Handling of the varying top gas temperatures is a major
challenge, because filter bags only work properly in a temperature window of 80°C up to 250°C. Primetals Technologies has
developed a top gas conditioning concept which moderates the temperature of top gas being fed to the gas cleaning system to
maintain this required window.
This temperature moderation concept comprises a top gas heater and an advanced burden spray system.
Top gas heater:
• Prevents condensation at the filter cloth and avoids clogging
• Provides corrosion protection of gas ducts and gas cleaning equipment
• Achieves an optimized temperature distribution in the top gas
The Top gas heater can be operated either with natural gas or with coke oven gas, although natural gas is the preferred
heating medium and has the following advantages:
• Volumetric consumption figures for coke oven gas are higher due to the lower calorific value
• Lower investment costs for burner (no compressor needed)
• Lower maintenance effort and easier for operation
• No trace heating and steam for cleaning required

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 345

 Advanced burden spray:
• Fast temperature control due to fine water droplet distribution
• Protects gas ducts and gas cleaning equipment against high temperature impact during slips
• Less water required compared to common burden sprays
• No wetting of the burden due to fast and effective evaporation of the water droplets

CONCLUSIONS
The paper describes how gas cleaning systems have developed around the world over the last 40 years. Many improvements
to the system have resulted in simple robust gas cleaning systems which are particular suitable for the modern furnace
operating at high top pressures and with high rates of PCI.
Acid attack is still the main challenge associated with scrubbing the furnace top gas but with the methods adopted above it is
considered to be a managed challenge. Technologies in the coating industry continue to develop and Primetals Technologies
are closely working with experts in the field to offer further protection of the paint at higher temperatures.
The Tri-Ax cyclone reduces the dust loading on the ‘Davy Cone’ further and reduces the dust loading on the system and
offers significant advantages to the sludge handling stage in the effluent treatment plant. It also allows more product to be
recycled at lower cost.
A key element in assessing the correct solution for each plant is to be able to understand the history of blast furnace gas
cleaning!

REFERENCES
1. David Buckley, David Osborne., Blast Furnace Gas Cleaning – the VAI-Davy Approach, 2002.
2. S.J. Hollins, D Mason., Blast Furnace Cyclone Development at Primetals Technologies, 2015 AIST
3. M Smith., Blast Furnace Ironmaking - A View on Future Developments, 2016 GCMM

346 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.