Raw mat and prod 3_ hot metal_gases Lec-6

Introduction
 Hot metal quality varies from country to country, plant to plant depending on
the raw materials used

Composition of hot metal

 Since the composition of hot metal produced in blast furnace depends primarily on the
characteristics of the raw materials used, it is necessary to have a close look at the
chemistry as well as others features of raw materials.
Overall output and input considerations

To a large extent Si, Mn, P and S content in hot metals are influenced by the amount of input
of these elements in the blast furnace:
 60% silica from oxide feed and 40% from coke ash
 Around 60% of the Mn can come through BOF slag if it is used part of the sinter feed
or any Mn ore fines
 90% S come from coke and the remaining 10% or less come from oxide feed
 65-70% P come from oxide feed and the remainder from coke

In terms of the output of these elements from any blast furnace, the following is to be noted:
 Over 85% of the total silica input gets transferred into slag. The balance is reduced to
Si and reports to hot metal.
 Over 90% of S can be removed along with slag if its chemistry and volume are
suitably adjusted, the remainder goes into hot metal. However, when the objectives
of the BF operation is to increase the productivity with low slag, 60% S goes into hot
metal
 About 90% of Mn input finds its way into hot metal
 All the P input into a blast furnace ends up in hot metal
Silicon control
Silica comes in BF from coke ash an ore gangue
 In India 70% of silica input from coke ash.
 The top pressure of BF in India is not high enough to reduce the Si in hot metal, rather
produce high Si content hot metal
 By considering the raw materials Indian furnace cannot produce low Si content hot metal

Sulphur content
Sulphur enters in BF through coke ash, thus higher coke consumption result in higher S inputs
Desulphurization inside the BF can be effected in three ways
i. By increasing the slag
ii. By having higher basicity
iii. By raising the hearth temperature

 The more is the slag volume, the higher is the basicity and higher is the hearth
temperature the better will be the desulphurization of metal inside the BF
 These require additional heat and which demands an increased coke rate which in effect
adds to the sulphur load in the furnace
 It is difficult to maintain hot metal S content by controlling the charge composition
 External desulphurization is done during steelmaking
Phosphorous content of hot metal
 The P content in hot metal of India is as high as 2.00 to 2.50% come from basically high P
content iron ore
 The P in BF cannot be controlled, because P is directly consumed by hot metal
 P is removed during steel production by applying dephosphorisation techniques

Handling hot metal and slag

Tapping of hot metal and slag
 Hot metal is removed by opening the tap hole (iron notch) which is a peripheral opening in
the upper part of the hearth
 Tap hole is normally kept in the closed condition using a fireclay mix to block it.
 A hole is pierced through the patched before tapping (every 2-3 hours)
 Once tapping is completed, the hole is again closed by the refractory mix using electric gun

 The slag is removed periodically through a similar tap hole located at a level slightly higher
than the iron notch
 Slag volume is relatively high and usually two slag taps for each iron tapping is carried out
 Slag hole is made by fixing a water-cooled Cu ring on the furnace shell (Monkey)
 The life of monkey varies from a few days to a month
 Hot metal and slag tapped are collected in separate ladles
 Some amount of slag always flows out through the iron notch
 A system of gates is provided in the slag/metal runner to arrest the slag

Transportation of hot metal

 Hot metal is collected in open ladle (60-80 tonnes) or Torpedo ladles (150-300 tonnes)

 Because of large thermal mass and small opening at the top, the loss of heat from
Torpedo ladles during transit is fairly small

 200 tonnes Torpedo can easily transfer 3,00,000 tonnes hot metal before relining
Blast furnace slag and its utilisation

 A typical analysis (%) of blast furnace slag is given below:

CaO: 40-45%; SiO2: 35-40; MgO: 5-12%; Al2O3: 12-20%; FeO: 1-2%

 Slag composition varies due to the variation of burden materials

 Molten BF slags( over 13000C) are cooled rapidly (quenching) to form glassy phase and this
slag is used as additives to clinker in cement production

Slag characteristics
 For smooth operation of BF the basicity CaO/SiO2 or (CaO+MgO)/SiO2 of slag should be
maintained 1.2 or 1.4 respectively and the alumina content should not exceed 18% and less
12%

 High alumina slags have high viscosity, which hampers desulphurisation. MgO is added to
reduce the slag viscosity, but increases the slag volume, thereby decrease the furnace
productivity and increase the coke rate.

 Alumina combines with flux and other constituents form two minerals in BF slag – gehlinite
(2CaO.Al2O3.SiO2-basicity 1.9) or anorthite (CaO.Al2O3.2SiO2-basicity 0.5)
 MgO forms two minerals –akermanite (2CaO.MgO.2SiO2) found in low alumina containing
slag and monticellite (CaO.MgO.SiO2) .

 Acceptable viscosity of BF slag are obtained with either 5-10% MgO for slag containing up
to 20% alumina

Uses of BF slag

 Air cooled slag (crushed and screened) used as filler between rail-road sleepers, as a
constituent of Portland cement, mineral wool, glass sand, ceramic-ware etc.

 Water cooled glassy slag is used as additive of cement due to its hydrophilic property.
Even 50-55% slag is used if it has appropriate properties

 Expanded or lightweight slag is foamed product obtained when molten slag is expanded by
using controlled quantities of water and air or steam for cooling. These slags can be used
for making floor tiles, bricks, curtain walls, building blocks, etc.
Blast furnace gases and its utilization

 The gas with dust that exit from the top of any BF contains some amount of CO. The dust
referred to as flue dust contains basically iron oxide and carbon

 The exit cleaned BF gas is used as fuel in the downstream and upstream facilities of any
steel plant.

 BF gas can be mixed with richer coke oven gas and can be used in-plant power generation
Cleaning of BF gas
 A BF produces gases between 1500 to 1700 Nm3/per ton hot metal and the calorific value
3500-4000 kJ/Nm3
 This energy is about one-third of the total energy input into any blast furnace
 BF gas contains 40-50 kg/thm solids when it exits from the BF with 150-2000C. Thus cleaning
of BF gases is mandatory
 BF gas cleaning system are two types:
o wet-type
o dry-type
Wet-type gas cleaning is common
 Dust catcher: reduce dust 4-6 g/Nm3 out of 20-25 g/Nm3
 Can be used in sinter plant

 Typical composition of BF dust is

Total Fe: 30-32
Silica: 6-7
Alumina: 2-3
Lime: 2.5-3
Sulphur: traces
Remainder: Carbon

 Wet Scrubber (Venturi) are employed to remove fine dust particles using high pressure
water jet
 The dust reduce to 5 mg/Nm3 from 4-6 g/Nm3 , however the gas is saturated with water.
Thus require to use demister to bring water content down to 5 g/Nm3
Dry-type gas cleaning
 Bag filter or electrostatic precipitators are used
 Dust that is removed almost water free
 Heat does not decrease as the wet-type
 High top pressure to be directly couples with gas turbines
 In a such situation, the enthalpy of the BF gas as well as high pressure enhances
power generation by almost 40%