",......

-
7 - The process: burden descent and gas flow control 7 - The process: burden descent and gas flow control

7.7 Blast furnace instrumentation

An overview of blast furnace instrumentation as discussed in various parts of the text

is given in Figure 49.

Profilemeter

Top gas: CO, CO2, H2' temperature (total)

Probes: CO, CO2, H2' temperature (radial)
Burden level

Skin flow temperatures

In-burden probes: CO, CO2, H2' temperature

(retractable and/or fixed probes)
Cooling losses: 6x8 panels in total
Shaft pressure: 2 columns, 6 positions
Blast: volume, pressure, O2, temperature
A - Normal Operation B - Upset: Furnace Hangs! Hearth: refractory, shell, cooling water temperature
Rings of melting ore burden and coke No burden descent.
Slag: composition and flow
slits alternating in cohesive zone.
Iron: temperature, composition and flow

Figure 49: Overview of Blast Furnace instrumentation

7.8 Blast Furnace daily operational control

In this section the blast furnace daily operational control is discussed. The better
the consistency of the blast furnace input, the lower the need for adjustments in the
process. Ideally, a good consistency of the input allows the operator to "wait and
see". The need for daily operational control is a consequence of the variability of the
input and - sometimes- the equipment.

The process must be controlled continuously, which may require changes to be made
on a daily or even shift basis. The changes are aimed towards:
. Correct iron and slag composition. The burden and coke are adjusted to get
the correct chemical composition of the iron and slag. For the latter especially
the basicity of the slag is important because of its effect on hot metal sulphur.
Correct iron and slag composition also implies control of thermal level, since the
hot metal silicon is correlated with the hot metal temperature. So, there are daily
requirements for burden calculations with updated chemical analysis of the burden
C - Cause 0 - Burden Slips
components and actual burden, and frequent adjustments of the thermal level of
Cohesive material forms bridge Voidage collapses, severe disruption
the furnace. Adjusting the coke rate or the auxiliary reductant injection through the
structure. Since process continues, of layer structure. Gas flow impeded
tuyeres can achieve the latter.
voidage is created and increases. and gas jets along furnace wall.
Figure 48: Hanging and slipping: a mechanism of erratic burden descent
. Stable process control. Burden descent (as measured by the stock rods,
Figure 31, or pressure taps, Figure 50), blast furnace productivity and efficiency
are evaluated on the basis of hourly data. Raceway conditions (e.g. flame
temperature) are monitored or calculated. The total process overview gives an
indication whether or not adjustments are required. Pressure taps indicate whether

72 73
 ,...-
7 - The process: burden descent and gas flow control 7 - The process: burden descent and gas flow control

or not "short circuiting" of gas flow along the wall takes place. In stable periods the
layers of coke and ore can be followedwhen passing the pressure taps.
. Gas flow control. The subject of gas flow control is discussed in more detail below.

Figure 50: Pressure taps indicating the stability of the process, 24hr graphs.
The example shows stable (left) and unstable (right) operation, with short-circuiting
of gas flow encircled in red. (Courtesy: Siderar, Argentina)

Measurements and data required for daily gas flow control are shown i(1Figure
52 (next page). The gas flow through the furnace can be monitored with the help
of global top gas composition, top gas composition across the radius, heat losses
at the wall and gas flow along the wall. The latter can be measured with the short Figure 51: Presentation of process data in an operational furnace. The weekly graph gives an
in-burden probes: the probes measure the temperature about three metres below the overview from the stability and development of the process. From top downwards:
burden level up to 50 cm into the burden. If temperatures are low (under 100°G) the Tope - CO utilisation (%), skin flow temperature roC)and top temperature roC);
Flujo T - Total heat loss and sum offields (GJ/hr);
burden is not yet dry and more gas flow in wall area is required to increase the drying
Arrabio - Hot metal temperature roC) and silicon (%);
capacity at the wall. I
Viento - Blast volume (Nm3/min) and top pressure (bar)

If the furnace seems in need of an adjustment of the gas flow, a change to the
burden distribution can be considered. However, a thorough analysis of the actual
situation has to be made. For example, consider the situation whereby high central
temperatures are observed. If these high central temperatures are observed together
with low heat losses and low gas utilisation, then the central gas flow can be
considered to be too high. The appropriate action in this case would be to consider
changes to the burden distribution to decrease the central gas flow. If, on the other
hand, the high central temperatures are combined with a good gas utilisation and
good wall gas flow, then there is no need to change the layers of ore and coke.
The appropriate action in this scenario would be to consider working with lower gas
volume per tonne HM Le. with higher oxygen enrichment.

Note also, that the heat losses are very sensitive to the burden descent. Irregular
burden descent leads to gaps at the wall and high heat losses. So, if a furnace
is showing high heat losses, again, the cause should be investigated in detail
before adjusting burden distribution. For example, if a blast furnace is pushed to its
production limits and burden descent suffers due to the high pressure difference over Figure 52: Example of gas flow control. The radial gas distribution is measured with above
the burden, the solution of the high heat losses is to reduce production level (or gas burden probes, expressed as CO utilisation (7 day graph). The decreasing gas utilisation in the
volume) and not to adjust burden distribution. centre of the furnace (point 1 and 2, yellow and dark green) shows increased central working.

74 75
 ~

Chapter 8
Blast Furnace Productivity
and Efficiency

The production rate of a blast furnace is directly related to the amount of coke used in
front of the tuyeres in a stable situation. This is due to every charge of coke at the top
of the furnace bringing with it an amount of ore burden materials. In a stable situation
the hot metal is produced as soon as the coke is consumed. The productivity of a
blast furnace increases as less reductant is used per tonne hot metal. In the present
chapter the basics behind blast furnace productivity, the chemical reactions and
efficiency are discussed (see also Hartig et ai, 2000).

8.1 The raceway

8.1.1 Production rate

In the raceway hot gas is formed which melts the burden material and is used to
drive the chemical reactions in the furnace. Given a certain amount of coke and
coal used per tonne hot metal, the production rate of a blast furnace is determined
by the amount of oxygen blown through the tuyeres. The more oxygen that is blown
into the furnace, the more coke and coal are consumed and form carbon monoxide
(CO), and the higher the production rate becomes. In addition, the lower the
reductant requirement per tonne of hot metal (tHM), the higher the production rate. A
quantitative example is indicated below. Coke (and coal) are not only gasified in front
of the tuyeres, but are also used for carburisation of iron (hot metal contains 4.5%
C) and for direct reduction reactions (section 8.2). The coke rate is expressed as
standard coke, i.e. coke with a carbon content of 87.5%.

In an operating blast furnace the use of the reductants can be as follows:

Coke rate 300 kg/tHM 300 kg/tHM
Coal injection 200 kg/tHM replacement ratio 0.85 170 kg/tHM
Total (as standard coke) 470 kg/tHM

1.- 77
 r- 8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency
8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency

Total (as standard coke) 470 kg/tHM 8.1.3 Raceway flame temperature
Required for carburisation 50 kg/tHM
Required for direct reduction 100 kg/tHM The flame temperature in the raceway is the temperature that the raceway gas
Gasifies in front of the tuyeres 320 kg/tHM reaches as soon as all carbon, oxygen and water have been converted to CO and H2.
The flame temperature is a theoretical concept, since not all reactions are completed
The 320 kg/tHM standard coke which is used in front of the tuyeres consists of 170 in the raceway. From a theoretical point of view it should be calculated from a heat
kg/tHM coke equivalent injected as coal and so per tonne hot metal, 150 kg coke balance calculation over the raceway. For practical purposes linear formulas have
(320-170 kg) is gasified at the tuyeres. been derived. Flame temperature is normally in the range of 2,000 to 2,300°C and is
Note the issue of efficiency: if the same amount of oxygen is blown into the furnace, influenced by the raceway conditions. The flame temperature increases if:
thus maintaining same blast volume and blast conditions, while the reductant rate is . Hot blast temperature increases.
10 kg/tHM lower, the production rate will increase. At a 10 kg/tHM lower reductant
rate the production will increase by 3% (320/310-100%)! Conversely, if extra coal
. Oxygen percentage in blast increases.

is put on the furnace for thermal control, the production rate will decrease if blast The flame temperature decreases, if:
conditions are maintained. This is a simplified approach. Secondary effects, like . Moisture increases in the blast.
the effect on gas flow throughput, the effect on flame temperature and the oxygen
content of the coal, have been neglected.
. Reductant injection rate increases, since cold reductants are gasified instead of
hot coke. The precise effect depends also on auxiliary reductant composition.

8.1.2 Bosh gas composition Table 21 gives some basic rules with respect to flame temperature effects.

Table 21.. Flame temperature effects, rules of thumb

The heat of the blast and the heat generated by the reactions of coke (an.d coal/
auxiliary reductants) in the raceway are used to melt the burden. The heat available Unit Cl1ange flame temp. Top temp.
I!
(°C) (°C)
to melt the burden depends on the amount of gas produced and on the flame
temperature, known as the "raceway adiabatic flame temperature" (RAFT). Blast 'c + 100 + 65 -15
temp.
The amount and composition of the raceway gas can be calculated using the Coal + 10 30 +9
kglt

--
following reactions that take place in the raceway:
2C+ O2 2CO
H2O + C CO + H2
I
Oxygen
Moisture
%

g/m3 STP
+
+
1
10
+ 45
50
-15
+9

In and directly after the raceway all oxygen is converted to carbon monoxide and all The top gas temperature is governed by the amount of gas needed in the process;
water is converted to hydrogen and carbon monoxide. the less gas is used, the lower the top gas temperature and vice versa. Less gas per
ton hot metal results in less gas for heating and drying the burden.
Consider the following example; the blast furnace in section 2.3 has a blast volume
of 6,500 m3 STP wind with 25.6% oxygen. Ignoring the effects of moisture in the blast 8.2 Carbon and iron oxides
and the coal injection, what would be the raceway gas volume and composition?
In the preceding section the formation of gas in the raceway has been described.
Blast into the furnace (per minute):
.. Oxygen:
Nitrogen: 4,836 m3 STP/min
1,664m3STP/min
((1-Q.256)x6,500)
(0.256x6,500)
What happens with the gas when it ascends through the furnace and cools down?
First consider what happens with the carbon monoxide.

The oxygen generates two molecules of CO for every O2 molecule, so the gas
volume is 8,164 m3 STP/min (4,836+2x1 ,664). The gas consists of 59% nitrogen
. C + 1/2 O2 -
Carbon can give two types of oxides:
CO + heat (111 kJ/mole).
This reaction takes place in the raceway
(4,836/8,164) and 41% CO (2x1,664/8,164).
. C + O2 - CO2 + heat (391 kJ/mole).
This reaction does not take place in the raceway and is more typical in an area
The calculation can be extended to include the moisture in the blast and the injection
such as a power plant.
of coal (or other reductants). This is done in section 6.4.

78 79
 .,.....
8 - Blast Furnace Productivityand Efficiency 8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency

Note that in the second step much more heat is generated than in the first step,

---
The reactions can be indicated as below
therefore, it is worthwhile to convert CO to CO2 as much as possible in the process. 2 FeOo.5+ CO 2 Fe + CO2
The ratio CO2/ (CO+CO2) is called the gas utilisation or gas efficiency and is used + C~+C 2CO
extensively in blast furnace operation.
Total 2 FeOo.5+ C 2 Fe + CO
In Figure 53, the equilibrium between CO .. C + CO2 is presented for various The direct reduction reaction requires an enormous amount of heat, which is also
temperatures. The line indicates the equilibrium of the "Boudouard" reactions.
provided by the specific heat contained in the hot raceway gas.
At temperatures above 1,1 OO°C all CO2 is converted to CO, if in contact with coke.
Therefore, at the high temperatures in the bosh and melting zone of the blast furnace The direct reduction reaction is very important for understanding the process. In a
only carbon monoxide is present.
modern blast furnace the direct reduction removes about a third of the oxygen from
At temperatures below 500°C all CO has the tendency to decompose into C+CO2. the burden, leaving the remaining two-thirds to be removed by the gas reduction
The carbon formed in this way is very fine and is called "Boudouard" carbon. reaction. The amount of oxygen to be removed at high temperatures, as soon as
the burden starts to melt, is very much dependent on the efficiency of the reduction
In operational practice the carbon monoxide decomposition can be observed in
processes in the shaft. See section 8.2.2.
refractory material, where there is a CO containing atmosphere in the correct
temperature region. This generally is a very slow process. Note two important observations:

%CO %CO2 CO2

..Direct reduction uses carbon (coke) and generates extra CO-gas.
Direct reduction costs a lot of energy.
in gas in gas CO+CO2
0 50 100 In operational practice the direct reduction can be monitored. In many blast furnaces
the direct reduction rate (the percentage of the oxygen removed from the burden by
10 40 direct reduction) or the solution loss (the amount of coke used for the reaction) are
80 calculated on line. Experienced operators are well aware that as soon as the direct
reduction rate or the solution loss increases, the blast furnace starts to descend
20 30 faster, the cohesive zone will come down as the coke below it is consumed. And the
60
CO furnace will chill. When properly observed, chilling can be prevented, for example by
CP2
30 20 using extra coal injection.
40
8.2.2 Gas reduction or "indirect" reduction
40 10 20
As soon as temperatures of the gas reduce, the CO2 becomes stable and reduction
50 0
400 600 800 1000 1200
0
reactions can take place, such as:
Hematite: 6 Fe2O3+ 2 CO --
4 Fe3O4+ 2 CO2 Generates heat 8 kj/mole Fe

Figure 53: Boudouard

Temperature (°G)

reaction: the drawn line indicates equilibrium

Magnetite: 4 Fe304 + 4 CO
Wustite: 6 FeO + 3 CO -
12 FeO + 4 CO2 Requires heat 5 kj/mole Fe
6 FeOo.5+ 3 CO2 Requires heat 6.5 kj/mole Fe

The reduction is called "gas reduction" because the oxygen is removed from the
8.2.1 Direct reduction burden materials with CO gas. H2 reacts in a similar way. In literature it is also often
called "indirect" reduction, since carbon is only indirectly involved in this reaction. The
As the hot reducing gases produced in the raceway ascend through the lower reduction of the FeOo5 takes place via the direct reduction.
furnace, they transfer heat to the ore burden to the extent that it becomes molten at
the lower levels of the melting zone. They also remove oxygen from the iron oxides, Following the burden descent from the stockline, the reduction from hematite to
i.e. they reduce the iron oxides, which contain approximately one oxygen for every magnetite starts around 500°C. The reduction from magnetite to wustite takes place
two iron atoms. The CO2 produced from the reaction immediately reacts with the in the temperature zone from 600 to 900°C, while the reduction from wustite to iron
carbon in the coke to produce CO. The total reaction is known as direct reduction, takes place in the temperature region between 900 and 1,1 OO°C. At the start of
because carbon is directly consumed. melting (1,100 to 1150°C) FeOo.5 is normally reached. Here FeO is used as a symbol
for wustite, however the most stable composition is FeOo.95'

80
81
 8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency
~ 8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency

The reactions are shown in Figure 54. percentage CO. Gas utilisation should be below 30%. If CO2 is higher, wustite is no
longer converted to iron. From these measurements it is clear that the reduction from

+
.. .. .."". 0 0 wustite to iron comes close to equilibrium.

.t. ...
Carbon Monoxide e"" Hematite (Fe203)
I Gas The progress of the reduction reactions in a blast furnace can be detected in two
. 0 e different ways:
.
I +...' ""I"" I
Reduction

Gas
Magnetite (Fe304)
Burden: from quenched furnaces an overview of the progress of the reduction can
be derived. An example is shown in Figure 56

+ e. e"" e"" . Reduction 0 . Gas: by sending gas sampling devices down into the furnace, the progress of

CarboilPioxit!e
... . . . . . . I Gas Wustite (FeO)
temperature/gas composition can be derived. Figure 57 (next page) shows typical
results from a gas sampling exercise. The data can be depicted in the graph of
. Reduction
+. e .. .e . e. 0 e the equilibrium between gas and iron oxides. The gas normally shows a "thermal
reserve zone", that is, a zone in which the temperature does not change rapidly
Carbon e I Direct FeOy, as well as a "chemical reserve zone", a zone in which the chemical composition of

e . Reduction
+
. . .
e e 0
Fe
the gas does not change. The thermal reserve zone decreases and can disappear
when the furnace is pushed to high productivities.

Figure 54: Overview of the reduction of iron oxides

%CO %CO2 CO2.

in gas in gas CO+CO2
0 50 100

10 40 Magnetite 80

20 30 60
Wustite

30 20 40

40 10 Iron 20

50 0 0
400 600 800 1000 1200
Temperature (°C)
- 0.75
- 0.50
Figure 55: Schematic presentation of the relation between temperatures, CO/CO2 gas
composition and iron oxides. The drawn lines indicate equilibrium.

The equilibrium between the various iron oxides and the gas is shown in Figure 55.
~
The figure shows at what level of temperatures and gas compositions further gas Figure 56: Reduction progress in a quenched furnace (Hirohata, after Omori, 1987, p. 8)
reduction of the burden is no longer possible.
The reduction of wustite to iron requires the highest CO concentration, as can be
seen in Figure 55, the reduction of wustite requires a gas with a relatively high

82 83
 ........-
8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency 8 - Blast Furnace Productivity and Efficiency

1500
There is a need of 10 atoms carbon per 3 atoms of Fe. So the carbon requirement is
'" 57 kmole (10/3x 17), which corresponds to 684 kg carbon (57x12). Again, the extra
:; 1000
45 kg carbon in iron has to be added giving a carbon rate of 729 kg/t and a coke rate
'"
"§

of 833 kg coke per tonne hot metal (729/0.875). This reaction has a poor coke rate
E
~
500
100
and a high heat excess.
0 80 Magnetite
The conclusion of the considerations above is, that the counter-current character of
the blast furnace works efficiently to reduce the reductant rate by combining direct
60 60
and gas reduction reaction. Approximately 60-70% of the oxygen is removed by gas
co
and the remaining oxygen is removed by direct reduction.
40 40
~w

8.2.4 Hydrogen
20 20 Iron

Hydrogen is formed from moisture in the blast and injectants in the raceway.
0 0
0 100 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Hydrogen can act as a reducing agent to remove oxygen and form water. The
300
Time Temperature (OC)
reaction is comparable with that for carbon monoxide:
H2+ FeO ~ Fe + H2O.
Figure 57: Gas composition in operating furnace. CO, CO2, H2 and temperature were measured The major differences with the reactions for hydrogen and carbon monoxide are as
with descending probes (Chaigneau et aI, 2001). Typical measurements from various furnaces
follows:
are shaded. After McMaste~ 2002.
. Figure 57 shows the equilibrium of the iron oxides and hydrogen. Hydrogen
8.2.3 is more effective for the reduction at temperatures above 900°C. From
Gas reduction and direct reduction
measurements in the blast furnace it has been derived, that hydrogen reactions
are already completed at this temperature.
The direct reduction and gas reduction reaction combine to create a very efficient
process. Suppose that all oxygen is removed by direct reduction. Then, the following
. Hydrogen utilisation as measured from the top gas is normally around 40% while
CO utilisation is close to 50%.
reaction takes place:
Fe2O3 + 3C 2Fe + 3 CO (requires 2.6 MJ per tonne HM).
~

cO2 H2Oprocess
%CO %CO2
in gas in gas CO+CO2 or (H2+H2Oprocess)
Iron contains about 945 kg Fe per tonne hot metal. Coke contains about 87.5%
carbon. Atomic weights of Fe and Care 55.6 and 12 respectively. A tonne of iron 0 50 100

contains 17 kmole (945/55.6). For every atom of iron we need 1.5 atoms of carbon,
so the carbon requirement is 25.5 kmole (1.5x17), which is 306 kg carbon (25.5x12). 10 40 Fe304 80
In addition, about 45 kg carbon is dissolved in iron. In total, 351 kg carbon is used per
tonne hot metal, which corresponds to 401 kg of coke. This is a very low equivalent
coke rate and a blast furnace will not work, because the heat generated in this 20 30 60
reaction is too low.

30 20 40
Now consider that all reduction reactions are done via the gas reduction, what coke
rate is required in this situation? It is assumed that coke combustion generates the
CO required. The reaction is: . 40 10 20
3 FeO + 3 CO 3Fe + 3 CO2,
~

We only consider the reduction of wustite since the resulting gas is powerful enough 50 0 0
to reduce magnetite and hematite. We know from the above (Figure 55) that for gas 400 600 800 1000 1200
reduction the maximum gas utilisation is 30%. To get 30% gas utilisation more CO is
needed and the reaction becomes: Temperature (°C)
3 FeO + 10 CO 3 Fe + 3 CO2 + 7 CO
~ (gas utilisation = 3/(3+7) = 30%) Figure 58: Equilibrium iron oxides with hydrogen
So the coke requirement is calculated as above: every tonne iron contains 17 kmole.

84 85