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Increasing the share of hydrogen in reduction of iron oxide in the blast furnace iron making will directly reduce the share of blast furnace greenhouse gas emissions. In the present study, injection of H2-rich biomass and plastic materials was studied in terms of its devolatilization, gasification and combustion characteristics. The released gases were identified using mass spectroscopy attached to a thermogravimetric analyzer and the corresponding kinetics parameters were estimated. The devolatilization was found to occur through two or more steps. The first step is always associated with the release of CO2, CO, H2, H2O and hydrocarbons while only CO and H2 were detected during the later steps. Combustion and gasification starting temperatures of char of H2-rich carbonaceous materials were lower than that of pulverized coal char by ≥ 100 °C. The estimated activation energies suggested that, under the present conditions, devolatilization, gasification and combustion were chemically controlled. Carbon reactivity of the char of the studied H2-rich carbonaceous materials were higher than that of pulverized coal. Moreover, increased H2–H2O content in the blast furnace gas, due to injected H2-rich carbonaceous materials, was found to improve the iron ore pellets reduction kinetics.

Increased in-plant recycling and lower quality raw material in terms of alkali content drive the alkali load in the blast furnace (BF) to higher levels. Excessive load of alkalis, primarily potassium, has several negative effects on the BF operation, which necessitates means to control the removal of potassium from the BF. One method to improve the removal is by increasing the potassium retention in the slag, which is controlled by the evaporation kinetics of potassium. Although several authors have studied factors affecting the evaporation rate, none of these studies have quantitatively investigated the effect of these parameters and attempted to relate these effects to slags from the industry. In the present work, a full-factorial design of experiments with three factors (B2 basicity, MgO content, and temperature) was performed, studying the evaporation of potassium from synthetic BF slag. The results suggested that multiple linear regression is suitable to describe the evaporation kinetics of potassium within the boundaries of the design of experiments. However, extrapolating to industrial slags of different compositions and additional slag components is best performed utilizing the corrected optical basicity. The corrected optical basicity showed a linear relation to the evaporation kinetics of potassium, which was related to the correlation between diffusivity and corrected optical basicity.

Substitution of coal in coking coal blend with bio-coal is a potential way to reduce fossil CO2 emissions from iron and steelmaking. The current study aims to explore possible means to counteract negative influence from bio-coal in cokemaking. Washing and kaolin coating of bio-coals were conducted to remove or bind part of the compounds in the bio-coal ash that catalyzes the gasification of coke with CO2. To further explore how the increase in coke reactivity is related to more reactive carbon in bio-coal or catalytic oxides in bio-coal ash, ash was produced from a corresponding amount of bio-coal and added to the coking coal blend for carbonization. The reaction behavior of coals and bio-coals under carbonization conditions was studied in a thermogravimetric analyzer equipped with a mass spectrometer during carbonization. The impact of the bio-coal addition on the fluidity of the coking coal blend was studied in optical dilatometer tests for coking coal blends with and without the addition of bio-coal or bio-coal ash. The result shows that the washing of bio-coal will result in lower or even negative dilatation. The washing of bio-coals containing a higher amount of catalytic components will reduce the negative effect on bio-coke reactivity, especially with acetic acid washing when the start of gasification temperature is less lowered. The addition of bio-coal coated with 5% kaolin do not significantly lower the dilatation-relative reference coking coal blend. The reactivity of bio-cokes containing bio-coal coated with kaolin-containing potassium oxide was higher in comparison to bio-coke containing the original bio-coal. The addition of ash from 5% of torrefied bio-coals has a moderate effect on lowering the start of gasification temperature, which indicates that the reactive carbon originating from bio-coal has a larger impact.

The amount of discarded plastic-containing materials is increasing, and one option to help with this issue is to use these materials in bath smelting processes. The injection of plastic-containing ...

The blast furnace still dominates the production and supply of metallic units for steelmaking. Coke and coal used in the blast furnace contribute substantially to CO2 emissions from the steel sector. Therefore, blast furnace operators are making great efforts to lower the fossil CO2 emissions and transition to fossil-free steelmaking. In previous studies the use of pre-treated biomass has been indicated to have great potential to significantly lower fossil CO2 emissions. Even negative CO2 emission can be achieved if biomass is used together with carbon capture and storage. Blast furnace conditions will change at substantial inputs of biomass but can be defined through model calculations when using a model calibrated with actual operational data to define the key blast furnace performance parameters. To understand the effect, the modelling results for different biomass cases are evaluated in detail and the overall performance is visualised in Rist- and carbon direct reduction rate (CDRR) diagrams. In this study injection of torrefied biomass or charcoal, top charging of charcoal as well as the use of a combination of both methods are evaluated in model calculations. It was found that significant impact on the blast furnace conditions by the injection of 142 kg/tHM of torrefied biomass could be counteracted by also top-charging 30 kg/tHM of charcoal. With combined use of the latter methods, CO2-emissions can be potentially reduced by up to 34% with moderate change in blast furnace conditions and limited investments.

Thermodynamic calculations were used to investigate the liquidus temperature of the slag and the possible influence on the buildup formation in an electric copper smelting furnace. The impact of parameters such as Fe/SiO2 ratio, partial pressure of oxygen and the content of the oxides ZnO, Al2O3 and Cr2O3 in the slag were investigated with respect to the liquidus temperature of the slag. Results show that the chromium content in the slag has the greatest impact on the liquidus temperature and on the formation of solid particles. The characterization of the buildup done earlier showed that spinel phases were among the dominating phases. This is supported by the thermodynamic calculations in the present paper, where the chromite solid solution was found to be the primary precipitation phase. Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-01-30 (inah)

At Boliden’s Ronnskar smelter, WEEE is smelted in a Kaldo process and the black copper, together or without the slag, is charged to the PS converter. This process route has proven to be a viable wa ...

Olivine is used extensively in iron-pellet production as an additive in LKAB blast furnace pellets, in order to improve the high temperature properties of the finished product during reduction. As ...

Effect of mechanical activation on carbothermic reduction kinetics and mechanism of ilmenite concentrate containing self-reducing mixture has been investigated using a combination of thermogravimetry and X-ray diffraction. Thermogravimetric comparative study of mechanically activated and non-activated ilmenite concentrate containing self-reducing mixtures with C/O molar ratio of 1.5 was conducted non-isothermally. The samples were heated up to 1573 K at three different heating rates (10, 15, and 20 K min−1) under controlled atmosphere. The reduction mechanism of mechanically activated mixture was followed by X-ray diffraction analysis of arrested samples at different reduction extents. In addition, reaction kinetics was further investigated and corresponding kinetic parameters were estimated using isoconversional (model-free) and model-fitting (Coats–Redfern) methods.

Efficient recycling of iron oxide from industrial BOF (basic oxygen furnace) slags has always been an issue in metallurgy. In this study, a new method was developed for the efficient recycling of iron oxide: It was transformed into magnesioferrite spinel (MgFe2O4) by mixing the industrial BOF slag with 6.00% SiO2 first, and then the modified slag got cooled down from 1400 °C to 1270 °C at a rate of 1 °C/min. Finally, the Fe resources were recycled by magnetic separation. Various experiments and analyses such as XRD, SEM–EDS analyses, Factsage thermodynamic simulation, magnetization characterization, dry magnetic separation, and chemical analysis were carried out. The results show that the obtained MgFe2O4 has a high melting point (1716.76 °C in theory) and ferromagnetism (specific magnetic susceptibility of (8.03–206.84) × 10−5 m3/kg). Therefore, it could be separated from the weakly magnetic industrial BOF slag (specific magnetic susceptibility of (0.024–0.136) × 10−5 m3/kg). Furthermore, this new method could be applied to different BOF slags. The yield of MgFe2O4 increased to above 80% when the content of Fe2O3 was in the range 25.81–46.90%. After the modification and magnetic separation, the total Fe content increased by 15.80%, from 21.20% in the industrial BOF slag to 37.00% in the magnetic slag. This is better than the direct magnetic separation of iron oxide without any treatment. The magnetic slag could be reused as either a sintering or slag splashing material. The nonmagnetic slag can be used to produce high value-added building materials. Hence, this new method can be used to recycle the iron oxide from industrial BOF slags, achieving the sustainable development of the iron and steel industry.

A steel slag has been treated by air granulation, in order to enhance cementitious properties of the slag. Two samples with sizes ranged 1.68-2.38mm and 212-297μm and coded as Slag A and Slag B, respectively, were chosen from the granulated slag for investigations. A sample of the original steel slag was also studied. XRD analyses indicated the formations of α-C2S, β-C2S, C2F, C2MS2, f-MgO and α-C2S, C2F, f-MgO in Slag A and Slag B, respectively. The phases in the two slag samples were quite different from the phases found in steel slag. The SEM results show a reduction of C2S sizes from 10-20μm for the steel slag to nano-scales by air quenching for Slag B. This treatment of air quenching has increased the cumulative heat of hydration to 105.35J/g measured for Slag B, almost two times greater than that of the steel slag. The study results demonstrate a high potential for utilizations of the steel slag in cement and concrete applications after the slag treatment by air quenching. The treatment may thus lead to an environmental friendly and cost-effective recycling for the steel slag. This can also contribute to the sustainable developments in the steel and cement/concrete industries.

Characterization and Upgrading of a Low Zinc-Containing and Fine Blast Furnace Sludge : A Multi-Objective Analysis

Oxidation is a vital phenomenon for magnetite pellets in their excursion through the furnace during induration. One of the pre-requisites for magnetite pellets to achieve homogeneously structured good quality pellets is to have complete oxidation before sintering begins. Partially oxidized magnetite pellets, upon sintering, might result in inhomogeneous structured pellets which could be detrimental to pellet quality. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms responsible for magnetite oxidation, and hence, it is intended in this study to investigate experimentally as well as develop a mathematical model based on oxidation kinetics. Oxidation of pellets is largely influenced by the oxidation kinetics of particles and hence should be studied at particle as well as at pellet scale. The principles of the Grain Model have been adopted to develop the Oxidation Model at pellet scale, whereas the particles’ oxidation follows the Avrami Kinetic Model. Isothermal oxidation experiments performed Thermogravimetric Analyzer showed that oxidation rate of magnetite at pellet scale contained two peaks. They were complemented well by oxidation rates predicted from the model. Further, the pellet was investigated microstructurally at pellet and particle scale to substantiate the findings from the experiments and the model. The oxidation model developed is used to predict the progression of oxidation in the magnetite pellet with respect to the reaction time at three different temperatures (873 K, 973 K, and 1073 K (600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C)) and at four levels of oxygen (0.21, 0.30, 0.60, and 1.00 atm) in the oxidizing gas. Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-02-11 (inah) Investigations on the Physico-Chemical Phenomena during Induration of a Magnetite Pellet

Shredder residue materials are produced after the removal of ferrous and non-ferrous fractions from end-of-life electronic equipment. Despite the high plastic content and metal value in the ash, high percentages of these materials are currently sent to landfills. In this study, the potential of utilising shredder residue material and other plastic-containing materials as reducing agents was studied. Plastic-containing materials were co-injected with coal into a zinc-fuming furnace in Boliden-Rönnskär smelter. The data obtained from the trial, such as the data from the chemical analysis of the slag and the steam production, are discussed. The observations indicate that plastic-containing material can replace up to 1 ton h−1 of coal without a significant decrease in the zinc reduction rate. Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-06-17 (johcin)

The induration of magnetite pellets is a complex physico-chemical process that involves oxidation, sintering, and heat transfer. The thermal- and gas-composition profile that is experienced by the pellet in an induration reactor could result in the formation of a homogenous or heterogeneous pellet structure, which could affect the pellet quality. The oxidation kinetics of magnetite pellets from sintering studies have been studied at two levels, namely, the pellet scale and at the particle scale, and the findings of the latter are presented here. The rate of oxidation of the magnetite concentrate depends primarily on temperature, oxygen content in the oxidizing gas, and particle size. These factors are investigated in this study. It was found that the oxidation of the magnetite concentrate is comprised of two distinct stages, a primary stage with high rates followed by a secondary stage where rates decrease significantly. The isothermal oxidation behavior as analyzed by the Avrami kinetic model was found to fit better than the shrinking-core model. The partially oxidized particles were examined microstructurally to supplement the experimental and model results. The Avrami kinetic model for isothermal oxidation was extended to non-isothermal profiles using the superposition principle, and the model was validated experimentally. Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-02-01 (johcin) Investigations on the Physico-Chemical Phenomena during Induration of a Magnetite Pellet

The iron and steel industry is one of the most important sectors worldwide, and it has a great impact on the global economy; however, this sector is still highly dependent on fossil carbon. To decr ...

The sintering process of belite sulphoaluminate cement (CSA 1 ) clinker is still not clear to date. Besides, there are few reports concerning producing CSA by recycled BOF slag. Therefore, the sintering process of CSA was investigated from this perspective and the results can be a reference for BOF slag disposal. Four kinds of CSA clinkers with different additions of BOF slag were sintered at 1300 °C for 30 min. The sintering process was traced by heating microscope and the characteristics were analyzed by XRD, SEM-EDS and TAM Air. The results showed that the sintering degree of CSA clinker could be predicted by analyzing its sintering process. Furthermore, BOF slag could improve the melting state of CSA clinkers due to its composition containing iron oxide, manganese oxide and magnesium oxide. However, expansion was detected when the temperature reached 420 °C, which was arose by combined factors, namely volatilization of CO2 decomposed from MgCO3 and the thermal expansion of raw materials itself. The rational ratios of C2S, C4A3 S ¯ , C4AF in CSA clinker with 14% BOF slag as raw material stood at 50%, 30%, 20% and its early hydration behavior was better than that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) at the initial 16 h.

Isothermal reduction of haematite carbon mixtures was investigated at temperatures 750-1100 degrees C under inert atmosphere. Mass loss curves proved the stepwise reduction of haematite to metallic iron. The non-linear feature of haematite to magnetite reduction kinetics was observed and an activation energy of 209 kJ mol(-1) was calculated. Irrespective of carbon-bearing material type, reduction rate of magnetite was linear. Activation energy values were calculated to be 293-418 kJ mol(-1). Significant increase in the reduction kinetics in the last step (Wustite reduction) was observed and explained by the catalytic effect of freshly formed metallic iron. During the initial stages of wustite reduction, the activation energy values were calculated to be in the range of 251-335 kJ mol(-1) for all carbon-bearing materials.

The solubility of vanadium oxide in the SiO2–CaO–VOX system was investigated as a function of basicity (CaO/SiO2) at a fixed temperature of 1600°C and oxygen partial pressure of 10−10 atm. Formed phases and microstructures of saturated samples were identified with SEM–EDS analysis and XRD. Maximum solubility of vanadium oxide was between 15 and 20% independent of basicity. Pure karelianite (V2O3) was formed in all samples at saturation of vanadium oxide. The morphology of karelianite changed with the change in basicity in the slag, where needles or threads were formed for slags with basicity B2 = 0.54 and B2 = 0.67 and stars or dendritic patterns were formed with basicity B2 = 1.0 and B2 = 1.22. Wollastonite (CaSiO3) was also formed in the slags with star or dendritic patterns.

Carbothermic reduction of chromite is an important industrial process for extracting chromium from the chromite. To have a better understanding of the effect of iron on the carbothermic reduction o ...

Wastes from stainless steel production were briquetted together with carbon for smelt-reduction in the electric arc furnace, EAF, to achieve an internal recycling. A laboratory induction furnace was used to simulate the EAF. With a close simulation of the smelting, disintegration of the briquettes heated under load and recovery of metals from briquettes melted together with stainless steel and slag former were investigated. The influences of test conditions on carbon reduction of oxides in the briquettes were also examined. The briquettes endured heating at 1 186 °C under load of 3.5 kg and could be charged to the melt in small quantity without causing serious splashing. For a high metal recovery, it was necessary to charge the briquettes together with slag former. Small local zones of smelt-reduction with high carbon concentration could thus be formed during the charger heating. Silicon content in the metal near to the briquettes should be minimised to achieve a high degree of carbon reduction. Based on results obtained from this study, suggestions were made on smooth operations of smelt-reduction of the briquettes by using EAF or induction furnace with large scales. Validerad; 2016; Nivå 2; 20160128 (andbra)

The results from a characterisation of buildup in an electric smelting furnace for treating copperrich feed material at the Boliden Ronnskar smelter in Sweden are presented. The aim of the work was to obtain better knowledge about the mechanisms behind the formation of the buildup. Samples from the buildup were taken during the rebuilding of the furnace. The samples were characterised using chemical and mineralogical techniques. The buildup consists mainly of different phases such as spinel, matte, olivine and metalloids and has a complex and varying mineralogy, which indicates that the buildup is not formed under equilibrium conditions.

Leaching of slag must be limited when slag is used in other areas than landfill. As slag is composed of different minerals, the properties of slag, inter alia the dissolution, depend on these minerals. If the leaching properties of each mineral are known, counter measurements can be taken to prevent the leaching of unwanted elements. In this study, the dissolution of three common slag minerals will be examined. The three minerals; boron-stabilised β-dicalcium silicate, pseudowollastonite and monticellite were synthesised. The dissolution was measured by setting pH to 4, 7 or 10 and adding 0.05 g mineral in the size range 20-38 mm and the HNO3 consumption required to maintain the pH level was recorded during 40 h. As expected, the dissolution increases for all minerals when pH decreases. The boron-stabilised β-dicalcium silicate was the only mineral fully dissolved at all pH levels, while pseudowollastonite and monticellite only dissolved completely at pH 4.On doit limiter le lessivage de la scorie lorsqu'...

Authors have used a new way for measuring bulk volume based on the image (pixel) analysis named as Light Table Imaging (LTI), and subsequently bulk densities and porosities. Authors lately found that there was a slight error in calibrating the scale (known distance) to pixel measurement and understand the need to communicate the error and subsequent corrections. Erratum in: Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 46, iss. 2, p. 635–643, DOI: 10.1007/s11663-014-0273-y

Authors have used a new way for measuring bulk volume based on the image (pixel) analysis named as Light Table Imaging (LTI), and subsequently bulk densities and porosities. Authors lately found that there was a slight error in calibrating the scale (known distance) to pixel measurement and understand the need to communicate the error and subsequent corrections. Erratum in: Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 47, iss. 1, p. 309–319, DOI: 10.1007/s11663-015-0505-9

This paper presents a fundamental study on the carbothermic reduction of chromite ore with the addition of mill scale, which forms the basis for designing an alloying precursor, “chromite ore + mill scale + carbon,” for direct chromium alloying. The reduction of chromite ore by petroleum coke with or without the addition of mill scale is investigated by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) under non-isothermal conditions (from room temperature to 1823 K) in the argon atmosphere; the fractional reduced samples were characterized by SEM/EDS and XRD analyses. The experimental results show that the mill scale in the alloying mixture is reduced to high active iron first and disseminated around the chromite ore particles; the reduction of chromite ore is enhanced with the addition of mill scale especially at temperatures higher than 1623 K, and the enhancing effect increased with increasing mill scale addition. The enhancing effect is attributed to the presence of molten Fe–C alloy in the vicinity of chromite ore, which can decrease the thermodynamic activity of chromium by having chromium in situ dissolve into the melt.

A complex industrial batch processes such as the top-blown BOF steelmaking process, it is a complicated task to monitor and act on the progress of several important control parameters in order to a ...

Large amount of dust and sludge recovered during cleaning of iron and steel making process gases are annually put on landfill or intermediate storage. These by-products have high contents of iron ( ...

Iron losses during hot metal desulphurisation using magnesium and calcium carbide have been studied by large scale investigations of slag from the slag pit as well as slag sampling during desulphurisation at SSAB EMEA in Lulea. The desulphurisation slag after co-injection is normally solid and contains a large amount of iron. An alkali containing mineral, nepheline syenite, was mixed with calcium carbide to enhance the separation of iron from the slag. Even though the addition of nepheline syenite resulted in a more fine grained slag, no reduction of the iron content in the slag was observed before slag skimming. Nepheline syenite has a positive effect on slag skimming; however, the total magnetic iron losses have not decreased significantly. The increased turbulence during injection of magnesium could explain the lack of improved iron yield. The addition of nepheline syenite does not have a negative influence on the reagent efficiency.

In this paper, the reduction of chromite ore by coke was investigated by means of thermogravimetric analysis under non-isothermal conditions (from room temperature to 1823 K). The fractional reduced samples were examined by SEM/EDS and X-ray diffraction analyses. The experimental results showed that the reduction of iron in the chromite ore started before that of chromium in the ore, and the reduction of chromium and iron in the ore overlapped to some degree. Chromium iron carbide (Cr,Fe)7C3, was found to be the intermediate phase during the reduction, and a chromium gradient was found in the spinel phase of the fractional reduced sample at 1673 K. A four-stage reduction process was proposed: one stage involving the reduction of iron in the chromite ore and three stages involving the reduction of chromium in the ore. The activity aspects of component FeCr2O4 and component MgCr2O4 in the chromite ore were considered. The difficulty in the reduction of the chromite ore is attributed to the fact that...

AOD slag samples from steel works of Outokumpu Stainless Company were used to study F-dissolution relating to treatments for volume stabilization. Results from the slag tests and sample characterizations indicate that the slag re-melting with or without reduction and granulation with either water or gas have rather small effects on F leaching, as well as formation of different C2S polymorphs. The chemical composition and cooling condition are the two important parameters to control F leaching from slag samples. These two parameters should be combined together in an optimum way by the steel industry to treat slags for F-immobilization. Validerad; 2014; 20140813 (yang)

In this study, the interaction between magnetite and the additive olivine was studied after oxidation as well as after isothermal reduction at temperatures in the 500°–1,300° C range. In the olivine sample, the forsteritic olivine particles react partly during the oxidation pretreatment to form magnesioferrite and vitreous silica along the particle corona. This breakdown of the olivine particles during oxidation liberates magnesium from the particles, which do not react until temperatures of above 1,150° C in reducing atmosphere. When the hematite in the sample is reduced, and when the temperature is high enough to allow solid-state diffusion at ∼800° C, the magnesium of the magnesioferrite redistributes, so that the magnesium concentration approaches the same level throughout the iron oxide structure. For magnetite, this did not occur until 800° C. At 1,000° C, this magnesium reacts further with the silica in the glassy slag phase, which crystallizes into fayalitic olivine. At this temperature, the magnesium has diffused over distances of more than 600 µm from large olivine particles after 2 hrs reduction. From this point, the primary slag phase in the pellet, until melting, is solid fayalite. Upon reduction to metal, the metallization front concentrates the MgO in the remaining wustite, which can lead to MgO levels of up to 10 mole% locally. The melting point of the fayalite is raised from 1,145° C to a melting range of 1,238–1,264° C due to the MgO increase, as estimated based on phase diagrams, which were adapted to the pellets tested. Much of the olivine that remained unaltered in the oxidation process will be encapsulated by iron before the particles begin to dissolve in reducing conditions and, therefore, plays no role in the reduction before final melting of the particles occurs.

The role of ferrous raw materials and iron ore agglomeration in energy consumption of integrated steelmaking has been evaluated using a system-wide model. Four steelplant cases were defined: typica ...

The objective of the present work is to get an understanding of the phase relationships in the CaO–MgO–SiO2–Cr2O3 system with a view to control the precipitation of Cr–spinel in the slag phase. The...

In the current work the reactions of magnetite based pellets with large additions of calcite (3%CaO) during reduction have been investigated. This made it possible to use both X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to detect reaction phases that normally occur in very small amounts. The main binding phase in the pellets after oxidation was (CaO,MgO,FeO)4(Fe2O3)7, whereas the one commonly reported in the literature is (CaO)(Fe2O3)2. During reduction at 500–700°C severe cracking occurred in these pellets, especially in the calcium ferrite phase. However, the decomposition of this phase began at 600°C, and therefore it is believed that the reason for the cracks is low strength of the phase itself, rather than weakness induced by reduction of the phase. Upon reduction of magnetite into wustite at 800°C, the calcium began dissolving in the wustite, and at 900°C porous calciowustite had formed in the entire sample, except for some remaining magnetite left in the pellet cores.

Investigations were carried out on cokes heat treated in the laboratory and on cokes extracted from the experimental blast furnace (EBF) raceway and hearth. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were performed to investigate changes in structural order (L c), chemical transformations in coke ash along with comparative thermodynamic equilibrium studies and the influence of melt. Three data processing approaches were used to compute L c values as a function of temperature and time and linear correlations were established between L c and heat treatment temperatures during laboratory investigations. These were used to estimate temperatures experienced by coke in various regions of EBF and estimated raceway temperatures were seen to follow the profile of combustion peak. The MgAl2O4 spinel was observed in coke submerged in slag during laboratory studies and in cokes found further into the raceway. Coke in contact with hot metal showed XRD peaks corresponding to presence of Fe3Si. The intensity of SiO2 peak in coke ash was seen to decrease with increasing temperature and disappeared at around 1770 K (1500 °C) due to the formation of SiC. This study has shown that the evolution of structural order and chemical transformations in coke could be used to estimate its thermal history in blast furnaces.

Building on previous work reported in the literature, a dynamic model of the operation of the Peirce-Smith Converter has been developed to describe the distribution of the major elements present. T ...