01/08/2015

FactorsaffectingCokerateinaBlastFurnace|ispatguru.com

FACTORSAFFECTINGCOKERATEINABLAST
FURNACE
POSTEDBYSATYENDRAONJUN29,2014INTECHNICAL|0COMMENTS

FactorsaffectingCokerateinaBlastFurnace
BFisacountercurrentreactorinwhichthereducinggasisproducedbythegasificationofthecarbonoftheBF
cokewiththeoxygenofthehotblastinjectedviatuyeresinthelowerpartofthefurnace.Thereducinggasflows
upwardsreducingtheironbearingburdenmaterialschargedatthetopofthefurnace.
CokerateistheparameterfortheconsumptionofBFcokewhichismeasuredinkilogramsofBFcoke
consumedpertonofhotmetalproduced.
Blastfurnace(BF)cokeisakeymaterialforBFironmaking,actingasamajorenergysource(fuel),areductant,
acarburizationagentandapermeablestructuralsupport.Thereisnoothersatisfactorymaterialavailable,which
canreplace,fullyorpartially,BFcokeasapermeablesupportofblastfurnacecharge.
BFcokeisthemostimportantrawmaterialfedintotheblastfurnaceintermsofitseffectonblastfurnace
operationandhotmetalquality.AhighqualityBFcokeisabletosupportasmoothdescentoftheblastfurnace
burdenwithaslittledegradationaspossiblewhileprovidingthelowestamountofimpurities,highestthermal
energy,highestmetalreduction,andoptimumpermeabilityfortheflowofgaseousandmoltenproducts.
IntroductionofhighqualityBFcoketoablastfurnaceresultsinlowercokerate,higherproductivityandlowerhot
metalcost.RoleofcokeinimprovingtheBFperformanceisshownatFig1.

Fig1RoleofcokeinimprovingBFperformance
Arealisticassessmentofthelikelyperformanceofcokeintheblastfurnaceoperatingwithorwithoutinjection
technologyincludesthosepropertiesofcokethatreflectitsresistancetodegradationunderthechemicaland
thermalenvironmentoftheblastfurnace.Suchproperties,providingguidelinesforcokeuse,relatetolumpsize,
shapeandsizeuniformity,chemicalcomposition,mechanicalstrength,andthermalandchemicalstabilities.
Thus,cokefortheblastfurnaceneedstobeasuccessfulcompromisebetweenstructureandproperties.To
ensuregoodblastfurnaceperformance,cokeshouldbemoderatelylarge,withanarrowsizerange,andhavea
highmechanicalstrengthinordertowithstandtheweakeningreactionswithcarbondioxideandalkali,abrasion,
andthermalshockintheblastfurnace.Becauseofthemanyunknownfactors,itisnotachievabletoestablish
universalqualityindicescommontoallblastfurnaces,althoughtypicalspecificationsforBFcokequalityare
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available.
ImpuritiespresentinBFcokeaffectitsperformanceintheblastfurnacebydecreasingitsroleasafuelinterms
ofamountsofcarbonavailablefordirectandindirectreductionrolesandalsoitsroleasapermeablesupport.
Suchimpuritiesaremoisture,volatilematter,ash,sulphur,phosphorous,andalkalicontents.Theirlevelsareto
bekeptaslowaspossible.
Moisturecontentisadirectconsequenceofthecokequenchingprocesswithsomedependenceonsize.High
andvariablemoisturecontentsaffectboththecokerateandthebalanceswithintheblastfurnace,whilehigh
volatilemattercontentscauseoperationalproblemsinthecleaningofblastfurnacegas.
Asregardsotherchemicalproperties,sulphurandash(contentandchemistry)areofparticularimportance
becauseastheyincrease,cokeproductivityintheblastfurnacedecreases.Thecokeashisanonproductive
partofBFcokewhichinfluencesslagvolumeandcomposition.
TheimportanceofBFcokesphysicalpropertiesislinkedtotheneedtosupporttheferrousburdenandtogivea
permeablematrixthroughwhichreducinggasescanflowandmoltenmaterialcanpercolateinthelowerblast
furnaceregion.Thesephysicalpropertiesarerelatedtoitssize(meananddistribution)anditsresistanceto
breakageandabrasion.BFcokesizeismostlycontrolledbyscreening.Alargemeansizewithanarrowsize
distributionmaintainsadequatepermeability.
AlthoughBFcokesmechanicalstrengthindicesprovideBFoperatorswithausefulassessmentofBFcoke
performance,theyformonlypartoftheoverallpicture.ThetestsusedtoassessBFcokemechanicalstrength
aremadeatambienttemperatureandhencefailtotakeintoaccounttheprocessconditionsofthecokeinthe
blastfurnace.HencetestslikeCSR(cokestrengthafterreaction)andCRI(cokereactivityindex)forBFcoke
providebetterstrengthindices.
BFcokedegradesduringitsdescentthroughtheBF.Degradationiscausedbymechanicalload,attrition,
thermalstress,gasificationreactions,inorganiccompoundspresentinBFgases,andgraphitization.Mineral
matterinBFcokeplaysamajorroleinthecharacterandextentofthesedegradationpathways,bothdirectlyand
indirectly.
Theprocessofironmakinginablastfurnaceconsistsofamultivariatesystemwhichissubjectedtoalarge
numberofinterinfluencingvariablesaffectingtheBFcokeconsumptionintheblastfurnace.Itisnecessaryto
isolatetheinterinfluenceofthevariablestounderstandtheroleplayedbytheeachvariableonthecokerate
duringironmakingintheblastfurnace.
Anefficientblastfurnaceoperatesatalowcokerate.Anefficientblastfurnaceoperationrequiresanincreasein
thegasthroughput,whichimpliesimprovementinthefurnacepermeabilityandontheotherhandareductionin
thespecificgasrequirement,whichmeansareductioninthespecificconsumptionofBFcoke.Therearemany
factorswhichinfluencetheBFcokerateinablastfurnace.Majoramongstthemaredescribedbelow.
Fuel/reducingagentTwotypesoffuels/reducingagentsareusedintheblastfurnace.TheseareBFcoke
whichischargedfromthetopandpulverizedcoal/naturalgas/cokeovengas/oil/coaltarwhichareinjected
atthetuyerelevel.
1.Duringtheproductionofhotmetalinablastfurnace,BFcokerateisinfluencedinmanyways.Highash
contentinBFcokemeanschargingtheblastfurnacewithmoreslagformingmaterialwhichistobefluxedto
formslag.Thisresultsintohigherslagvolumes.Asperthumbrule1%reductionintheashcontentoftheBF
cokeresultsintodecreaseincokerateby1%to1.5%.OtherpropertiesoftheBFcokewhichaffectsthecoke
rateareCSR,CRI,andmicumindexes(M40orI40andM10orI10).Theseparametersaffectthepermeability
inthestackandthemechanicalstrengthofthecokeatthetuyerelevel.M40representscrushabilityofthecoke
andM10wearability.HighervaluesofCSRandM40andlowervaluesofCRIandM10resultinimprovementin
thelowercokerate.SulphurcontentoftheBFcokehasalsogotitsaffectontheBFcokerate.Adecreaseof
sulphurcontentofBFcokeby0.1%improvestheBFproductivitybyaround1.0%.
2.Fuel(pulverizedcoal/naturalgas/cokeovengas/oil/coaltar)injectedatthetuyerelevelisnormally
accompaniedbyoxygenenrichmentofthehotairblast.Theinjectionofoxygentotheairblastreducesthe
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specificflowofthegascausingareductioninthetoptemperatureandanincreaseintheadiabatictemperature
(RAFT)inthetuyeres.Theseeffectsarecompensatedbytheinjectionofsubstitutefuel.Thusacombined
injectionofoxygenandfuelatthetuyereleveldecreasesthecokerateinablastfurnace.Onetonofpulverized
coalinjectionreplacesaround0.9to1.0tonofBFcoke.SimilarreductionintheBFcokeratetakesplacewith
otherfuelinjections.OxygeninjectionalonedoesnotreduceBFcokeratebutimprovesBFproductivity.
RawmaterialsTherearebasicallytwotypesofmajorrawmaterialswhicharechargedinablastfurnace.
1.Thefirstoneisironbearingmaterialswhicharesinter,pelletsandcalibratedironore(CLO).Higheriron(Fe)
contentinthesematerialsmeanslowerganguematerialisgoinginsidethefurnacewhichneedstobefluxedfor
slagformation.HencehigherFecontenthelpsinthereductionofslagvolumeandcokerate.Asperthumbrule
1%increaseintheFecontentreducescokerateby0.8%nto1.2%.
2.Thesecondrawmaterialisthedifferenttypeoffluxes(limestone,dolomiteandquartziteetc.).Limestone
anddolomitewhenchargedintheblastfurnacegetscalcinedinsidetheblastfurnace.Thiscalcinationreaction
needsheatwhichresultintoincreaseinthecokeconsumption.Ifthesefluxesarechargedthroughsinteror
pelletsthenthecalcinationreactiontakesplaceoutsidetheblastfurnaceandtheblastfurnaceworkingvolume
ismoreeffectivelyusedbytheironbearingmaterials.Thisinturnreducestheblastfurnacecokerate.Generally
reductionof100kgoffluxintheburdenimprovesthecokerateby20to35kg/tHM.
3.Forachievinglowercokerateinablastfurnaceitisessentialthatburdenmaterialsprovidehighpermeability
andhomogeneityacrossallfurnacetemperatureandreactionzones.Furthertheburdenmaterialsaretohave
highreducibilitytopromoteshortretentiontime.Burdenmaterialsarealsotohavelowcontentoftrampelements
suchaszinc,leadandalkalistoavoidprocessdisturbances.
4.Cokeratealsodependsonthequalityofsinter.Sinteristohaveoptimumgraindistribution,highstrength,
highreducibility,highporosity,softeningtemperaturesgreaterthan1250degC,constantFeOcontentinthe
rangeof7%to8%andconstantbasicity.
Controlofburdendistributionplaysanimportantroleinthereductionofthecokerateinablastfurnace.The
burdendistributioncontrolensuresastableburdendescent,adjuststheflowofgasesinthewall(thisavoids
highheatloadswithoutgeneratinginactivezone)andhelpsinachievingagoodsolidgascontact.
Decreasingthesiliconcontentinthehotmetalhasapositiveeffectonthecokerate.Decreaseinthesilicon
contentisachievedduetobetterorecokerelationandmovementofcohesiveareadownwards.This
generatesalowervolumeforthetransferofsilicontothehotmetal.Decreaseofsiliconcontentinthehot
metalby1%improvesthecokerateby5%to15%.
Propertiesofslaghaveconsiderableeffectonthecokerate.Lowerspecificvolumeofslagoflowerviscosity
improvesthecokerateoftheblastfurnace.
Tappingpracticealsohasanimportantroletoplayinthereductionofcokerateinablastfurnace.Good
tappingpracticeinvolvesgoodtapholelength,timelyopeningofthetapping,controloftappingspeed,proper
hearthdrainage,andclosingoftappingafterfurnacebecomesdry.Qualityoftapholemassisveryimportant
forgoodtappingpractice.
Automaticprocesscontrolimprovesthefurnaceproductivitysinceitminimizeconsumptionofreductant,
avoidsfurnaceprocessdisturbancessuchashanging,slipping,scaffolding,gaschannelingetcthroughan
immediatecounteractionbythesystem,stablizeshotmetalandslagparametersetc.Theeffectofautomatic
processcontrolontheblastfurnacecokerateisintherangeof3%to5%.
Blasttemperatureisotherparameterwhichinfluencesthecokerateinablastfurnace.Blastfurnacecoke
ratereducesbyaround2%withtheblasttemperatureincreasingby100degC.
Hightoppressurealsoreducesthecokerateintheblastfurnace.Witheveryincreaseoftoppressureofthe
blastfurnaceby0.1kg/sqcmthereisareductionofaround0.1%inthecokerate.
Decreasingoffinescontentinthechargematerialsimprovesthecokerateoftheblastfurnaceintherangeof
0.4%to0.7%.

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