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The amount of CO2 emission is mostly related to the A wide range of in-plant and external wastes can be
energy consumption. The steel industry, which is utilised in ironmaking processes via sintering,
responsible for approx. 5 % of the world-wide energy pelletising, briquetting and injection. A blast furnace is
consumption (1) (in Germany about 10%), must find a an almost ideal aggregate for waste utilisation due to
compromise between environmental compatibility, high temperature and oxidising potential. The key
economy, saving of resources and supply guarantee. problem for ironmakers however is to maintain a
smooth, highly productive operation, suitable metal
Research activities in the Department of Ferrous quality and production costs when using auxiliary
Metallurgy (IEHK) at the Aachen University focus on substances and wastes.
energy saving, waste recovery and reducing CO2
emission and its utilisation. In particular, following This paper is focused on two main topics:
studies are currently being carried out or have been • investigation on combustion and reduction
completed recently: conditions in the BF raceway which is a vital zone
• fines and CO2 - injection into Electric Arc Furnace of the blast furnace which supply the process with
that beside the mentioned goals promotes further heat and reducing agents
increase in productivity and improvement of the • investigation on reduction phenomena of self-
overall furnace performance (2) reducing agglomerates for DR processes,
• ecological and economical optimisation of the especially swelling / shrinking behaviour affecting
cupola furnace process by using a natural gas / the heat transfer, and the gas permeability.
oxygen burner and simultaneous injection of
various types of foundry dusts (3) Numerous materials including in-plant wastes,
• injection of residues from the steel and non- carbonaceous extracts from coal power station fly
ferrous industry, e.g. lead and zinc containing ash, shredder light fractions from the waste car
dusts, into Imperial-Smelting furnace (4). recycling process and municipal organic waste in
different combinations with and without powder coal
In the scope of this paper our activities in the field of have been tested.
ironmaking will be stressed; the measurement
activities using laser techniques (e.g. raceway
2/6
combustion mechanisms of LVC and HVC (9). The
2. BEHAVIOUR OF INJECTED INTO BF WASTES presence of carbon in flue dust provides additional
AND MIXTURES heat and reducing agents and therefore higher
reduction degree. Reducibility of hematite (iron ore,
2.1. Iron containing materials flue dust) is higher than that of other iron compounds.
2.1.1. Lab scale tests ICM that contain iron in metallic or wustite form (mill
In-plant iron containing waste materials (ICM) have scale, mill scale sludge, sponge iron) oxidised under
been investigated using laboratory injection rig, which testing conditions and showed therefore poor
simulates behaviour of injected solids within 10-20 reduction behaviour. It doesn’t mean that injection of
ms in the tuyere and the oxidising part of the raceway these materials makes no sense. It is to be
(9)-(11). The tests on the rig have been supported by considered that injection rig simulates only processes
measurements using microprobe and DTA facility. in the oxidising part of the raceway. Materials with
high reducibility will be partially reduced already in
Table 1 summarises the results of the combustion this area, reactions of the hard-to-reduce materials
and reduction tests of different ICM injected in a will be shifted to the rear of the raceway.
homogeneous mixture with two types of PC (LVC and
HVC) (9),(11),(12). A certain rate of ICM in mixture with PC can improve
the combustion conditions in the raceway due to
Analysis of the results obtained shows that the additional offer of oxygen from hematite or magnetite
reduction behaviour of ICM at a constant grain size and additional heat due to endothermic oxidation of
depends on their ratio in the mixture with PC (the wustite or metallic iron. Running tests with PC-mill
higher the PC rate, the higher the reduction degree) scale mixtures also allow to suppose that mill scale
as well as on the type of materials to be reduced and plays the igniter role for PC (13). An optimal ICM rate
the type of reducing agent. Decrease in volatile is 10-30% depending on the material properties.
matter (VM) content in PC promotes higher reduction
degree, which can be a result of different ignition and
Table 1: Combustion and reduction behaviour of PC-ICM mixtures under the raceway simulating conditions
-30
-35
900 1000 1100 1200 1300
Fig. 8: Microstructure of SRP with UBC (left)
Fig. 5: Volume change of hematite pellets with and with WP (right) at 1200°C
UBC and WP (reduction time 15 min)
(according to (20))
4. CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES