In this work, the effectiveness of using briquettes made from chromite ore, mill scale, and petroleum coke for direct chromium alloying is tested by induction furnace trials carried out in three ...different scales. The experimental results show that steel scrap can be alloyed with chromium by the chromite ore in the briquettes and the Cr yield from the chromite ore increases with the increase in mill scale addition to the briquettes: the more mill scale is added to the briquettes, the lower the mass ratio of Cr to (Cr + Fe) would be, leading to a higher Cr yield from the chromite ore. Specifically, the maximum Cr yield from the chromite ore is 99.9% when the mass ratio of Cr to (Cr + Fe) in the briquettes is 0.05, and being 93.0% when the ratio is 0.10. However, when the ratio of Cr to (Cr + Fe) in the briquettes reaches 0.20, the maximum Cr yield is only 67.1%. The reduction of chromite ore under the present experimental conditions is promoted by a solid‐state reduction mechanism.
Induction furnace trials in three different scales are carried out to investigate the effect of using briquettes made from chromite ore, mill scale, and petroleum coke for directly alloying steel with chromium. It is found that a higher Cr to (Cr + Fe) mass ratio in the briquette(s) leads to a higher Cr yield in the steel.
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 MgAl
2
O
4
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 Fe
3
Si. The intensity of SiO
2
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.
In ore-based steelmaking, blast furnace (BF) dust is generally recycled to the BF via the sinter or cold-bonded briquettes and injection. In order to recycle the BF sludge to the BF, the sludge has ...to be upgraded, removing zinc. The literature reports cases of recycling the low-zinc fraction of upgraded BF sludge to the BF. However, research towards recycling of the high-zinc fraction of BF sludge within the ore-based steel plant is limited. In the present paper, the high-zinc fraction of tornado-treated BF sludge was incorporated in self-reducing cold-bonded briquettes and pellets. Each type of agglomerate was individually subjected to technical-scale smelting reduction experiments aiming to study the feasibility of recycling in-plant residues to the hot metal (HM) desulfurization (deS) plant. The endothermic reactions within the briquettes decreased the heating and reduction rate leaving the briquettes unreduced and unmelted. The pellets were completely reduced within eight minutes of contact with HM but still showed melt-in problems. Cold-bonded briquettes, without BF sludge, were charged in industrial-scale trials to study the recycling potential to the HM deS plant and basic oxygen furnace (BOF). The trials illustrated a potential for the complete recycling of the high-zinc fraction of BF sludge. However, further studies were identified to be required to verify these results.
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 ...decrease this dependency, approaches to partially replace the injected pulverized coal with secondary, highly reactive, renewable (biomass) and H2‐rich materials are studied. The injection of such materials is expected to significantly decrease the emitted CO2 from blast furnaces. However, due to the different ash composition of these alternative materials (especially alkali and alkaline earth metals) compared to that of ordinary injected coal, these materials are expected to alter the raceway slag properties and affect the coke reactivity. Herein, the effect of the ash from different hydrogen‐rich carbonaceous materials on the raceway slag physicochemical properties as well as coke reactivity is reported. The melting characteristics of the ash briquettes in contact with the coke and wettability of the melted ash on the coke surface are determined visually using an optical heating microscope. The effect of the ash on the coke reactivity is studied by means of thermogravimetry under a continuous flow of CO2.
The effect of the ash composition from different hydrogen‐rich carbonaceous materials on the raceway slag physicochemical properties as well as coke reactivity is reported. The melting characteristics of the ash and its wettability on the coke surface are determined. The effect of the ash on the coke reactivity is studied by means of thermogravimetry.
Ore-based ironmaking generates a variety of residues, including slags and fines such as dust and sludges. Recycling of these residues within the integrated steel plant or in other applications is ...essential from a raw-material efficiency perspective. The main recycling route of off-gas dust is to the blast furnace (BF) via sinter, cold-bonded briquettes and tuyere injection. However, solely relying on the BF for recycling implicates that certain residues cannot be recycled in order to avoid build-up of unwanted elements, such as zinc. By introducing a holistic view on recycling where recycling via other process routes, such as the desulfurization (deS) station and the basic oxygen furnace (BOF), landfilling can be avoided. In the present study, process integration analyses were utilized to determine the most efficient recycling routes for off-gas dust that are currently not recycled within the integrated steel plants of Sweden. The feasibility of recycling was studied in experiments conducted in laboratory, pilot, and full-scale trials in the BF, deS station, and BOF. The process integration analyses suggested that recycling to the BF should be maximized before considering the deS station and BOF. The experiments indicated that the amount of residue that are not recycled could be minimized.
The present work aims to study the high‐temperature strength of coke. Mechanisms of disintegration were evaluated using basket samples charged into LKAB's experimental blast furnace prior to ...quenching and dissection. Coke charged into basket samples was analysed with CSR/CRI tests and compared with treated coke from the blast furnace. Results from tumbling tests, chemical analyses of coarse and fine material, as well as light optical microscopy studies of original and treated coke have been combined and evaluated. The results indicate a correlation between the ash composition and the CSR values. Differences in the texture of the coke were noted with light optical microscopy, and a significant change in the coke texture during the CSR/CRI test conditions was found. The results suggest that the main reaction between coke and CO2 took place in isotropic areas, which was especially pronounced in coke with a low CSR. Signs of degradation were apparent throughout the coke pieces that have undergone CSR/CRI testing, but were less observable in coke reacted in the blast furnace. The results indicate that reaction with CO2 is generally limited by the chemical reaction rate in the CSR/CRI test, while in the blast furnace the reaction is limited by the diffusion rate. Coke degradation is therefore mostly restricted to the coke surface in the blast furnace.
Depending on the operation of the blast furnace (BF), the main outlet of zinc from the furnace is more or less via the BF dust and sludge. As the dust is recycled to the BF, the sludge has to be ...de-zinced prior to recycling to prevent the accumulation of zinc in the BF. De-zincing and recycling of the low-zinc fraction via sinter have been reported. However, no research concerning recycling of upgraded BF sludge via cold-bonded briquettes has been performed. In the present study, a fine-grained BF sludge with low zinc content, generated by a BF operating on a ferrous burden of 100% pellets, was upgraded using the tornado process. The process simultaneously dried and separated the BF sludge into a high-zinc and a low-zinc fraction. The feasibility of recycling the low-zinc fraction to the BF using cold-bonded briquettes was studied on a laboratory-scale BF shaft simulator. On comparison with a reference briquette, the experiments indicated that 10 wt% of the upgraded BF sludge can be added to the briquette without negatively affecting the reducibility. Higher additions were found to render the briquette less reduced compared to the reference under test conditions corresponding to the central part of the BF. The strength of the briquettes was not compromised with the addition of the upgraded BF sludge, and a decision to study the briquettes in the LKAB experimental blast furnace was made in order to evaluate the behavior under actual BF conditions.
In blast furnace (BF) ironmaking, efforts are made to decrease coke consumption, which can be done by increasing the pulverized coal injection rate (PCR). This will cause changes in in-furnace ...reduction conditions, burden distribution, demands on raw material strength, etc. In order to maintain stable operation, but also to obtain low amounts of material losses through the off-gas, it is important to understand fines generation and behaviour in the BF. Off-gas dust and shaft fines generated in the LKAB Experimental Blast Furnace (EBF) were sampled during operation with olivine pellets and mixtures of acid pellets and sinter as iron-bearing materials. Characterization using XRD, SEM and LOM was focused on fines from iron-bearing materials, coke and slag formers. The results showed that flue dust, mainly <0.5 mm, was mechanically formed and created in the same manner for all investigated samples. Carbon-containing particles dominated in the fractions >0.075 mm and consisted mainly of coke particles from the shaft. Fe-containing particles, as Fe2O3 from the top of the shaft, formed the major part of flue dust fractions <0.063 mm. Particles from slag formers such as quartzite and limestone were observed in flue dust when slag formers were utilized in the feed. Sludge consisted mainly of chemically formed spherical particles <1 μm precipitated from the ascending gas as the temperature decreased.
The blast furnace is the most common means of producing hot metal. As the amounts of reduction agents increases, which influence in-furnace conditions such as ascending gas properties, temperature ...profiles and the ore-to-coke ratio, new demands are put on the iron-bearing material in terms of both reducibility and mechanical strength. To investigate the possibilities to use the Pellet Multi Press (PMP) equipment for compression strength measurements of reduced pellets and to gain a deeper understanding of the correlation between pellet texture and strength, an initial study of pellets taken from the LKAB Experimental Blast Furnace (EBF) was conducted. Furthermore, the pellet pieces generated after compression tests were characterized using light optical microscopy. In order to correlate the texture of pellet pieces to the pellet texture prior to breakage, a characterization of the chronological pellet texture development during reduction in the EBF was performed. The original pellet texture remained in the beginning of reduction and differences receded through the EBF shaft as wustite and Femet was formed. Occurrence of Femet in the pellet texture increased the compression strength, while less reduced and less sintered textures showed the reverse effect. So far, the results from compression strength tests indicate that disintegration of pellets takes place at a reaction front, at the transition between different texture types of iron oxide or at the location of a visible surface crack.
Pyrite-containing tailings pose an environmental challenge due to the risk of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) upon storing if not properly managed. AMD can, however, be neutralized with alkali materials ...like lime which leads to the generation of gypsum that also ends up in the landfill. Instead of landfilling this residue, it can be recycled into potentially useful products. A proposed process involves decomposing pyrite, reduction of pyrrhotite, and finally conversion of gypsum to lime. This study evaluates the recycling/thermochemical conversion process of pyrite tailings and gypsum residues from the Boliden Aitik mine using thermodynamic modeling, simultaneous thermal analyses coupled with mass spectroscopy, and mineralogical composition identification. It was observed that pyrite can undergo complete decomposition into pyrrhotite and release elemental sulfur below 750 °C in an inert atmosphere. Furthermore, successful reduction of pyrrhotite was achieved through the application of biochar in the presence of lime at 950 °C in an inert atmosphere. The study also reveals that gypsum can be effectively converted to lime at 1200 °C in an inert atmosphere when accompanied by calcium sulfide (CaS). Moreover, the energy and material balance of the process was analyzed, considering the conversion of 1 ton of pyrite tailings. The products include 0.4 tons of iron powder, 2.7 tons of SO2 gas, 0.4 tons of CO2 gas, and 1.21 tons of excess active lime. The calculated energy consumption for this process was determined to be 2893 kWh.
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