Study of gas-fine flow in a packed bed with an application to the ironmaking blast furnace

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PhD; 2022; Material engineering

The iron and steelmaking industry uses coal as the primary reducing agent. The carbon that is the major component of coal is finally released into the environment as carbon dioxide. One of the effective ways to reduce the coke consumption and thus the reduction in greenhouse gases is to introduce coal or other carbonaceous materials through the tuyere. However, this can be done only up to some extent as injection of these materials reduces the bed permeability which in turn affects the operation and productivity of the blast furnace (BF). Previous studies have shown that at a higher pulverised coal injection (PCI) rate and depending on the operating conditions of the furnace, some amount of coal remains unburnt and consequently the ashes and coal particles, in the form of powders, may be entrained in the gas stream or be deposited into the lower zones of the BF. However, the physics of the pulverised coal within the furnace is still not well understood, especially in presence of raceway and tuyere protrusion.