Abstract
Increased levels of blast furnace coal injection are needed to further lower coke requirements and provide more flexibility in furnace productivity. The direct injection of high temperature oxygen with coal in the blast furnace blowpipe and tuyere offers better coal dispersion at high local oxygen concentrations, optimizing the use of oxygen in the blast furnace. Based on pilot scale tests, coal injection can be increased by 75 pounds per ton of hot metal (lb/thm), yielding net savings of $0.84/tm. Potential productivity increases of 15 percent would yield another $1.95/thm. In this project, commercial-scale hot oxygen injection from a ''thermal nozzle'' system, patented by Praxair, Inc., has been developed, integrated into, and demonstrated on two tuyeres of the U.S. Steel Gary Works no. 6 blast furnace. The goals were to evaluate heat load on furnace components from hot oxygen injection, demonstrate a safe and reliable lance and flow control design, and qualitatively observe hot oxygen-coal interaction. All three goals have been successfully met. Heat load on the blowpipe is essentially unchanged with hot oxygen. Total heat load on the tuyere increases about 10% and heat load on the tuyere tip increases about 50%. Bosh temperatures remained within the usual operating range. Performance in all these areas is acceptable. Lance performance was improved during testing by changes to lance materials and operating practices. The lance fuel tip was changed from copper to a nickel alloy to eliminate oxidation problems that severely limited tip life. Ignition flow rates and oxygen-fuel ratios were changed to counter the effects of blowpipe pressure fluctuations caused by natural resonance and by coal/coke combustion in the tuyere and raceway. Lances can now be reliably ignited using the hot blast as the ignition source. Blowpipe pressures were analyzed to evaluate ht oxygen-coal interactions. The data suggest that hot oxygen increases coal combustion in the blow pipe and tuyere by 30, in line with pilot scale tests conducted previously.
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