The blast furnace as a multifunctional device

Abstract

1. In the twenty-first century, metallurgy will remain the basic branch of the world economy, but the conditions of its functioning will change substantially. On one hand, the exhaustion of resources of iron ores will lead to the predominant processing of compound polymetallic ores. On the other hand, the need for conserving resources will make the extraction of one basic metal with all others going to waste impossible. 2. Of all the known installations for obtaining primary metal, only the blast furnace can combine processing of compound ores with meeting stringent requirements on conserving resources and preserving the ecology. This objectively makes the blast furnace a leading metallurgical installation in the twenty-first century. 3. Calculations show that 20–30% of the reserved capacity of the blast furnace production in Russia can be used for processing technogenic waste and garbage. 4. In the twenty-first century, the blast furnace will become a multifunctional device, solving both metallurgical and sanitary-ecological problems. In the future, blast furnaces will be used for producing pure pig and cast irons, ferroalloys, polymetallic alloying compositions from compound ores and technogenic waste, slags of specified compositions and properties, gasification of solid fuel, and the processing of solid garbage.