The Combustion Efficiencies of the Waste Plastics as Supplemental Fuel for Blast Furnace

Abstract

The possibility of using waste plastics as a source of secondary fuel in the blast furnace has been of interest recently. In order to study the feasibility of injecting waste plastics into blast furnaces, the paper compares the combustibility of several kinds of waste plastics with that of pulverized coal. To improve the combustion efficiency of waste plastics in the blast furnace, the effects of plastic particle size, blast furnace temperature and different atmosphere were investigated in the laboratory. The result shows that compared with pulverized coal, waste plastics have lower thermal ignition temperature, shorter burning time, higher burning rate, lower ash ratio and higher calorific values, which are beneficial for blast furnace injection. With the increase of both the blast temperature and the level of oxygen enrichment, as well as the decrease in the particle size of waste plastics, the combustibility of waste plastics can be improved immensely. The optimization of blast furnace injection utilizing recycled plastics as a source of secondary fuel is possible by considering all these variables.