Characterisation of Carbons Formed in Coal-injected Blast Furnaces

Blast furnace is the dominant route for iron-making§worldwide. Coal injection into blast furnaces to§substitute for some of the metallurgical coke becomes§widely practiced because of the increasing price of§metallurgical coke and need to reduce the§environmental impact of the coke-making process.§However, coal injection at rates higher than 200 kg§coal/tonne of hot metal, which are still less than§the theoretical limit, has been often found to cause§furnace operational problems. Whilst many research§efforts have already been made , the fate of§injectant coal in the furnace is still not fully§understood. The extent of coal consumption cannot be§regularly measured either at present. This book§introduces our research work to gain a better§understanding of coal consumption in blast furnaces§and to develop analytical methods for faster§estimation of the consumption extent. In particular,§a quantitative method based on Raman spectroscopy has§been developed to differentiate between a wide range§of carbons. This book is useful to blast furnace§operators, researchers who are interested in heavy§carbonaceous materials, and anyone else in the field§of coal science and technology.