Improving the energy efficiency of blast furnaces at PAO NLMK

Abstract

Analysis of measures used to reduce energy expenditures shows that methods in which a single parameter is changed are ineffective. Coordinated adjustment of several parameters is required. Theoretical analysis reveals the combinations of parameters with the greatest effect. The influence of the granulometric composition of the sinter on the blast-furnace efficiency is considered in terms of the influence of the mean piece size on the reduction rate and the gas dynamics of the upper furnace region. When the reaction FeO + CO = Fe + CO₂ reaches equilibrium, the heat consumption in smelting is reduced by increasing the smelting rate. Analysis of specific approaches to reducing the heat consumption in blast furnaces for the example of PAO Novolipetskii Metallurgicheskii Kombinat (NLMK) indicates the basic measures that decrease heat consumption: optimization of the iron ore by reducing the proportion of the >45 mm fraction; increase in output of the blast furnaces to 75–90 t/day (per m² of hearth); operation with the highest permissible pressure (in terms of the charging-unit design); increase in hot strength of the coke to 60–62%; pulverized- coal injection at 140 kg/t of hot metal; and optimization of the ore distribution over the furnace radius. Between 2013 and 2016, those measures decreased coke consumption by more than 10 kg/t of hot metal. In addition, the total consumption of carbon fuel was reduced.