Advanced ironmaking practice

Operating experiences with Corex and blast

furnace at JSW Steel Ltd
P. Prachethan Kumar*, P. K. Gupta and M. Ranjan

JSW Steel Ltd is an integrated steel 3.8 mtpa capacity through converts iron ore into DRI and the
plant of 3.8 mtpa capacity, with two commissioning of BF I and II of 1250 melter–gasifier (MG) used for smelting
Corex and two blast furnace (BF) units and 1680 m3 respectively. It has a of the DRI as well as generation of
for producing hot metal. It has started pellet plant of 4.2 mtpa, a sinter plant of reduction gas for use in the shaft.
its integrated steel plant operation with 2.3 mtpa and coke plant of 1.2 mtpa Non-coking coal along with small
Corex ironmaking technology and then capacities to cater to the raw material amount of coke is charged into the MG
synergised with the conventional BF (RM) requirements for both Corex and in which pure oxygen is introduced
ironmaking during plant expansion. BF units. Both the processes are through the tuyeres for combustion of
Both these ironmaking furnaces are unique and have their own advantages carbon and heat generation. A
unique in nature, and have different and disadvantages in an integrated schematic flow sheet of Corex process
Published by Maney Publishing (c) IOM Communications Ltd

operation philosophies. The steel plant based on its location, raw is shown in the Fig. 1. The byproduct
performances of these units depend on material sources, energy balance and gas coming out of Corex reduction
the raw material charged, operational environmental concerns. An attempt shaft is cleaned in the gas cleaning
philosophies, maintenance, etc., and has been made to compare both the system before its use as gaseous fuel
have their own advantages and process as operational at the same in the steel plant and the surplus gas for
disadvantages. This paper brings out location. JSW’s synergistic power generation.
the comparison between these combination of Corex and BF offers
ironmaking processes through the specific operational flexibility in terms Inputs to Corex and BF at JSW
usage of raw material inputs, plant of cost effectiveness, raw material and their quality
operation, maintenance, quality of hot usage, recycling of wastes, etc.
JSW Steel has a 4.2 mtpa pellet plant
metal and byproducts. This paper also
and 2.3 mtpa sinter plant to cater to the
highlights the benefits due to BF ironmaking demand of iron bearing materials by
synergistic combination of Corex and BF
Conventionally, BF route is used Corex as well as BF. In Corex, pellet
in an integrated steel plant.
worldwide for producing molten iron. and lump ore constitutes about
Blast furnace (BF) is a counter current 85–90% of the iron bearing feed and
ironmaking process in which solid RMs are charged into the RS, while the
traverse from top to bottom and gases remaining 10–15% is directly charged
Introduction top and the gases injected from the into MG dome and consists of various
bottom. It is a huge, steel stack lined fines and plant wastes such as iron ore
Growing environmental concern and
with refractory brick, where iron ore, fines, pellet fines, sinter fines, mill
scarcity of coking coal has led to
coke and limestone, known as scale, etc. In BF, the iron bearing
evolution of alternative ironmaking
‘burden’, are dumped into the top, and charge consists of approximately
technologies in the world. Corex,
preheated air is blown in from the 40–60% pelletz30–60% sinterz10–
developed by Siemens-VAI, Austria,
bottom. Preheated air, at y1100uC, 30% lump ore. The typical analysis of
has emerged as one of the
reacts with coke to generate huge iron bearing charge used in ironmaking
commercially successful alternative to
amount of reducing gas at the lower furnaces at JSW for producing hot
conventional blast furnace (BF)
part of the furnace, which ascends metal is shown in Table 1.
process. Corex is a smelting reduction
upwards counter current to the In Corex, non-coking coal along with
process and uses non-coking coal as
descending burden. During its descent, some amount of coke is charged as
the primary fuel along with small
the burden undergoes several physical fuel,2 and is burnt by oxygen through
amount of coke. JSW started its
and chemical changes, finally tuyeres for combustion to generate
integrated steel plant operation in 1999,
converting into hot metal and molten heat and reducing gases. The coal
based on Corex ironmaking technology
slag, which accumulates in the hearth. requirement for Corex is met by
of 0.8 mtpa capacity, in the iron ore belt
These liquid products are drained from importing coals from Australia. In
of Bellary-Hospet region in Karnataka,
the furnace at regular intervals. Once a Corex, coke consists of 10–20% of the
India. After success of the first Corex
BF is started, it continuously runs for fuel requirement. Of the total coke
unit, JSW added the second module in
4–10 years with only short stops to used in Corex, y50% of the
2001. Since then JSW has expanded to
perform planned maintenance. requirement is met by nut coke (10–
25 mm), i.e. screenings available from
BF and coke oven.3 In BF, the fuel
JSW Steel Ltd, Vijayanagar Works,
Vijayanagar, India
Corex process requirement is met by coke and
*Corresponding author, email prachethan@ Corex principally consists of two pulverized coal injection injected
yahoo.com reactors:1 the reduction shaft (RS) that through tuyeres. The coke requirement

ß 2008 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

Published by Maney on behalf of the Institute
260 DOI 10.1179/174328108X301679 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2008 VOL 35 NO 4
 NEWS AND VIEWS

basicity. The typical analysis of fluxes

used in ironmaking is shown in Table 3.
LD slag up to 50 kg thm21 is used in
Corex replacing limestone, beyond
which phosphorus in HM increases to
more than acceptable levels for steel
making. In Corex, limestone–dolomite
fines available as screenings are
charged through MG to control the
basicity.

Performance indices and

operation philosophies
Table 4 gives the specific
consumptions of raw materials used
under normal operating conditions, i.e.
Corex having 0.8 mtpa and BF-I having
1 Schematic diagram of Corex process: all figures are per tonne of hot metal
0.9 mtpa capacities. It can be observed
from Tables 1 and 2 that the raw
is met by 1.2 mtpa non-recovery coke ironmaking for producing hot metal is material quality requirement in Corex is
ovens. The screenings of coal shown in Table 2. not as stringent as in BF and allows use
(26.3 mm) available from Corex are
Published by Maney Publishing (c) IOM Communications Ltd

Limestone, dolomite, LD slag and of iron bearing fines, nut coke, LD slag,
used for coal injection in BF. The typical quartz are used as fluxes in Corex and limestone–dolomite fines, etc. It allows
analysis of coal and coke used in BF to maintain slag composition and use of less stringent quality of raw
materials without affecting the hot
Table 1 Typical analysis of iron bearing materials used in Corex and BF
metal production and its quality. A good
Pellet Sinter Lump Ore Sinter fines Pellet/iron ore fines performance of Corex demands stable
and permeable char bed as in BF. Use
Chemical analysis of inferior non-coking coals cannot form
Fe(t), % 63.5 56.7 62.5 55 63.5 stable char bed, hence demands
SiO2, % 3.5 4.55 3.17 4.6 3.5 supplementary coke in the fuel. Iron
Al2O3, % 2.5 2.8 2.31 2.9 2.5
bearing fines, limestone–dolomite fines
Basicity (B25CaO/SiO2) 0.53 2.18 0.03 2.15 0.28
Physical properties are charged into MG dome directly to
Feed size, mm 8–16 5–30 10–30 0–8 0–12 maintain and use the excess heat
T.I (z6.3 mm), % 95 85 85 –* – available in the dome. The tapping
Metallurgical properties practices in Corex and BF are similar
RDI (26.3 mm), % 11 – 25 – – with 8–10 taps per day. The few
RDI (23.15 mm), % – 30 – – –
important parameters which are
Reducibility dR/dt40, % 55 64 42 – –
monitored during day to day operation
*–: not applicable. of Corex are given in Table 5.
Blast furnace has a burden ratio of
Table 2 Typical analysis of carbonaceous materials used in Corex and BF pellet/sinter/lump ore550 : 40 : 10 and a
Coal Coke Nut coke Coal fines coal fines injection of y50 kg t21 HM.
The few important operating
Proximate analysis parameters monitored in BF are given
Moisture, % 5 6 6.5 ,2 in Table 6.
Ash, % 10 13 13.5 12 The comparison of production from
VM, % 27 1.0 2.0 26
Corex-I and BF-I at JSW is shown in
Ash analysis
SiO2, % 58 59 59 58 Fig. 2. It can be observed that Corex
Al2O3, % 31 30 30 31 has been producing at rated capacity.
Other properties Blast furnace (BF) had problems with
MPS, mm 18 52 16 –* 100% pellet operation and stabilisation
26.3 mm, % 21 0 10 – in the initial first year, but after
Coke CSR – 66 – –
stabilisation, use of sinter in the charge
Coal char strength2 45 – – –
has helped BF achieve the required
*–: not applicable. production.

Table 3 Typical analysis of fluxes used in Corex and BF

Quality of hot metal and
Limestone Dolomite LD slag Quartz Limestone–dolomite fines composition of byproducts
Size, mm 10–40 10–40 10–40 10–40 0–10 The HM and slag properties of Corex1
CaO, % 43.51 27.0 47.0 0.36 41.2 and BF are shown in Tables 7 and 8.
MgO, % 4.84 18.0 7.5 0.25 9.0 The composition of HM for both
SiO2, % 8.57 7.0 14.2 96 5.2 furnaces is similar. The silica and
Al2O3, % 1.63 1.0 1.72 0.43 1.42
sulphur input to Corex is higher than in

Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2008 VOL 35 NO 4 261

 NEWS AND VIEWS

excess Corex gas left after the above

requirements is mixed with BF gas and
is sent to power plant.

Plant maintenance and

availability
The availability of both Corex and BF on
calendar hours over the last 3 years is
shown in Fig. 3. It can be observed that
the availability has improved in both the
units over the years, due to various
modifications. The availability of Corex
and BF are similar. The Corex furnaces
were put down for capital repair after a
period of 6 years for one module and
8 years for another module. The Corex
2 Annual production from Corex-1 and BF-1 for last 3 years at JSW Steel
shaft calls for cleaning of bustle ports
every 6 months, and the cleaning
BF, due to high fuel ash load from high made through MG. In Corex, a change process lasts for 2 days during which
fuel rates. Hence, Corex is operated at made in the process parameters, based period other maintenance is being
high basicity slag for effective on the tap analysis, responds within carried out. The shut down in BF is for
partitioning of ‘S’ in slag and HM. In
Published by Maney Publishing (c) IOM Communications Ltd

3 hours and can be seen in the next condition based maintenance, and
Corex HM, the ‘Si’ is higher by 0.05% tap. during unstable operation such as
and ‘S’ is lower by 0.01% compared to The gas analysis of Corex and BF is slipping, tuyere replacement, etc.
HM from BF. Both Corex and BF are given in Table 9. The calorific value of Compared to BF, the Corex furnace
operated with high alumina in slag to Corex gas is 2.6–2.7 times higher than calls for more maintenance due to its
maintain the slag volume. that of BF. The Corex gas utilisation is huge gas handling system. The start of
Correction of hot metal and slag y98% and is used in the power plant, the Corex furnace is easier after a
composition is easier and faster in pelletising process, sintering, ladle shutdown and can reach the rated
Corex than in BF, as additions can be heating, reheating furnace, etc. Any capacity in an hour.

Table 4 Specific consumptions of raw materials used in Corex and BF at JSW Table 7 Hot metal analysis of Corex
Steel and BF

Corex BF Corex BF
21
Pellet, kg t HM 1350 820 HM temperature, 1480¡10 1480¡10
Sinter, kg t21 HM – 650 uC
Lump ore, kg t21 HM – 160 C, % 4.4 4.5
Sinter fines/pellet fines/mill scale, kg t21 HM 150 – Si, % 0.8 0.75
Fuel rate, kg t21 HM 1000 570 S, % 0.03 0.04
Nut coke in fuel, kg t21 HM 75 – P, % 0.15 0.1
Flux, kg t21 HM 260 100 Mn, % 0.09 0.07
Limestone–dolomite fines in flux, kg t21 HM 20 – SD Si 0.20 0.15
LD slag in flux, kg t21 HM 30 –

Table 8 Slag analysis of Corex and

Table 5 Operating parameters of Corex at JSW Steel BF

Melting rate, t h21 100–102 Corex BF

Plant pressure, bar 3.3–3.5
Reducing gas temperature, uC 830–860 CaO, % 35.5 35
Metallisation, % 70–80 MgO, % 13 9
Specific reduction gas flow, Nm3 t21 ore 1175–1250 SiO2, % 31 35
Top gas temperature, uC 250–300 Al2O3, % 18 18
Differential pressure in RS 0.4–0.5 FeO, % 0.25 0.35
Dome temperature, uC 1040–1060 S, % 1.07 0.77
Oxygen, Nm3 t21 HM 530–550 B2 1.15 1.0
CO2 in reducing gas, % 7–9
Table 9 Gas analysis of Corex and
Table 6 Operating parameters of BF at JSW Steel BF

Working volume 1107 Top gas Corex BF

Productivity, t m23 2.15–2.25
Blast pressure, bar 2.1–2.3 CO, % 45 23
Blast humidity, g Nm23 30–50 CO2, % 35 21
Oxygen enrichment, % 2–4 H2, % 18 5
Hot blast temperature, uC 1040–1050 N2, % 2 52
Average top gas temperature, uC 100–120 Calorific value, y8200 y3100
Average burden temperatures, uC 500–600 kJ Nm–3

262 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2008 VOL 35 NO 4

 NEWS AND VIEWS

vibrocompacting non-recovery
batteries. Further, out of the total
coke produced in the JSW coke
oven, the lump coke is fed to the BF,
nut coke (6–25 mm) is fed to the
Corex and coke breeze (26.3 mm) is
fed to the sinter plant. In addition,
Corex gas is used as back-up in blast
furnace stoves, boilers, and in sinter
plant and pellet plant. More than 70%
of the plant wastes, such as Corex and
BF sludge, limestone–dolomite fines,
LD slag, etc., are recycled into Corex
either directly or indirectly through the
3 Availability of Corex-1 and BF-1 for last 3 years on calendar hours at JSW pellet/sinter plants. The synergy of
Steel Corex and BF has helped JSW Steel
maximise the utilisation of solid waste
and thereby reduced the cost of hot
metal.

Conclusion
Published by Maney Publishing (c) IOM Communications Ltd

The comparison of both the

ironmaking processes shows that they
are unique and have their own
advantages and disadvantages
depending on raw material availability,
energy utilisation and environmental
concerns, etc. The adoption of these
technologies varies from location to
location and depends on the energy
balance of that steel plant. The synergy
of Corex and BF has helped maximise
the utilisation of solid waste at JSW
Steel and thereby reduced the cost of
hot metal.
4 Synergy of Corex and blast furnace
References
Technoeconomics commissioned recently in Bao Steel, 1. D. Gupta, J. K. Tandon, M. K. Mitra
China, and its success is still not and R. Singh: Proc. Conf. Asia Steel
At JSW, the cost of hot metal is nearly known. Therefore, Corex is more
the same, and varies from month to ’2000, Beijing, China, September
suitable where scale of operation is 2000, CSM, Vol. B, 140–149.
month based on the performance. smaller.
Corex requires large quantity of 2. P. P. Kumar, D. Gupta, T. K. Naha
oxygen, hence setting up of oxygen and S. S. Gupta: Ironmaking
plant requires additional capital
Synergy of COREX and BF Steelmaking, 2006, 33, (4), 293–298.
expenditure. However, this is easily The synergistic combination of Corex 3. P. P. Kumar, D. Gupta, U. S. Yadav,
offset because unlike the BF, Corex and BF4 is shown in Fig. 4 V. R. Sekhar and T. K. Naha: Steel
does not require a coke making plant. schematically. The non-coking coal Times Int., 2007, 31, (2), 26–28.
Corex generates large quantity of high used in Corex is screened in the coal 4. D. Gupta and T. K. Naha: Proc. Conf.
calorific value gas, which facilitates in screening plant. The lump coal is fed to IS’06, Linz, Austria, October 2006,
house cost effective environment Corex and the coal fines (26.3 mm) are Seimens-VAI, paper no. 3.2, 1–5.
friendly power generation. The current fed to BF as pulverised coal injection 5. P. P. Kumar, D. S. Vinoo, U. S.
modules of Corex (C-2000) have a (PCI) and also to the non-recovery coke Yadav, S. Ghosh and J. P. N. Lal:
capacity of 0.8 mtpa only. The next oven.5 The JSW coke oven uses up to Ironmaking Steelmaking, 2007, 34,
larger module (C-3000) has been 20% Corex coal fines in its (5), 431–436.

Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2008 VOL 35 NO 4 263