Lec 03 Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace Construction
Asif Hosen
Lecturer
Department of MSE,
KUET
GENERAL CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES OF THE FURNACE
o The furnace interior is broadly divided

into:
1. Stack, whose wall slopes outwards
going downwards
2. Belly, the cylindrical portion below
the stack
3. Bosh, below the belly and sloping
inwards going downwards
4. Hearth, below the bosh and tuyere
region and the cylindrical portion.
Different Regions within a Blast Furnace
1. Shaft or stack
➢ This zone extends from the stockline down to
the mantle level. It is the zone in which the
burden is completely solid.
➢ The charge gets heated from 200°C at the
stockline level to nearly1100–1200°C by the
time it descends to the bottom of the stack.
➢ In order to ensure free fall of the charge
material, as it expands progressively with the
progressive rise in temperature, the cross
section of the furnace is uniformly increased to
almost double the size from the stockline to
the mantle level.
1. Shaft or stack
➢ Since much of the iron oxide reduction

occurs in the stack, the success of the blast
furnace process depends on the efficiency with
which the countercurrent gas–solid
interaction is brought about in the stack.
➢ It is this requirement that has led to the use of

agglomerates like sinter and pellets as well as
closer sizing (10–20 mm) of lump ore,
including screening of fines immediately prior
to charging.
2. Bosh
➢ The charge materials begin to soften and fuse
as they come down into the bottom of the stack.
➢ The next lower zone is called the bosh in which
melting of the burden, except that of coke,
takes place.
➢ The gangue and flux combine to form the slag.
➢ The furnace walls in this region are either
parallel to some extent and then taper down, or
entirely tapered down in order to reduce the
sectional area by about 20–25% in harmony with
the resultant decrease in the apparent volume of
the charge.
2. Bosh
➢ The burden permeability in this region is

mainly maintained by the presence of solid
coke.
➢ This, therefore, dictates that only coke of

adequate strength and size should be used for
efficient operation.
➢ Any untoward degradation of coke leads to

decreased permeability in the bosh region
and adversely affects the operation of the
blast furnace.
3. Tuyere or combustion zone
➢ By the time the charge descends into the area

near the tuyeres, except the central column of
coke, the entire charge is molten.
➢ The oxygen of the blast burns coke to CO and
several combustion zones, one in front of each
tuyere, exist in the tuyere zone.
➢ Thus, there is a ‘runway’ or ‘raceway’ in front of
each tuyere, which is first horizontal and then
smoothly changes its direction to vertical while
expanding over the entire cross section of the
furnace.
4. Hearth
➢ Although most of the coke burns at the tuyere level, a
small fraction descends even into the hearth (to form the
‘deadman’, which either sits on the hearth or floats just
above it), where it dissolves in the metal to its near
saturation.
➢ The entire charge is molten and tends to stratify into slag
and metal layers in the hearth from where these are
tapped separately.
➢ The cross section of the furnace below the tuyeres
decreases since the liquids are dense without pores and
voids, thus leading to decrease in volume.
➢ The walls of the hearth are parallel and the hearth is the
smallest cross section of the furnace.
Progressive reduction in blast furnace coke consumption over the years
BLAST FURNACE REFRACTORY LINING
❖ Between the outer steel shell and the inner working volume of the furnace, there is a
thick refractory lining, which protects the steel shell.
❖ The lining life determines the duration of one non-stop campaign.
❖ The major causes of failure of the lining are the following:

1. Carbon monoxide attack
2. Action of alkali and other vapours
3. High temperature
4. Abrasion by moving solid charges
5. Attack by molten slag and metal
6. Furnace design and operation.
❖ All the above causes are not equally important in all the zones of the furnace.
❖ In the stack, the lining has to be primarily withstand abrasion by moving solids as well
as attack by CO gas.
❖ In the bosh region, dominant causes are high temperature, attack by alkali and other
vapours, attack by alkaline and limy slag, as well as erosion by ascending hot gas.
❖ In the hearth, action of molten slag and metal is the principal source of corrosion-
cum-erosion of the lining.
❖ Alumino-silicates and carbon form the two classes of refractory materials most
commonly employed for BF lining. The former occur in nature as fire-clay. Ordinary
fire-clay bricks containing about 40–45% Al2O3 are used in the upper stack, whereas
those containing above 60% Al 2O3 (known as high duty fire-clay) are employed for the
lower stack, belly and bosh. There have been attempts to use silicon carbide bricks in
the bosh region as inner refractory lining.
❖ Carbon is the popular refractory in the hearth. It has a much higher thermal
conductivity compared to that of fire-clay (3 W/m/K for amorphous carbon and 40
W/m/K for graphite). This helps to keep the lining cooler owing to the higher rate of
heat transfer.
❖ However, for a longer lining life, it is necessary to carry out extensive water cooling of the
refractory.
❖ This not only keeps the refractory temperature lower, but also allows the formation of a
protective layer of frozen metal and slag on the inner wall of the refractory lining.
❖ The design of the cooler depends on the size of the furnace and its location in the furnace. Box
coolers are either cast iron boxes with steel pipes inside for the stack region, or copper boxes
with copper tubes for the belly and bosh regions. These coolers are inserted into the refractory
brick work at various locations. Modern trend is to go for copper, even for the stack region.
❖ Stave coolers are now popular for the bosh and hearth. Staves are large cast iron water jackets
that cover almost the entire outer surface of these regions of the furnace. External waters prays
are also employed as an alternative to stave coolers. The bottom carbon lining of the hearth is
cooled either by forced air circulation or by passage of water through the pipes, which are
embedded in the lining.
❖ A major problem concerning cooling by water flow in pipes inserted into the lining, is
the deposition of insoluble salts such as calcium carbonate on inner linings of the
pipes.
❖ This offers resistance to heat transfer.
❖ Rise in local temperature leads to the formation of steam in extreme cases and
consequent choking of channels.
❖ In order to avoid this, only demineralised and cooled water should be circulated in a
closed loop.

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Blast Furnace Construction

o The furnace interior is broadly divided

➢ Since much of the iron oxide reduction

➢ It is this requirement that has led to the use of

➢ The burden permeability in this region is

➢ This, therefore, dictates that only coke of

➢ Any untoward degradation of coke leads to

3. Tuyere or combustion zone

➢ By the time the charge descends into the area

❖ The major causes of failure of the lining are the following:

❖ This offers resistance to heat transfer.

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