MINi BF

Blast Furnace
Mini Blast Furnace: This is how it look like a

simple working model of MBF
The Blast Furnace iron making process had, until recently, been the
unchallenged method of making hot metal on a large scale.
Till 1990, the Blast furnace route of iron making had about 97% (527mt) share of
global iron production.
Since then many other alternative processes of iron making have arisen e.g.,
Shaft Furnace DR processes (MIDREX, HYL) Rotary Kiln DR processes (SL/RN,
CODIR, TDR) and recently the COREX Smelting Reduction process.
The Mini Blast Furnace (MBF) is the most proven technology, as revealed by one
recent global iron production data.
While gas-based as well as coal-based DRI production routes produced 2.7% of

total iron production in 1990 - 1991, the corresponding share held by MBF,
operating mainly in Brazil, China and India, was 3.4%.
Mini Blast Furnaces (MBFs) are ideally suited to small scale operations.
A Mini Blast Furnace (MBF), which can be viewed as is a miniature version of

conventional large blast furnace, also has a few additional characteristic features known
for their simplicity and economy.
Since MBFs are small (working volume ranges between 100 - 370 m3 corresponding to
production capacities of hot metal between 60000 – 200000 tpa) blast furnaces, the
technology involved is not only well proven, but also very sophisticated.
Smaller scales of operation allows the use of inferior grade coke and iron ore (sinter
usage is difficult).
Mini blast furnaces are becoming increasingly as an economic and reliable source of
iron for foundries as well as for forward integration with steelmaking units in EAF / EOF
(and sometimes even small BOF) based steel plants.
The Mini Blast Furnace (MBF) is a very flexible and competitive equipment, suitable for
both basic and foundry grade hot metal production, in the range of 80.000 to 300.000
tpy. Its flexibility allows the burdening from 100% lump ore to any blend of lump ore and
agglomerates (sinter or pellets) in the burden composition. It can be projected to use
charcoal or coke as reducer.
The products from mini blast furnaces are of the same quality as that of
normal Blast Furnaces and are free of tramp elements - this is of particular
advantage in steel making in mini steel plants.
Use of 40 - 45% hot metal in EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) charge has thus
become standard practice, which has helped to reduce the power consumption
in Electric Arc Furnaces to 380 - 400 kwh/t liquid steel from 550 - 600 kwh/t.
At the same time, sine the hot blast temperature in MBFs is lower than
normal blast furnaces and the specific heat loss is more, the coke rate tends to
be 100 - 150 kg/thm higher.
The biggest limitation of mini blast furnaces is that coal injection is normally
difficult and the higher specific heat requirement has to be met entirely by coke
(normally purchased from external sources)
In India, with the recent increasing demand of pig iron and steel, mini blats
furnace technology has proliferated.
Kalinga Iron Works is successfully operating three small blast furnaces with
volumes less than 100m3 each, an MBF of 175m3 capacities was commissioned in
Goa in 1992 and nine more mini blast furnaces with installed capacity of 0.80
Mtpa of foundry pig iron and 0.10 Mtpa of basic grade are already operational.
These units are spread all over the country.
If this trend continues, which is more likely to happen, Mini Blast Furnace
Technology would play an increasingly important role in the rapid and wide
spread growth of iron and steel making capacity in this country.
Brazil has a large hot metal production through mini blast furnaces which use
charcoal as a reducer and an energy source.
These companies are not integrated and their final product is pig iron.
The growth in this sector started in Brazil in the early 1970's as a result of the
availability of cheap and good quality raw materials (native wood charcoal and
granulated iron ore).
In addition, the return of the investment in the construction of Mini Blast Furnace
was very fast.
Nowadays, this sector is consolidated and has a fundamental role in the national and
international iron and steelmaking sector since Brazil is a major supplier of primary
iron.
Plant availability as well as the perfection achieved in technology, made Mini Blast
Furnaces a well accepted iron making route in China.
 The situation in India could be similar in future. Presently, about one fifth of China’s
total iron production is through about 55 - 60 MBFs.
 The furnaces in China use metallurgical coke, and the coke rates vary between 500 -
630 kg/thm. Extensive innovations have been introduced in the Chinese Mini Blast
Furnaces including:
>> Injection of pulverized anthracite to the extent of 60 kg/thm, to bring down the
coke rate by about 40 - 50 kg/thm.
>> Heat recovery from stove waste gas at 250-300OC for increasing the hot blast
temperature by about 80OC.
>> Incorporation of self-preheating process stoves, enabling the generation of hot

blast with a temperature of more than 1200OC.
>> Dry cleaning of furnace gas.

According to a published report some typical characteristics of raw
materials used in Chinese Mini Blast Furnaces (MBFs) are given below:
Chemical Analysis (%) Iron Ore Sinter
Fe 40-45 53-54
FeO -- 11-12
CaO 8 10.5-12
SiO2 13-14 8.5-9
Al2O3 2 ---
MgO 1 2.5
S 0.03-0.04 0.03-0.04
P 0.02 ---
Tumbler index, % 81-82
Basicity 1.2-1.4
•A typical range of iron oxide feed done in Chinese MBF is as follows:
Size (mm) Percent

+70 2
-70, +60 2
-60, +40 8
-40, +25 12
-25, +10 49
-10, +5 20
-5 7
•The coke characteristics used in China are:

Ash = 13.5 - 14.0
V.M. = 1.1 - 1.4
Sulphur = 0.25 - 0.75
Moisture = 7.5 - 8.0
M10 index = 17
M40 index = 75
Size = 25 - 60 mm 0
PIG IRON (MINI BLAST FURNACE) - TECHNOLOGICAL UNITS
AND PROCESS FLOW
 Stock house:
 BLAST FURNACE:
 CAST HOUSE:
 STOVES:
 GAS CLEANING PLANT:
 PIG CASTING MACHINE:
 LADLE REPAIR SHOP:
 SLAG GRANULATION UNIT:

DESCRIPTION
The MBF concept corresponds to Blast Furnaces with working
volume up to 350 m3 with the following features:
1. Burden preparation/charging system
2. The Blast Furnace Proper:
In this section various operation can carried out as follows:
a. Refractories
b. MBF Top Equipment
c. Hot Metal Tapping
3.Cold Blast System
4.Hot Blast System
5.MBF Control Cabin
6.Slag Granulation System
7. Gas Cleaning System and Effluent Treatment System

8.Water System
9. Compressed Air System
10. Electrical System
11. Instrumentation and Control
12. Environmental Control Facilities

a- Liquid wastes
b- Gaseous wastes
c – Solid Rejects
I – Slag
II – Charcoal and/or Coke Fines
III - Iron Ore Fines
IV – Dust Catcher
V – Thickener Slurry
13. Pig casting machine

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Blast Furnace

Mini Blast Furnace: This is how it look like a

While gas-based as well as coal-based DRI production routes produced 2.7% of

A Mini Blast Furnace (MBF), which can be viewed as is a miniature version of

These units are spread all over the country.

>> Incorporation of self-preheating process stoves, enabling the generation of hot

>> Dry cleaning of furnace gas.

Chemical Analysis (%) Iron Ore Sinter

Size (mm) Percent

•The coke characteristics used in China are:

 GAS CLEANING PLANT:

 PIG CASTING MACHINE:

 LADLE REPAIR SHOP:

 SLAG GRANULATION UNIT:

3.Cold Blast System

4.Hot Blast System

5.MBF Control Cabin

6.Slag Granulation System

7. Gas Cleaning System and Effluent Treatment System

9. Compressed Air System

10. Electrical System

11. Instrumentation and Control

12. Environmental Control Facilities

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