Blast Furnace Sayan

BLAST FURNACE
What is Blast Furnace?

 It is a tall cylindrical furnace made up of steel.
 It is lined inside with fine bricks.
 It is narrow at the top and has an arrangement for the
introduction of ore and outlet for waste gas.
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for
smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but
also others such as lead or copper. Blast refers to the
combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric
pressure.
Hight of a Blast Furnace is about 30 meter and the width

is 80-100 feet.
What is the function of
Blast Furnace?
The function of Blast Furnace is

to reduce and convert iron oxides
into liquid iron called “Hot Metal”
The Blast Furnace is a huge, steel

stack lined with refractory brick.
Iron ore, coke and limestone are

put into the top and preheated
air is blown into the bottom.
 Atmosphere of the furnace is REDUCING.
 BF is used as a integrated furnace because the pig
iron and steel are simultaneously formed.
 Blast furnace produces pig iron from iron core and
sinter (containing iron bearing as well as fluxing
materials).
 In a blast furnace, fuel (coke), ores, and flux (limestone)
are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace,
while a hot blast of air (sometimes with oxygen
enrichment) is blown into the lower section of the furnace
through a series of pipes called tuyeres, so that the
chemical reactions take place throughout the furnace as
the material falls downward.
Different Portion of Blast Furnace:
 Throat- In this region ore + coke + limestone is charged
 Stack- A vertical shaft.
Maximum temperature 250°C. But, generally temperature is
100-150°C.
It has three parts- 1. Upper Stack
2. Middle Stack
3. Lower Stack
 Belly - It has maximum diameter.
 Bosh - Maximum temperature retain in this region. Maximum
temperature gains 1800ºC to 2000ºC.
 Tuyere – They are used to implement a hot air into Blast furnace.
In a BF, number of Tuyere = 30 to 40.
 Hearth – Just upper the slag region to hot metal region.
Raw Materials:
1. Iron Ore: Hematite (Fe2O3).
Magnetite (Fe3O4).
[Impurities in Ore : SiO2]
2. Fluxing agent : CaCO3

CaCO3 = CaO + CO2
[ Flux reacts with ore make GANGUE. Then, Flux + Gangue = Slag ]
3. Fuel : Coke ( applied in almond/ pallet shape)

* We use coke as a fuel because coke acts both as a fuel and a reducing
agent so, it can produce heat that helps to promote the
exothermic reaction in the furnace.
* Instead of Coal, we use Coke as a fuel as the calorific value of coal is
much lower than coke
due to presence of volatile matter.
Reaction in Blast Furnace:
Blast furnaces operate on the principle of
chemical reduction whereby carbon monoxide converts iron oxides
to elemental iron.
The main chemical reaction producing the molten

iron is:
Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2
This reaction might be divided into multiple steps, with the first
being that preheated air blown into the furnace reacts with the
carbon in the form of coke to produce carbon monoxide and heat:
2 C(s) + O2(g) → 2 CO(g)

The hot carbon monoxide is the reducing agent for the iron ore and reacts
with the iron oxide to produce molten iron and carbon dioxide. Depending
on the temperature in the different parts of the furnace (warmest at the
bottom) the iron is reduced in several steps. At the top, where the
temperature usually is in the range between 200 °C and 700 °C, the iron
oxide is partially reduced to iron(II,III) oxide, Fe3O4.
3 Fe2O3(s) + CO(g) → 2 Fe3O4(s) + CO2(g)
At temperatures around 850 °C, further down in the furnace, the iron(II,III) is
reduced further to iron(II) oxide:
Fe3O4(s) + CO(g) → 3 FeO(s) + CO2(g)
Hot carbon dioxide, unreacted carbon monoxide, and nitrogen from the air
pass up through the furnace as fresh feed material travels down into the
reaction zone. As the material travels downward, the counter-current gases
both preheat the feed charge and decompose the limestone to
calcium oxide and carbon dioxide:
CaCO3(s) → CaO(s) + CO2(g)
The calcium oxide formed by decomposition reacts with various acidic
impurities in the iron (notably silica), to form a fayalitic slag which is
essentially calcium silicate, CaSiO3
SiO2 + CaO → CaSiO3

As the iron(II) oxide moves down to the area with higher temperatures,
ranging up to 1200 °C degrees, it is reduced further to iron metal:
FeO(s) + CO(g) → Fe(s) + CO2(g)

The carbon dioxide formed in this process is re-reduced to carbon
monoxide by the coke:
C(s) + CO2(g) → 2 CO(g)

The temperature-dependent equilibrium controlling the gas atmosphere
in the furnace is called the Boudouard reaction
2CO ⇌ CO2 + C
What's Happening In A Blast Furnace:
In the blast furnace there are several chemical reactions taking place; that
eventually result in the desired product (iron) being extracted.
The coke (carbon) burns with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide. This
reaction is exothermic. The CO2 then reacts with more coke to give carbon
monoxide.
C + O2 = CO2
CO2 + C = 2CO
Carbon monoxide acts as a reducing agent and reacts with the iron ore to
give molten iron, which trickles to the bottom of the furnace where it is
collected.
Fe2O3 + 3CO = 2Fe + 3CO2
The limestone in the furnace decomposes, forming calcium oxide. This is a
fluxing agent, and combines with impurities to make slag, which floats on top
of the molten iron and can be removed.
CaO + SiO2 = CaSiO3
Fe2O3(s)+3CO(g)→2Fe(l)+3CO2(g)
The primary components of the blast furnace are:
Charge (solid reactants): includes Fe ore, coke, flux, & scrap iron.
Flux (maintains acid to base ratio allowing for liquid slag
formation): generally limestone(CaCO3) or dolomite(CaCO3MgCO3)
is used do to the fact that the acidic oxides (SiO2, Al2O3, & P4O10)
are predominate over basic oxides.
Slag(mixture of impurities that are separated/ poured off from
molten Fe do to its less dense liquid state): silicate, aluminate, or
phosphate.
Pig Iron product( 95% Fe, 4% C, 1% other impurities): used in steel
production & can be poured into moldscreating hard & brittle cast
iron.
REACTION TABLE :
ZONE REGION TEMP REACTIONS
COMBUSTION TUYERE 2200 K C + O2 = CO2 , (dH= -ve)
FUSION BOSH 1570 K CO2 + C = 2CO ;

Fe2O3 + 3C = 2Fe + 3CO ;
SLAG FORMATION MIDDLE PORTION OF 1270 K CaCO3 = CaO + CO2 ;

BLAST FURNACE
CaO + SiO2 = CaSiO3 ;
REDUCTION UPPER PART OF BLAST  700-900 k 3Fe2O3 + CO = 2Fe3O4 + CO2 ;

FURNACE Fe3O4 + CO = 3FeO + CO2 ;
FeO + CO = Fe + CO2 ;
 2170 k FeO + C = Fe + CO ;
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS :
Blast furnace has some specific characteristics which differentiate it from others.
 This characteristics are --------
1. HIGH TOP PRESSURE
2. DEAD MAN’S ZONE
3. REFRACTORY LINING
4. WATER CIRCULATION
1. HIGH TOP PRESSURE :
 It is a pressure distribution method.
 It helps good furnace operation and reduced fuel rate by decreasing velocity of the
gases and by increasing retention time for the gas-solid reaction.
 A blast furnace is usually operated with a furnace- top pressure of about 250 kPa.
2. DEAD MAN’S ZONE :

 REGION : Just upper the slag region and below tuyere which is also known as
RACEWAY REGION.
 TEMP: 1600-1700ºC.
 FORMATION :
1. In raceway region , a cohesive force zone is created by the interaction
between the falling cokes and the upward hot flue gases.
2. For this some coke does not react while moving downwards and this
inactive coke stores like a hip in just lower the tuyere region and there is no rxn taking
place .
Hence it is called DEAD MAN’S ZONE.
3. REFRACTORY LINING :
 As we know the melting point of Fe is 1534-1536ºC and the maximum temp
attained in blast furnace is 2000 ºC .
 So we need to use high temp withstanding material whose melting point is
above 2000 ºC. This material is basically REFRACTORY MATERIAL.
That’s why we use refractory lining along with iron shell.
 Basically HIGH ALUMINA REFRACTORY BRICKS are used.( nowadays

CASTABLES are widely used)
4. WATER CIRCULATION :
 Between refractory lining and iron shell , WATER JACKET is present to circulate
the cold water.
 It is formed by Cu-tube as Cu is greater conductor of heat.
 It maintain the EQUILIBRIUM of SUDDEN HEAT LOSS of refractory lining.

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BLAST FURNACE

What is Blast Furnace?

Hight of a Blast Furnace is about 30 meter and the width

The function of Blast Furnace is

The Blast Furnace is a huge, steel

Iron ore, coke and limestone are

2. Fluxing agent : CaCO3

3. Fuel : Coke ( applied in almond/ pallet shape)

The main chemical reaction producing the molten

2 C(s) + O2(g) → 2 CO(g)

SiO2 + CaO → CaSiO3

FeO(s) + CO(g) → Fe(s) + CO2(g)

C(s) + CO2(g) → 2 CO(g)

COMBUSTION TUYERE 2200 K C + O2 = CO2 , (dH= -ve)

FUSION BOSH 1570 K CO2 + C = 2CO ;

SLAG FORMATION MIDDLE PORTION OF 1270 K CaCO3 = CaO + CO2 ;

REDUCTION UPPER PART OF BLAST  700-900 k 3Fe2O3 + CO = 2Fe3O4 + CO2 ;

 This characteristics are --------

1. HIGH TOP PRESSURE

2. DEAD MAN’S ZONE

2. DEAD MAN’S ZONE :

That’s why we use refractory lining along with iron shell.

 Basically HIGH ALUMINA REFRACTORY BRICKS are used.( nowadays

 It is formed by Cu-tube as Cu is greater conductor of heat.

 It maintain the EQUILIBRIUM of SUDDEN HEAT LOSS of refractory lining.

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