Key issues and progress of industrial big data-based intelligent blast furnace ironmaking technology

Blast furnace (BF) ironmaking is the most typical “black box” process, and its complexity and uncertainty bring forth great challenges for furnace condition judgment and BF operation. Rich data resources for BF ironmaking are available, and the rapid development of data science and intelligent technology will provide an effective means to solve the uncertainty problem in the BF ironmaking process. This work focused on the application of artificial intelligence technology in BF ironmaking. The current intelligent BF ironmaking technology was summarized and analyzed from five aspects. These aspects include BF data management, the analyses of time delay and correlation, the prediction of BF key variables, the evaluation of BF status, and the multi-objective intelligent optimization of BF operations. Solutions and suggestions were offered for the problems in the current progress, and some outlooks for future prospects and technological breakthroughs were added. To effectively improve the BF data quality, we comprehensively considered the data problems and the characteristics of algorithms and selected the data processing method scientifically. For analyzing important BF characteristics, the effect of the delay was eliminated to ensure an accurate logical relationship between the BF parameters and economic indicators. As for BF parameter prediction and BF status evaluation,a BF intelligence model that integrates data information and process mechanism was built to effectively achieve the accurate prediction of BF key indexes and the scientific evaluation of BF status. During the optimization of BF parameters, low risk, low cost, and high return were used as the optimization criteria, and while pursuing the optimization effect, the feasibility and site operation cost were considered comprehensively.This work will help increase the process operator’s overall awareness and understanding of intelligent BF technology. Additionally, combining big data technology with the process will improve the practicality of data models in actual production and promote the application of intelligent technology in BF ironmaking.

Intelligent optimization method for the dynamic scheduling of hot metal ladles of one-ladle technology on ironmaking and steelmaking interface in steel plants

The one-ladle technology requires an efficient ironmaking and steelmaking interface. The scheduling of the hot metal ladle in the steel plant determines the overall operational efficiency of the interface. Considering the strong uncertainties of real-world production environments, this work studies the dynamic scheduling problem of hot metal ladles and develops a data-driven three-layer approach to solve this problem. A dynamic scheduling optimization model of the hot metal ladle operation with a minimum average turnover time as the optimization objective is also constructed. Furthermore, the intelligent perception of industrial scenes and autonomous identification of disturbances, adaptive configuration of dynamic scheduling strategies, and real-time adjustment of schedules can be realized. The upper layer generates a demand-oriented prescheduling scheme for hot metal ladles. The middle layer adaptively adjusts this scheme to obtain an executable schedule according to the actual supply–demand relationship. In the lower layer, three types of dynamic scheduling strategies are designed according to the characteristics of the dynamic disturbance in the model:real-time flexible fine-tuning, local machine adjustment, and global rescheduling. Case test using 24 h production data on a certain day during the system operation of a steel plant shows that the method and system can effectively reduce the fluctuation and operation time of the hot metal ladle and improve the stability of the ironmaking and steelmaking interface production rhythm. The data-driven dynamic scheduling strategy is feasible and effective, and the proposed method can improve the operation efficiency of hot metal ladles.

Recycling of ironmaking and steelmaking slags in Japan and China

The mass production of steel is inevitably accompanied by large quantities of slags.The treatment of ironmaking and steelmaking slags is a great challenge in the sustainable development of the steel industry.Japan and China are two major steel producing countries that have placed a large emphasis on developing new technologies to decrease slag emission or promote slag valorization.Slags are almost completely reused or recycled in Japan.However,due to stagnant infrastructural investments,future applications of slags in conventional sectors are expected to be difficult.Exploring new functions or applications of slags has become a research priority in Japan.For example,the utilization of steelmaking slags in offshore seabeds to create marine forests is under development.China is the top steel producer in the world.The utilization ratios of ironmaking and steelmaking slags have risen steadily in recent years,driven largely by technological advances.For example,hot stage processing of slags for materials as well as heat recovery techniques has been widely applied in steel plants with good results.However,increasing the utilization ratio of basic oxygen furnace slags remains a major challenge.Technological innovations in slag recycling are crucial for the steel industries in Japan and China.Here,the current status and developing trends of utilization technologies of slags in both countries are reviewed.

Mathematical Model and Its Hybrid Dynamic Mechanism in Intelligent Control of Ironmaking

A hybrid dynamic model was proposed, which considered both the hydrokinetic and the chaotic properties of the blast furnace ironmaking process; and great emphasis was put on its mechanism. The new model took the high complexity of the blast furnace as well as the effects of main parameters of the model into account, and the predicted results were in very good agreement with actual data.

Material flow control technology of ironmaking and steelmaking interface

In order to achieve higher efficient cohesion match of procedure and equipment between ironmaking and steelmaking interface, the theory of multi-dimensional material flow control was applied to analyze torpedo ladle-iron ladle transportation process between blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace. Moreover, basic parameters of material flow were analyzed and optimized, such as time, temperature and material quantity. Based on operating principles of material flow, control methods were optimized, such as product organization mode, scheduling discipline and scheduling plan of hot metal ladle. Finally, the material flow control technology of ironmaking and steelmaking interface was integrated. Satisfactory effects are obtained after applying the technology in practice. The total turnover number of torpedo ladle decreases from 20 to 18, the hot metal temperature of 1# BF torpedo ladle decreases from 36 °C to 19.5 °C, the hot metal temperature of 2# BF torpedo ladle decreases from 36.6 °C to 19.8 °C, the temperature drop of desulfurization hot metal decreases by 4 °C, and the temperature drop of non-desulfurization hot metal decreases by 2.8 °C. Furthermore, the ironmaking and steelmaking interface system will realize high-efficiency control by using this control technology.

Baosteel's technological progress in ironmaking and future prospects

Ironmaking at Baosteel has focused on blast furnaces over the last 30 years. After passing through the stages of ＂learning＂, ＂tracking＂, ＂usage＂, ＂experimentation＂, ＂innovation＂ and ＂development＂, Baosteel ＇ s production capacity has grown steadily and its standard of technology is increasing. Remarkable progress has been made in the technologies of blending stack, thick layer sintering, low silicon and high anhydroferrite sintering, coal blending, and the high productivity with high pulverized coal injection （PCI） rate and long campaign of the blast furnaces. The entire ironmaking process is developing in the direction of high efficiency, low energy consumption, clean production, and environmental protection because the zero discharge of solid waste and industrial sewage has been achieved. After 20 years of development, Baosteel has become a modernized iron producer with an annual capacity of 28.85 Mt of sinter,7.26 Mt of coke and 22.50 Mt of hot metal （Pugang Corex furnace output included）, and its main economic and technological indices have reached a world-class level.

A STUDY ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF GALLIUM IN THE IRONMAKING PROCESS

Gallium is a valuable rare metal which is mainly being used in the production of GaAs. The demand for gallium is increasing but production is limited since gallium is extracted only as a by-product of bauxite processing. On the other hand coal, ironmaking coke and iron ore gangue contain traces of gallium. However little is known about the behaviour of gallium in ironmaking. The aim of the study is to clarify the distribution of gallium between hot metal, slag and top gas by means of laboratory experiments. It was found that Ga2O3 is not stable in blast furnace slags and that gallium is retained in hot metal. Vacuum distillation experiments with hot metal showed that gallium is not transferred to the gas phase. Data on the input and output of gallium at two industrial blast furnaces, as well as chemical analyses of the gallium content of several cokes are presented, too.

The future of blast furnace ironmaking—a Nordic perspective

The blast furnace is the oldest metallurgical process in commercial use.It has gone through great improvements during the last decades and new important modifications are still foreseen.The huge amount of coal and coke needed for reduction of iron ore is resulting in emissions of carbon dioxide that have to be strongly reduced to meet the requirement of minimizing the carbon footprint.All residuals from iron- and steelmaking also need to be taken care of to meet the requirement of zero waste.This paper deals with several potential improvements of the blast furnace process being developed in the LKAB Experimental Blast Furnace in Lulea, Sweden over the last decade,including operation at ultra low slag volume,injection of BF flue dust,injection of BOF slag,and the oxygen blast furnace.

Innovation and Development of Refractories for Ironmaking Industry in Sinosteel Luonai

Since China’s Reform and Opening-up,the innovation and development of refractories for ironmaking industry in Sinosteel Luonai were narrated,including silica materials,Al_(2)O_(3)-SiO_(2) refractories and non-oxide composites;and the development direction of refractories for ironmaking industry was prospected.

Application of carbon composite iron ore hot briquette to innovative ironmaking process

As a new type of ironmaking raw materials,carbon composite iron ore hot briquette(CCB) is the product of fine iron ore and fine coal by hot briquetting process.On basis of experimental research on the manufacturing and metallurgical properties of CCB,this study focused on the application of CCB to blast furnace ironmaking and newly-developed shaft furnace smelting reduction processes.Firstly,the metallurgical properties of CCB are experimentally tested and compared with the common iron-bearing burdens.Then,the effects of charging CCB on blast furnace operation are numerically analyzed by means of multi-fluid blast furnace model,and the flowchart and pilot test of CCB-Shaft furnace smelting reduction process are briefly introduced.

Data-driven soft sensors in blast furnace ironmaking:a survey

The blast furnace is a highly energy-intensive,highly polluting,and extremely complex reactor in the ironmaking process.Soft sensors are a key technology for predicting molten iron quality indices reflecting blast furnace energy consumption and operation stability,and play an important role in saving energy,reducing emissions,improving product quality,and producing economic benefits.With the advancement of the Internet of Things,big data,and artificial intelligence,data-driven soft sensors in blast furnace ironmaking processes have attracted increasing attention from researchers,but there has been no systematic review of the data-driven soft sensors in the blast furnace ironmaking process.This review covers the state-of-the-art studies of data-driven soft sensors technologies in the blast furnace ironmaking process.Specifically,wefirst conduct a comprehensive overview of various data-driven soft sensor modeling methods(multiscale methods,adaptive methods,deep learning,etc.)used in blast furnace ironmaking.Second,the important applications of data-driven soft sensors in blast furnace ironmaking(silicon content,molten iron temperature,gas utilization rate,etc.)are classified.Finally,the potential challenges and future development trends of data-driven soft sensors in blast furnace ironmaking applications are discussed,including digital twin,multi-source data fusion,and carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

Coke behavior with H_(2)O in a hydrogen-enriched blast furnace:A review

Hydrogen-enriched blast furnace ironmaking has become an essential route to reduce CO_(2)emissions in the ironmaking process.However,hydrogen-enriched reduction produces large amounts of H_(2)O,which places new demands on coke quality in a blast furnace.In a hydrogen-rich blast furnace,the presence of H_(2)O promotes the solution loss reaction.This result improves the reactivity of coke,which is 20%-30%higher in a pure H_(2)O atmosphere than in a pure CO_(2)atmosphere.The activation energy range is 110-300 kJ/mol between coke and CO_(2)and 80-170 kJ/mol between coke and H_(2)O.CO_(2)and H_(2)O are shown to have different effects on coke degradation mechanisms.This review provides a comprehensive overview of the effect of H_(2)O on the structure and properties of coke.By exploring the interactions between H_(2)O and coke,several unresolved issues in the field requiring further research were identified.This review aims to provide valuable insights into coke behavior in hydrogen-rich environments and promote the further development of hydrogen-rich blast furnace ironmaking processes.

Effect of Water Vapor on O^(2-) Content in Ironmaking Slag

In principle, slag basicity can be expressed as the concentration of free oxygen （O^2-） in the slag system. This free oxygen content is equilibrated with different silicate anions in addition to other components in the silicate-based slags. X-ray photon spectroscopy （XPS） and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer （SEM-EDS） were used to investigate the effect of water vapor on the free oxygen content in ironmaking slags. It was found that water in the gas atmosphere plays a significant role in the silicate anion equilibria. Water decreases the amount of free oxygen in the studied slags, with the free oxygen expressed as percentage of the total oxygen decreasing in the order of the following gas mixtures： CO＋CO2 （44%, PH2O = 0 kPa） 〉 CO＋CO2＋H2＋H2O （41%, PH2O = 10.13 kPa） 〉 H2＋H2O （37%, PH2O = 14.19 kPa）. The content of free oxygen ion affects the distribution of elements such as sulfur, phosphorus, and manganese. In addition, it affects the iron oxide content in the slag as well as the interaction between slag and furnace lining.

Gasification kinetics of char formed from waste polyvinyl chloride for efficient utilization in ironmaking process

In the prevailing incineration processes of municipal solid waste,the presence of polyvinyl chloride(PVC)may cause environmental problems.The energy-intensive ironmaking sector in the iron and steel industry operates at high temperature and under high reduction potential with the function of energy conversion,which can provide a potential path for the collaborative utilization of waste plastics in large quantities and low cost.The gasification of the char formed from PVC when processed in the ironmaking sector is significant for the development of the related technologies.Thus,the gasification experiment of PVC char and traditional carbonaceous materials was performed by thermogravimetric analysis.The results indicated that the gasification ability decreased in the sequence of PVC char>anthracite coal>coke>graphite.Then,kinetics were also analyzed by Coats-Redfern and Doyle approximations.The PVC char showed the best gasification ability with the smallest activation energy,ranging from 87.18 to 117.52 kJ/mol,and the smaller graphitization degree of PVC char compared with other carbonaceous materials should be the main reason for its excellent gasification reactivity.

Decarbonization options of the iron and steelmaking industry based on a three-dimensional analysis

Decarbonization is a critical issue for peaking CO_(2) emissions of energy-intensive industries,such as the iron and steel industry.The decarbonization options of China’s ironmaking and steelmaking sector were discussed based on a systematic three-dimensional low-carbon analysis from the aspects of resource utilization(Y),energy utilization(Q),and energy cleanliness which is evaluated by a process general emission factor(PGEF)on all the related processes,including the current blast furnace(BF)-basic oxygen furnace(BOF)integrated process and the specific sub-processes,as well as the electric arc furnace(EAF)process,typical direct reduction(DR)process,and smelting reduction(SR)process.The study indicates that the three-dimensional aspects,particularly the energy structure,should be comprehensively considered to quantitatively evaluate the decarbonization road map based on novel technologies or processes.Promoting scrap utilization(improvement of Y)and the substitution of carbon-based energy(improvement of PGEF)in particular is critical.In terms of process scale,promoting the development of the scrap-based EAF or DR-EAF process is highly encouraged because of their lower PGEF.The three-dimensional method is expected to extend to other processes or industries,such as the cement production and thermal electricity generation industries.

Effect of MgO content in sinter on the softening–melting behavior of mixed burden made from chromium-bearing vanadium–titanium magnetite

The effect of sinter with different MgO contents on the softening-melting behavior of mixed burden made from chro- mium-bearing vanadium-titanium magnetite was investigated. The results show that with increasing MgO content in the sinter, the softening interval and melting interval increased and the location of the cohesive zone shifted downward slightly and became moderately thicker. The softening-melting characteristic value was less pronounced when the MgO content in the sinter was 2.98wt%-3.40wt%. Increasing MgO content in the sinter reduced the content and recovery of V and Cr in the dripped iron. In addition, greater MgO contents in the sinter resulted in the generation of greater amounts of high-melting-point components, which adversely affected the permeability of the mixed burden. When the softening-melting behavior of the mixed burden and the recovery of valuable elements were taken into account, proper MgO con- tents in the sinter and slag ranged from 2.98wt% to 3.40wt% and from 11.46wt% to 12.72wt%, respectively, for the smelting of burden made from chromium-bearing vanadium-titanium magnetite in a blast furnace.

Comparison of kinetic models for isothermal CO_2 gasification of coal char–biomass char blended char

This study investigated the isothermal gasification reactivity of biomass char （BC） and coal char （CC） blended at mass ratios of 1：3, 1：1, and 3：1 via isothermal thermogravimelric analysis （TGA） at 900, 950, and 1000℃ under CO2. With an increase in BC blending ra- tio, there were an increase in gasification rate and a shortening of gasification time. This could be attributed to the high specific surface area of BC and the high uniformity of carbon structures in CC when compared to those in BC. Three representative gas-solid kinetic models, namely, the volumetric model （VM）, grain model （GM）, and random pore model （RPM）, were applied to describe the reaction behavior of the char. Among them, the RPM model was considered the best model to describe the reactivity of the char gasification reaction. The activa- tion energy of BC and CC isothermal gasification as determined using the RPM model was found to be 126.7 kJ/mol and 210.2 kJ/mol, re- spectively. The activation energy was minimum （123.1 kJ/mol） for the BC blending ratio of 75%. Synergistic effect manifested at all mass ratios of the blended char, which increased with the gasification temperature.

Effects of MgO additive on metallurgical properties of fluxed-pellet

As a main charging burden of blast furnace(BF)ironmaking process,pellets play an important role in ironmaking process.However,compared with sinters,there are some inevitable disadvantages for traditional acid pellets,e.g.,reduction swell,low melting temperature.Therefore,the fluxed-pellets have been applied in BF,especially MgO-fluxed pellets.In the present study,the effects of category and content of MgO bearing additive on the compressive strength(CS),reduction swelling index(RSI),reduction disintegration index(RDI)and melting-dripping properties of the pellets were investigated.Minerals composition,pore distribution and microstructure of MgO-flux pellets were studied by X-ray powder diffraction(XRD),mercury intrusion method and scanning electron microscopy(SEM),respectively.The results show that the light burned magnesite(LBM)is more suitable MgO bearing additive for fluxed-pellets.With increasing LBM content from 0 to 2.0%,the CS decreases from 3066 to 2689 N,RSI decreases from 16.43%to 9.97%and RDI decreases from 19.2%to 12.99%.The most appropriate MgO bearing additive content in the fluxed-pellets is 2.0%according to principal component analysis(PCA).

Numerical Simulation of Innovative Operation of Blast Furnace Based on Multi-Fluid Model

A multi-fluid blast furnace model was simply introduced and was used to simulate several innovative ironmaking operations. The simulation results show that injecting hydrogen bearing materials, especially injecting natural gas and plastics, the hydrogen reduction is enhanced, and the furnace performance is improved simultaneously. Total heat input shows obvious decrease due to the decrease of heat consumption in direct reduction, solution loss and silicon transfer reactions. If carbon composite agglomerates are charged into the furnace, the temperature of thermal reserve zone will obviously decrease, and the reduction of iron-bearing burden materials will be retarded. However, the efficiency of blast furnace is improved just due to the decrease in heat requirements for solution loss, sinter reduction, and silicon transfer reactions, and less heat loss through top gas and furnace wall. Finally, the model is used to investigate the performance of blast furnace under the condition of top gas recycling together with plastics injection, cold oxygen blasting and carbon composite agglomerate charging. The lower furnace temperature, extremely accelerated reduction rate, drastically decreased CO2 emission and remarkably enhanced heat efficiency were obtained by using the innovative operations, and the blast furnace operation with superhigh efficiency can be realized.

Fundamentals of fast reduction of ultrafine iron ore at low temperature

Fundamentals on the fast reduction of ultrafine iron ore at low temperature, including characterization of ultrafine ore, deoxidation thermodynamics of stored-energy ultra.fine ore, kinetics of iron ore deoxidation, and deoxidation mechanism, etc., and a new ironmaking process are presented in this article. Ultrafine ore concentrate with a high amount of stored energy can be produced by mechanical milling, and can be deoxidated fast below 700℃ by either the coal-based or gas-based process. This novel process has some advantages over others： high productivity, low energy consumntion, and environmental friendliness.