Cross-upgrading of biomass hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis for high quality blast furnace injection fuel production:Physicochemical characteristics and gasification kinetics analysis

The paper proposes a biomass cross-upgrading process that combines hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis to produce high-quality blast furnace injection fuel.The results showed that after upgrading,the volatile content of biochar ranged from 16.19%to 45.35%,and the alkali metal content,ash content,and specific surface area were significantly reduced.The optimal route for biochar pro-duction is hydrothermal carbonization-pyrolysis(P-HC),resulting in biochar with a higher calorific value,C=C structure,and increased graphitization degree.The apparent activation energy(E)of the sample ranges from 199.1 to 324.8 kJ/mol,with P-HC having an E of 277.8 kJ/mol,lower than that of raw biomass,primary biochar,and anthracite.This makes P-HC more suitable for blast furnace injection fuel.Additionally,the paper proposes a path for P-HC injection in blast furnaces and calculates potential environmental benefits.P-HC of-fers the highest potential for carbon emission reduction,capable of reducing emissions by 96.04 kg/t when replacing 40wt%coal injec-tion.

A Novel Sensing Imaging Equipment Under Extremely Dim Light for Blast Furnace Burden Surface:Starlight High-Temperature Industrial Endoscope

Blast furnace(BF)burden surface contains the most abundant,intuitive and credible smelting information and acquiring high-definition and high-brightness optical images of which is essential to realize precise material charging control,optimize gas flow distribution and improve ironmaking efficiency.It has been challengeable to obtain high-quality optical burden surface images under high-temperature,high-dust,and extremelydim(less than 0.001 Lux)environment.Based on a novel endoscopic sensing detection idea,a reverse telephoto structure starlight imaging system with large field of view and large aperture is designed.Combined with a water-air dual cooling intelligent self-maintenance protection device and the imaging system,a starlight high-temperature industrial endoscope is developed to obtain clear optical burden surface images stably under the harsh environment.Based on an endoscope imaging area model,a material flow trajectory model and a gas-dust coupling distribution model,an optimal installation position and posture configuration method for the endoscope is proposed,which maximizes the effective imaging area and ensures large-area,safe and stable imaging of the device in a confined space.Industrial experiments and applications indicate that the proposed method obtains clear and reliable large-area optical burden surface images and reveals new BF conditions,providing key data support for green iron smelting.

Extraction of Valuable Metals from Titanium-bearing Blast Furnace Slag by Acid Leaching

To realize the resource utilization of the valuable metals in the titanium-containing blast furnace slag,the process route of “hydrochloric acid leaching-electrolysis-carbonization and carbon dioxide capture-preparation of calcium carbonate” was proposed.In this study,the influences of process conditions on the leaching rates of calcium,magnesium,aluminum,and iron and the phases of the leaching residue were investigated for the leaching process.The experimental results show that the HCl solution could selectively leach the elements from the titanium-containing blast furnace slag.The better leaching conditions are the HCl solution concentration of 4 mol/L,the leaching time of 30 min,the ratio of liquid volume to solid gas of 10 mL/g,and the stirring paddle speed of 300 r/min.Under the conditions,the leaching rates of calcium,magnesium,aluminum,and iron can reach 85.87%,73.41%,81.35%,and 59.08%,and the leaching rate of titanium is 10.71%.The iron and the aluminum are removed from the leachate to obtain iron-aluminum water purification agents,and the magnesium is removed from the leachate to obtain magnesium hydroxide.The leaching residue phase is dominated by perovskite,followed by magnesium silicate and tricalcium aluminate,and the titaniumrich material could be obtained from the leaching residue by desiliconization.

Synthesis,Characterization of NaA Zeolite from Blast Furnace Slag(BFS)via Alkaline Fusion and Hydrothermal Treatment

A blast furnace slag zeolite(BFSZ)material was successfully synthesized from BFS by alkaline fusion and hydrothermal treatment.Via the analyses of XRD,FT-IR,FE-SEM,XRF,CEC and BET surface area measurement,when zeolite was synthesized at a crystallization temperature of 100℃with initial Si/Al ratio of 1:1,the main composition in the product is Na-A zeolite.Under the above conditions,the BFSZ was synthesized with CEC of 3.06 meq/g and maximum BET surface area of 37.55 m^(2)·g^(-1).Moreover,the incorporating of BFS-derived minor metals(such as Mg,Fe,and Ca)are found to be of little importance for the synthesis of BFSZ.Thus the obtained BFSZ material has a great adsorption performance for removing Mn^(2+),Cu^(2+),and NH_(4)^(+)ions diluted in water,owing to the higher CEC.

Minimax entropy-based co-training for fault diagnosis of blast furnace

Due to the problems of few fault samples and large data fluctuations in the blast furnace(BF)ironmaking process,some transfer learning-based fault diagnosis methods are proposed.The vast majority of such methods perform distribution adaptation by reducing the distance between data distributions and applying a classifier to generate pseudo-labels for self-training.However,since the training data is dominated by labeled source domain data,such classifiers tend to be weak classifiers in the target domain.In addition,the features generated after domain adaptation are likely to be at the decision boundary,resulting in a loss of classification performance.Hence,we propose a novel method called minimax entropy-based co-training(MMEC)that adversarially optimizes a transferable fault diagnosis model for the BF.The structure of MMEC includes a dual-view feature extractor,followed by two classifiers that compute the feature's cosine similarity to representative vector of each class.Knowledge transfer is achieved by alternately increasing and decreasing the entropy of unlabeled target samples with the classifier and the feature extractor,respectively.Transfer BF fault diagnosis experiments show that our method improves accuracy by about 5%over state-of-the-art methods.

Efficient Use of Steel Slag in Alkali-Activated Blast Furnace Slag Based Geopolymer

Energy shortage and the emission of greenhouse gases have become a global problem of urgent concern.Therefore,there is an urgent need to develop a low carbon building material.Geopolymers have become a hot topic due to their environmental sustainability and the feasibility of immobilizing industrial waste.In this paper,steel slag(SS)fines were investigated as auxiliary materials of blast furnace slag(BFS)based geopolymer.The hydration heat properties,flowability,compressive strength,sorptivity coefficient,X-ray diffraction(XRD),and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)of the geopolymer pastes were determined.The results showed that the incorporation of SS weakened the reactivity of the BFS-based geopolymer paste and improved the flow values of the paste.The compressive strength of the geopolymer with 20%SS content reached 117 MPa at 28 d.The geopolymer specimens with high compressive strength showed a low sorptivity coefficient.The microscopic results showed that the addition of the appropriate amount of SS reduced the cracks,improved the density of the geopolymer,and produced a geopolymer composite with excellent mechanical properties.

Post-mortem Microstructural Study of Aluminous Refractory Brick Used in Channels of Blast Furnaces

Aluminous refractory materials with high alumina contents are widely used in the steel industry,and the higher the alumina content,the higher the working temperature.Properties such as high refractoriness and thermal shock resistance lead these refractory materials to be used as channel linings of blast furnaces,where they are exposed to the attack by slag,molten steel,working cycles and sudden temperature changes between 25℃(room temperature)and 1520℃(the temperature of molten pig iron).In this work,microstructural changes in post-mortem aluminous refractory bricks were investigated by apparent porosity,X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD),Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),scanning electron microscopy,and X-ray dispersion energy spectrometry(SEM/EDS).The results showed an increase in the apparent porosity and the bulk density and the presence of the phases mullite,sillimanite,alumina,and quartz in the post-mortem brick.Calcium and magnesium were not detected in the microstructure of the post-mortem brick,indicating that slags did not corrode these refractory materials.Therefore,the microstructural changes that occurred in the post-mortem bricks must be due to thermal cycling.In the X-ray diffraction(XRD)test,mullite,sillimanite,quartz,andα-alumina phases were identified.These results indicate that the aluminous refractory was obtained from sillimanite.In infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)it was possible to identify the vibration bands referring to the Si-O and Al-O bonds.The increase in the porosity is a result of cracks caused by work cycles at high temperatures and the temperature gradient to which the refractory was subjected during use.Through the micrograph it was possible to identify the presence of acicular mullite.The absence of magnesium and calcium in the microanalysis results by energy dispersed X-ray spectrometry(EDS)indicates that there was no infiltration by slag or liquid iron.These results indicate that the microstructural changes that occurred in the post-mortem aluminous refractory were of a thermal nature.

Preparation and Properties of SiC Assembled Large Block for Blast Furnace Tuyeres

A SiC assembled large block for blast furnace tuyeres was prepared using silicon carbide particles(3-1 and 1-0.088 mm)and fine powder(<0.088 mm),silicon powder(<0.088 mm),industrial carbon black(N990),microsilica,ρ-Al_(2)O_(3) powder,etc.as raw materials.The developed block was compared with a silicon nitride bonded silicon carbide brick,a self-bonded silicon carbide brick and an imported self-bonded silicon carbide block to analyze and evaluate their service performance.The results show that:(1)in the 0-100 mm zone,the SiC large block mainly consists ofβ-SiC and nitrides such as O'-SiAlON,β-SiAlON,α-Si_(3)N_(4),and Si_(2)N_(2)O,the bulk density is 2.68-2.70 g·cm^(-3),the apparent porosity is 14%-15%,and the material structure is uniform;(2)in the 0-100 mm zone,β-SiC nano-whiskers intercalate with nitrides;with the depth increasing,the number of flocculentβ-SiC nano-whiskers increases,while the number of nitrides decreases;when the depth reaches 150 mm or more,the main bonding phases areβ-SiC and mullite;(3)compared with the reference products,the developed SiC large block has a good basic performance,and after alkali corrosion,the mass change rate is-0.1%,which is obviously superior to the imported self-bonded silicon carbide and the homemade silicon nitride bonded silicon carbide materials.

Research on Weighing System and Debugging Technology for Batching Under Blast Furnace Ore Tank

The article introduces the composition and working principle of the batching and weighing system underneath the blast furnace hearth.Besides,the shortcomings of the batching and weighing system during installation,debugging,and calibration,as well as the dynamic errors in the batching process are also analyzed.Corresponding solutions are then provided.

Indirect mineral carbonation of blast furnace slag with(NH4)2SO4 as a recyclable extractant

Large quantities of CO_2 and blast furnace slag are discharged in the iron and steel industry. Mineral carbonation of blast furnace slag can offer substantial CO_2 emission reduction and comprehensive utilisation of the solid waste. In this study, a recyclable extractant,(NH_4)_2SO_4, was used to extract calcium and magnesium from blast furnace slag(main phases of gehlenite and akermanite) by using low-temperature roasting to fix CO_2 through aqueous carbonation. The process parameters and efficiency of the roasting extraction, mineralisation, and Al recovery were investigated in detail. The results showed that the extractions of Ca, Mg, and Al can reach almost 100% at an(NH4)_2SO_4-to-slag mass ratio of 3:1 and at 370°C in 1 h. Adjusting the p H value of the leaching solution of the roasted slag to 5.5 with the NH_3 released during the roasting resulted in 99% Al precipitation, while co-precipitation of Mg was lower than 2%. The Mg-rich leachate after the depletion of Al and the leaching residue(main phases of CaSO_4 and SiO_2) were carbonated using(NH_4)_2CO_3 and NH_4HCO_3 solutions, respectively, under mild conditions. Approximately 99% of Ca and 89% of Mg in the blast furnace slag were converted into CaCO_3 and(NH_4)_2 Mg(CO_3)_2·4 H_2O,respectively. The latter can be selectively decomposed to magnesium carbonate at 100-200 °C to recover the NH_3 for reuse. In the present route, the total CO_2 sequestration capacity per tonne of blast furnace slag reached up to 316 kg, and 313 kg of Al-rich precipitate, 1000 kg of carbonated product containing CaCO_3 and SiO_2, and 304 kg of carbonated product containing calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate were recovered simultaneously. These products can be used, respectively, as raw materials for the production of electrolytic aluminium, cement, and light magnesium carbonate to replace natural resources.

Simultaneous preparation of TiO2 and ammonium alum,and microporous SiO2 during the mineral carbonation of titanium-bearing blast furnace slag

In this study,a route for simultaneous mineralization of CO2 and production of titanium dioxide and ammonium alum,and microporous silicon dioxide from titanium-bearing blast furnace slag(TBBF slag)was proposed,which is comprised of(NH4)2 S04 roasting,acid leaching,ammonium alum crystallization,silicic acid flocculation and Ti hydrolysis.The effects of relevant process parameters were systematically investigated.The re sults showed that under the optimal roasting and leaching conditions about 85%of titanium and 84.6%of aluminum could be extracted while only 30%of silicon entered the leachate.84%of Al^3+was crystallized from the leachate in the form of ammonium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate with a purity up to 99.5 wt%.About 85%of the soluble silicic acid was flocculated with the aid of secondary alcohol polyoxyethylene ether 9(AEO-9)to yield a microporous SiO2 material(97.4 wt%)from the crystallized mother liquor.The Al-and Si-depleted solution was then hydrolyzed to generate a titanium dioxide(99.1 wt%)with uniform particle size distribution.It was figured out that approximately 146 kg TiO2 could be produced from 1000 kg of TBBF slag.Therefore,the improved process is a promising method for industrial application.

Outlier screening for ironmaking data on blast furnaces

Blast furnace data processing is prone to problems such as outliers.To overcome these problems and identify an improved method for processing blast furnace data,we conducted an in-depth study of blast furnace data.Based on data samples from selected iron and steel companies,data types were classified according to different characteristics;then,appropriate methods were selected to process them in order to solve the deficiencies and outliers of the original blast furnace data.Linear interpolation was used to fill in the divided continuation data,the Knearest neighbor(KNN)algorithm was used to fill in correlation data with the internal law,and periodic statistical data were filled by the average.The error rate in the filling was low,and the fitting degree was over 85%.For the screening of outliers,corresponding indicator parameters were added according to the continuity,relevance,and periodicity of different data.Also,a variety of algorithms were used for processing.Through the analysis of screening results,a large amount of efficient information in the data was retained,and ineffective outliers were eliminated.Standardized processing of blast furnace big data as the basis of applied research on blast furnace big data can serve as an important means to improve data quality and retain data value.

Micromorphology and safety properties of meager and meager-lean coal for blast furnace injection

Four types of meager and meager-lean coal and one type of high-quality anthracite were selected based on the safety requirements for blast furnace coal injection and domestic coal quality to conduct microstructure and component analyses.The analyses of the organic and inorganic macerals and the chemical compositions of the selected coal samples indicate that the four types of meager and meager-lean coal have low volatilization,low ash content,and low sulfur content;these qualities are suitable for blast furnace injection.Grindability test was conducted on the four types of meager and meager-lean coal and the anthracite mixed coal samples.Results indicate that the mixture of meager and meager-lean coal and anthracite is beneficial to improve the grindability of pulverized coal.The explosive tests reveal that the selected coal samples are non-explosive or weakly explosive.When the proportion of meager and meager-lean coal is less than 40wt%,the mixed coal powder would not explode during the blowing process.The minimum ignition temperature test determines that the minimum ignition temperatures of the four types of meager and meager-lean coal and anthracite are 326,313,310,315,and 393°C,respectively.This study provides a guiding research idea for the safety of meager and meager-lean coal used in blast furnace injection.

Determination of dielectric properties of titanium carbide fabricated by microwave synthesis with Ti-bearing blast furnace slag

The preparation of functional material titanium carbide by the carbothermal reduction of Ti-bearing blast furnace slag with microwave heating is an effective method for valuable metals recovery;it can alleviate the environmental pressure caused by slag stocking.The dynamic dielectric parameters of Ti-bearing blast furnace slag/pulverized coal mixture under high-temperature heating are measured by the cylindrical resonant cavity perturbation method.Combining the transient dipole and large π bond delocalization polarization phenomena, the interaction mechanism of the microwave macroscopic non-thermal effect on the titanium carbide synthesis reaction was revealed.The material thickness range during microwave heating was optimized by the joint analysis of penetration depth and reflection loss, which is of great significance to the design of the microwave reactor for the carbothermal reduction of Ti-bearing blast furnace slag.

Pore structure evolution during the coke graphitization process in a blast furnace

Pore structure is an important factor influencing coke strength,while the property of coke is essential to maintaining gas and liquid permeability in a blast furnace.Therefore,an in-depth understanding of the pore structure evolution during the graphitization process can reveal the coke size degradation behavior during its descent in a blast furnace.Coke graphitization was simulated at different heating temperatures from 1100 to 1600℃ at intervals of 100℃.The quantitative evaluation of the coke pore structure with different graphitization degree was determined by vacuum drainage method and nitrogen adsorption method.Results show that the adsorption and desorption curves of graphitized coke have intersection points,and the two curves did not coincide,instead forming a“hysteresis loop.”Based on the hysteresis loop analysis,the porous structure of the graphitized coke mostly appeared in the shape of a“hair follicle.”Furthermore,with an increase in heating temperature,the apparent porosity,specific surface area,total pore volume,and amount of micropores showed good correlation and can divided into three stages:1100-1200,1200-1400,and 1400-1600℃.When the temperature was less than 1400℃,ash migration from the inner part mainly led to changes in the coke pore structure.When the temperature was greater than 1400℃,the pore structure evolution was mainly affected by the coke graphitization degree.The results of scanning electron microscopy,energy dispersive spectrometry,and ash content analyses also confirmed that the migration of the internal ash to the surface of the matrix during the graphitization process up to 1400℃ contributed to these changes.

Recent progress of efficient utilization of titanium-bearing blast furnace slag

Titanium-bearing blast furnace slag(BFS)has valuable compositions and potential environmental hazardousness.Thus,developing efficient and green approaches to utilize BFS is highly desired for resource economization and environmental protection.In the past decades,many attempts have been adopted to reuse BFS efficiently,and significant advances in understanding the fundamental features and the development of efficient approaches have been achieved.This review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest progress on the efficient utilization of BFS and discusses the mechanism and characteristics of various approaches,along with their application prospects.In particular,the extraction and enrichment of titanium-bearing phases from BFS are highlighted because of the high availability of titanium resources.This systemic and comprehensive review may benefit the design of new and green utilization routes with high efficiency and low cost.

Causality Diagram-based Scheduling Approach for Blast Furnace Gas System

Rational use of blast furnace gas(BFG) in steel industry can raise economic profit, save fossil energy resources and alleviate the environment pollution. In this paper, a causality diagram is established to describe the causal relationships among the decision objective and the variables of the scheduling process for the industrial system, based on which the total scheduling amount of the BFG system can be computed by using a causal fuzzy C-means(CFCM) clustering algorithm. In this algorithm,not only the distances among the historical samples but also the effects of different solutions on the gas tank level are considered.The scheduling solution can be determined based on the proposed causal probability of the causality diagram calculated by the total amount and the conditions of the adjustable units. The causal probability quantifies the impact of different allocation schemes of the total scheduling amount on the BFG system. An evaluation method is then proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of the scheduling solutions. The experiments by using the practical data coming from a steel plant in China indicate that the proposed approach can effectively improve the scheduling accuracy and reduce the gas diffusion.

Technology status and development of mineral wool made of blast furnace slag

Under the trend of low-carbon economy,the technique of producing mineral wool insulation material from molten blast furnace slag are of great significance both to Insulation materials industry and metallurgical industry on the aspects of energy conservation and emissions reduction.This paper presents characteristics and use of mineral wool made of blast furnace slag,and also introduces mineral wool production process and key techniques.It also put forward a number of issues need to be addressed in the process.The inherent mechanism affecting the performance of the of mineral wool is analyzed.And it points out the target and future direction of R & D in Baoshan Iron and Steel in mineral wool technology field.

Antibacterial Properties of V-doped Titanium-bearing Blast Furnace Slag Prepared at Different Calcination Temperatures

Perovskite-type V-doped titanium-bearing blast furnace slag (VTBBFS) photocatalyst was prepared by high-temperature solid phase method.The influence of calcination temperature on the photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of VTBBFS was studied in details.Its composition and microstructure were evaluated by X-ray diffractometer,ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrometer,Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and scanning electron microscope.The antibacterial properties of VTBBFS to Candida albicans were investigated by flask oscillation method.The results showed that the optical absorption and antibacterial properties of VTBBFS were the best with 10%(ω) doping of vanadium,prepared at 800℃ for 2 h,and its sterilization rate was close to 100% to Candida albicans (ATCC10231).The minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations were 25 and 50 mg/mL.When the concentration was 0.2 μg/mL,the catalyst had the least toxic toxicity.

Gasification of iron coke and cogasification behavior of iron coke and coke under simulated hydrogen-rich blast furnace condition

To explore the iron coke application in hydrogen-rich blast furnace,which is an effective method to achieve the purpose of low carbon emissions,the initial gasification temperature of iron coke in CO_(2) and H_(2)O atmosphere and its cogasification reaction mechanism with coke were systematically studied.Iron coke was prepared under laboratory conditions,with a 0-7wt%iron ore powder addition.The properties of iron cokes were tested by coke reactivity index(CRI)and coke strength after reaction(CSR),and their phases and morphology were evolution discussed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis.The results indicated that the initial gasification temperature of iron coke decreased with the increase in the iron ore powder content under the CO_(2) and H_(2)O_((g))atmosphere.In the 40vol%H_(2)O+60vol%CO_(2) atmosphere,CRI of iron coke with the addition of 3wt%iron ore powder reached 58.7%,and its CSR reached 56.5%.Because of the catalytic action of iron,the reaction capacity of iron coke was greater than that of coke.As iron coke was preferentially gasified,the CRI and CSR of coke were reduced and increased,respectively,when iron coke and coke were cogasified.The results showed that the skeleton function of the coke can be protected by iron coke.