Kejiang Li

Zinc Accumulation and Behavior in Tuyere Coke

A case study of zinc oxide, which represents the first report on the occurrence, crystalline features, formation mechanism, and influence of this mineral in tuyere coke, was conducted in this study. A number of zinc oxides, some of which were in hexagonal wurtzite habit, were observed to distribute mainly in coke pores, cracks, surfaces, and around coke minerals. The accumulation of zinc in tuyere coke may enhance the degradation of coke and increase the generation and accumulation of coke fine in a blast furnace, which would cause bad effect on blast furnace operation. Investigations into zinc behavior in tuyere coke can be important for further interpretations of coke degradation in the high temperature zone of a blast furnace.

Interfaces Between Coke, Slag, and Metal in the Tuyere Level of a Blast Furnace

An in-depth understanding about the reactions in the high-temperature zone of a blast furnace is significant to optimize both the current and future blast furnace process. The interfaces between coke, slag, and metal were observed using scanning electronic microscope with samples obtained from the tuyere level of a blast furnace. Two types of slag phases were identified, one originating from coke ash and the other from the bosh slag. Slag formed by coke ash was seen to cover the coke surface, which may hinder the reaction of coke with both gas and liquid iron. The reduction of FeO from the bosh slag (originated from the primary slag) occurs in the coke/slag interface with the reduced iron forming a metal layer surrounding the coke surface. The reduction of SiO2 occurs both in and outside the coke, and the reduced silicon reacts with iron to form iron silicide if the two species come into contact. Further study is proposed based on the results of this study.

Devolatilization Characteristics and Kinetic Analysis of Lump Coal from China COREX3000 Under High Temperature

A devolatilization study of two lump coals used in China COREX3000 was carried out in a self-developed thermo-gravimetry at four temperature conditions [1173 K, 1273 K, 1373 K, and 1473 K (900 °C, 1000 °C, 1100 °C, and 1200 °C)] under N2. This study reveals that the working temperature has a strong impact on the devolatilization rate of the lump coal: the reaction rate increases with the increasing temperature. However, the temperature has little influence on the maximum mass loss. The conversion rate curve shows that the reaction rate of HY lump coal is higher than KG lump coal. The lump coals were analyzed by XRD, FTIR, and optical microscopy to explore the correlation between devolatilization rate and properties of lump coal. The results show that the higher reaction rate of HY lump coal attributes to its more active maceral components, less aromaticity and orientation degree of the crystallite, and more oxygenated functional groups. The random nucleation and nuclei growth model (RNGM), volume model (VM), and unreacted shrinking core model (URCM) were employed to describe the reaction behavior of lump coal. It was concluded from kinetics analysis that RNGM model was the best model for describing the devolatilization of lump coals. The apparent activation energies of isothermal devolatilization of HY lump coal and KG lump coal are 42.35 and 45.83 kJ/mol, respectively. This study has implications for the characteristics and mechanism modeling of devolatilization of lump coal in COREX gasifier.

Graphitization of Coke and Its Interaction with Slag in the Hearth of a Blast Furnace

Coke reaction behavior in the blast furnace hearth has yet to be fully understood due to limited access to the high temperature zone. The graphitization of coke and its interaction with slag in the hearth of blast furnace were investigated with samples obtained from the center of the deadman of a blast furnace during its overhaul period. All hearth coke samples from fines to lumps were confirmed to be highly graphitized, and the graphitization of coke in the high temperature zone was convinced to start from the coke surface and lead to the formation of coke fines. It will be essential to perform further comprehensive investigations on graphite formation and its evolution in a coke as well as its multi-effect on blast furnace performance. The porous hearth cokes were found to be filled up with final slag. Further research is required about the capability of coke to fill final slag and the attack of final slag on the hearth bottom refractories since this might be a new degradation mechanism of refractories located in the hearth bottom.

Combustion kinetics and structural features of bituminous coal before and after modification process

Coal modification process is becoming popular to be used to upgrade coal quality. The upgraded coal (semi-coke) can be utilized in ironmaking process. Thermogravimetry and DAEM were used to analyze the combustion kinetics of bituminous coal before and after modification in this study. To understand the factors influencing the combustion process, various advanced techniques including X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were adopted to investigate the structural features of the combusted samples. The results showed that the coal aromaticity increases significantly with the side-chains and chain length reduced, while the matrix structure transforms to graphite-like structure after the modification process. Those structural changes lead to the decrease in coal reactivity, thus weakening the coal combustion performance.

The influence of simultaneous adsorption of potassium and sodium vapours on coke structure and performance

Alkali metals are one of the important factors promoting the degradation of coke in blast furnace. Previous studies usually focused on the properties of coke affected, respectively, by K and Na separately, while K and Na will simultaneously affect coke performance in the actual production of blast furnace. Through simulating the actual situation where coke is affected by K and Na vapours simultaneously in blast furnace, the evolution of coke structure and thermal properties (CRI, CSR) after alkalisation with different proportions of K and Na vapours are revealed in this study. Results showed that coke structure was broken when the proportion of alkali vapours reached 3%, and coke fine formation rate increased with the increase of K vapour, indicating that K vapour caused a great damage to coke structure; CRI of coke reached the highest and CSR the lowest when K/Na ratio was 3/7. It was observed with SEM/energy dispersive spectrometer that K and Na existed in both mineral matters and carbon matrix; nepheline, generated when coke reacted with alkaline (K, Na) vapours, was determined by XRD. The content of K and Na in nepheline is dependent on the ratio of alkaline (K, Na).

Microstructure and Phase Transformation of a Sinter Bearing Low Ti During Reduction

To discuss the reduction behaviors and the transformation mechanism of the Fe containing phases and slag phases of low Ti-bearing sinter (LTS), reduction experiments of the LTS were conducted. The reduction of the LTS was divided into four stages based on the reduction rate, deformation quantity of LTS particle column, phase changes, and microstructural changes. The reduction process could be explained with quasi unreacted core model as three stratifications with different phases and microstructures were observed clearly in the medium-temperature reducing stage. For the reduction of Ti-SFCA, a middle phase of the reduction was found and the phase was surrounded by metallic iron. According to the composites of the reduced Ti-SFCA, the middle phase was a solid solution and difficult to be reduced which consisted mainly of brownmillerite–perovskite and monocalcium silicate. The phase transformation and microstructure changes were mutual coupling in the complicated reduction process of the LTS.

Effect of B2O3 on reduction of FeO in Ti bearing blast furnace primary slag

Abstract The effect of B2O3 on reduction of FeO from iron saturated FeO–CaO–SiO2–MgO–Al2O3–TiO2 slags by graphite has been studied under static conditions between 1473 and 1573 K. The compositions of quenched samples were determined by electron probe X-ray analysis (EPMA). The reduction degree (R) of FeO in each sample was obtained by mass balance and compared with the reduction of FeO in the slags without B2O3. The results showed that FeO reduction in the primary slag was effectively improved with only 1 mass-% B2O3 content, but did not continue to increase with the increase in B2O3 content and it reduced slightly at about 3 mass-%B2O3. After reduction B2O3 gathered in the liquid phase where it can restrain the formation of iron–titanium oxide and promote the reduction of FeO, so benefiting blast furnace operation.

ReaxFF Molecular Dynamics Simulation for the Graphitization of Amorphous Carbon: A Parametric Study

A parametric study of ReaxFF for molecular dynamics simulation of graphitization of amorphous carbon was conducted. The responses to different initial amorphous carbon configurations, simulation time steps, simulated temperatures, and ReaxFF parameter sets were investigated. The results showed that a time step shorter than 0.2 fs is sufficient for the ReaxFF simulation of carbon using both Chenoweth 2008 and Srinivasan 2015 parameter sets. The amorphous carbon networks produced using both parameter sets at 300 K are similar to each other, with the first peak positions of pair distribution function curves located between the graphite sp2 bond peak position and the diamond sp3 bond peak position. In the graphitization process, the graphene fragment size increases and the orientation of graphene layers transforms to be parallel with each other with the increase of temperature and annealing time. This parallel graphene structure is close to the crystalline graphite. Associated with this graphitization is the presence of small voids and pores which arise because of the more efficient atomic packing relative to a disordered structure. For all initial densities, both potential parameter sets exhibit the expected behavior in which the sp2 fraction increases significantly over time. The sp2 fraction increases with increasing temperature. The differences of sp2 fraction at different temperatures are more obvious in lower density at 1.4 g/cm3. When density is increased, the gap caused by different temperatures becomes small. This study indicates that both Chenoweth 2008 and Srinivasan 2015 potential sets are appropriate for molecular dynamics simulations in which the growth of graphitic structures is investigated.

Infiltration behavior of sintering liquid on nuclei ores during low-titanium ore sintering process

Sinter strength is dependent not only on the self-intensity of the residual rude and bonding phase but also on the bonding degree between them. The infiltration behavior of sintering liquid on nuclei ores influences the bonding degree, which ultimately determines the sinter strength. Infiltration tests were conducted using micro-sinter equipment. The infiltration area index of original liquid (IAO), infiltration volume index of secondary liquid (IVS), and sinter body bonding strength (SBS) were proposed to study the melt infiltration behavior. The results show that the IVS first increases and then decreases with increasing TiO2 content in adhering fines, whereas the IAO exhibits the opposite behavior. Compared with the original liquid, the secondary liquid shows lower porosity, smaller pores, and more uniform distribution. The SBS increases first and then decreases with increasing IAO and TiO2 content, and reaches a maximum when the IAO and TiO2 contents are approximately 0.5 and 2.0wt%, respectively. The SBS first increases and then tends to be stable with increasing IVS. The TiO2 content is suggested to be controlled to approximately 2.0wt% in low-titanium ore sintering.