Development of Burden Distribution Technology at U. S. Steel Canada's Hamilton Works 'E' Blast Furnace

摘要

U. S. Steel Canada's Hamilton Works (the former Stelco Hamilton Works), in Hamilton, Ont., stack and bosh are covered by cast-iron staves, and the hearth wall is cooled by water spray. A pulverized coal injection facility was added in 1995 with design capacity up to 400 lb/NTHM. Typical operating conditions for this furnace include 135,000 scfm wind rate, 2,010°F hot blast temperature, and up to 9% oxygen enrichment of the blast for a high coal rate and natural gas rate. Originally, 'E' blast furnace was a two-bell-top furnace. In 1991, a single-hopper Paul Wurth Bell Less Top~R replaced the bell top. To set up the operational chute angles, two filling studies were conducted on the furnace in 1992 and 1999, respectively. In those two filling studies, as shown in Figure 2, a 23-foot x 2-foot bridge (datum bar) was placed across the furnace throat at the normal stockline of elevation 216 feet, 2 1/8 inches. A camcorder was mounted on a flare port to capture the impact ranges on the bar made by the discharged material. Figure 3 is a summary of the experimental results, showing the relationship between the impact range and chute angle for coke trajectories. It appears that the results measured in the two filling studies were consistent, except for the outer boundary at smaller chute angles. Based on the experimental data, appropriate chute angles were determined, which were applied at Hamilton Works 'E' blast furnace without any major changes.