Blast Furnace Burden Softening and Melting Phenomena - Melting Onset in Acid and Basic Fluxed Pellets

摘要

The cohesive zone, where ferrous burden materials soften and melt, greatly affects the performance of the blast furnace. Mainimizing the position of the cohesive zone will improve productivity and decrease the coke rate. This article is part of an in-progress research designed to better understand the softening and melting phenomena. The liquid onset in the oxide core is one of the mechanisms that leads to the loss of mechanical strength in ferrous burden materials. Experiments were conducted to visualize the onset of liquid in the oxide core of pellets using the Confocal Scanning Laser Microscope. The results show that the initial liquid appears at temperatures relatively lower than expected in the dolomite fluxed pellet, as well as in the acid pellet.