IMPROVING THE DESIGN OF BLAST-FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUSES

摘要

An analysis of trends in world metallurgy shows that the main goal of current scientific research is improving the technologies used to make high-quality metal by minimizing the cost of energy and raw materials and making the production processes cleaner from an environmental standpoint. While new technologies are actively being developed, it is still important to be able to produce substantial quantities of high-quality pig iron on blast furnaces that have been rebuilt with allowance for the latest technical advances. One promising trend in regard to making blast-furnace smelting more efficient is the effort being made to improve the charging apparatus. This component performs several functions and is designed mainly to feed the charge materials into the furnace. In so doing, the charging apparatus distributes the materials inside the furnace in accordance with the requirements of the smelting technology being used. The charging apparatus also hermetically seals the working space of the furnace. A double bell and hopper is the type of charging apparatus used on most blast furnaces (Fig. 1). Here, the pressure in the space between the large and small bells must periodically be equalized with the pressure that exists in the furnace (before the large bell is lowered) and with the atmospheric pressure (before the small bell is lowered). A double bell and hopper also has other disadvantages - problems that increase fuel consumption and decrease furnace productivity.