Improved pulverized coal injection technology for the blast furnace

The blast furnace process is the most important process to produce crude iron. The necessary process energy is mainly covered by coke. A decisive measure in improving cost effectiveness by reducing the blast furnace coke rate was the injection of auxiliary fuels like pulverized coal, oil or natural gas into the raceway of the blast furnace. This paper will focus primarily on five important steps of continuous improvements in pulverized coal injection technology including the reduction of transport and injection gas to a minimum, the development of PCI-plant design, the implementation of a fast and accurate injection rate control system, long-distance dense phase conveying and the Oxycoal(+) technology. Finally future trends concerning pulverized coal injection into the blast furnace are discussed.