Possibilities for intensifying blast-furnace smelting

An article published earlier by I. E. Sperkach and I. F. Kurunov [Metallurg, No. 2 (2005)] presented additional information in support of the author’s proposal that blast-furnace smelting practice be changed over to the use of 600 kPa top-gas pressure and a high-parameter combination blast (oxygen content up to 42%, natural-gas consumption up to 250 m3/ton pig). A blast-furnace complex which operates at high pressures with such a blast and which includes equipment to compress and heat the blast, a compact blast furnace, a gas-cleaning system, and a waste-gas turbine holds promise as a new generation of engineering system that would significantly enhance the competitiveness of blast-furnace smelting.