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Metals
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Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking
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Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 June 2025 | Viewed by 5409

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guang Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China
Interests: blast furnace; iron ore; low-carbon metallurgy
Dr. Qiangjian Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
Interests: blast furnace; iron ore; low-carbon metallurgy
Dr. Qiang Zhong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: iron ore agglomeration; low-carbon metallurgy; resource utilization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Steel is the base material for the sustainable development of human society. In 2021, over 1.95 billion tons of crude steel was produced. It is expected that the world demand and production of steel will continue growing in the near future. The steel industry has to provide economical and environment-friendly product with limited resources and emissions. As an energy-intensive industry, high quantities of fossil fuels such as coal, coke and natural gas are consumed in steel manufacturing processes. Generally, most steel is produced by blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace flow sheet. The blast furnace is the main resource and fuel consumption unit. The present production mode will be changed in the future, but will not be completely replaced. To face this challenge, new paradigms must be investigated and developed in advance in order to improve this sector, making it sustainable in the future and compatible with the target of global warming control. We no longer have time for approaches that do not work. Therefore, we are initiating this Special Issue entitled "Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking". This Special Issue will focus on the current and future research concerning the efficient and sustainable development of blast furnace ironmaking processes via bench-scale experiments, pilot-scale tests, modeling analysis, CFD simulation, etc.

Dr. Guang Wang
Dr. Qiangjian Gao
Dr. Qiang Zhong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • innovative blast furnace charge (highly reducible sinter, pellet and ferro-coke)
  • utilization of reduced iron ore in blast furnace
  • high-ratio pellet/lump ore operation
  • utilization of biomass, waste plastics and other recycled hydrocarbon materials as a substitute for injection coal
  • H2, CH4 and COG injection in blast furnace smelting
  • utilization of blast furnace top gas for chemical synthesis aiming to mitigate CO2 emissions
  • top gas recycling
  • high-oxygen-enrichment coal injection
  • CO2 separation from blast furnace top gas
  • emission reduction and economic analysis

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4097 KiB  
Article
Occurrence Form of Potassium Vapor in Sinter and Its Effect on Reduction Degradation Indexes
by Jiantao Ju, Huayong Wang, Xiangdong Xing, Manbo Liu, Guiqing Zhao and Xintai Jiang
Metals 2023, 13(6), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13061010 - 24 May 2023
Viewed by 1515
Abstract
In this study, potassium vapor was prepared by using potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and activated carbon (C) reagents to simulate the actual situation of adsorbing potassium vapor from the sinter in the blast furnace. The potassium-rich sinter was characterized by [...] Read more.
In this study, potassium vapor was prepared by using potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and activated carbon (C) reagents to simulate the actual situation of adsorbing potassium vapor from the sinter in the blast furnace. The potassium-rich sinter was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS). The effects of potassium vapor content on the enrichment ratio, adsorption rate, and low-temperature reduction degradation index (RDI+3.15mm) of sinter have been studied. The results show that with the increase of potassium vapor content, the enrichment ratio of potassium in the sinter increases, and the adsorption rate of potassium in the sinter increases first and then decreases, which was opposite to the trend of the low-temperature reductive degradation index of the sinter. When the potassium vapor content was increased by 50 times, the enrichment ratio and low-temperature reduction powder of the sinter are the highest, which were 2576% and 85.3%, respectively, and the adsorption rate of the sinter was the lowest, which is 51.5%. Meanwhile, potassium vapor changes from physical adsorption K2CO3 to chemical adsorption KFeO2 as the potassium vapor content increases. In addition, the transformation of the occurrence form of potassium vapor in the sinter during the rising process has also been clarified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking)
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12 pages, 7870 KiB  
Article
Effect of Silica Content on Iron Ore Sintering
by Jie Liu, Wenzheng Jiang, De Cheng, Qiang Zhong, Chen Liu, Yi Jiang, Jianwei Zhu, Hui Zhang, Libing Xu and Xianguo Ma
Metals 2023, 13(6), 1009; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13061009 - 23 May 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3319
Abstract
During the iron ore sintering process, its SiO2 content considerably affects the sinter quality. In this study, the effect of SiO2 content on iron ore sintering indexes was studied, with mineral composition and microstructure analyses. It was shown that the strength [...] Read more.
During the iron ore sintering process, its SiO2 content considerably affects the sinter quality. In this study, the effect of SiO2 content on iron ore sintering indexes was studied, with mineral composition and microstructure analyses. It was shown that the strength and reducibility of sintering products improved when SiO2 content increased. The sinter yield and tumbler index increased from 69.57% and 58.67% to 74.02% and 62.32%, respectively, with SiO2 content increasing from 3.92% to 5.12%. Moreover, the reduction disintegration index (RDI+3.15) increased from 66.50% to 68.28%. There was a quadratic function relationship between SiO2 content (x) and RDI+3.15 (y): y = −0.4841x2 + 5.8932x + 50.8189. Maintaining the SiO2 content in the range of 4.52% to 5.12% would promote the formation of compound calcium ferrite (SFCA) and silicate as the main binding phase which determined the quality of sintering products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking)
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15 pages, 4195 KiB  
Article
Pressure Drop and Gas Flow in an Oxygen Blast Furnace Analyzed by a Combination of Experimentation and a Porous Model
by Cong Li, Qingguo Xue, Haibin Zuo, Jingsong Wang and Guang Wang
Metals 2023, 13(3), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13030455 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1688
Abstract
As a modification of the conventional blast furnace (BF), the top gas recycling-oxygen blast furnace (TGR-OBF) has been continuously studied in the context of the technological transformation of low-carbon metallurgy. As it has a set of new gas inlets in the stack and [...] Read more.
As a modification of the conventional blast furnace (BF), the top gas recycling-oxygen blast furnace (TGR-OBF) has been continuously studied in the context of the technological transformation of low-carbon metallurgy. As it has a set of new gas inlets in the stack and changes the blast operation system in the hearth, the pressure drop and the in-furnace gas flow are the primary problems to be solved in the TGR-OBF’s industrialization. In this paper, a two-dimensional model of a whole blast furnace, based on a softening-and-melting experiment and porous-medium theory, is established. The in-furnace pressure drop and the gas velocity with different oxygen concentrations and tuyere heights are studied. The results show that the suitable height of the stack tuyere is the same as that of the elevation as the cohesive zone inside the furnace. With the gradual increase in oxygen enrichment, the permeability of the cohesive ore layer (COL) increases, while the gas flow through the coke layer (CL) decreases gradually up to 10%. The simulation results provide a theoretical basis for the TGR-OBF to reduce the coke rate and keep the pressure drop from increasing, or even to enable it to decrease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking)
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22 pages, 6763 KiB  
Article
Mathematical Simulation of Iron Ore Fines Sintering Process with Solid Fuel Segregation Distribution and Corresponding Heat Pattern Study
by Qiangjian Gao, Lei Bao, Pengxuan Zhu, Xin Jiang, Haiyan Zheng and Fengman Shen
Metals 2022, 12(12), 2126; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12122126 - 11 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2464
Abstract
The fuel segregation distribution sintering process, with a high fuel dosage in upper layer and a low fuel dosage in bottom layer of the sintering bed, was studied to handle uneven heat distribution problems in the conventional iron ore sintering process. A mathematical [...] Read more.
The fuel segregation distribution sintering process, with a high fuel dosage in upper layer and a low fuel dosage in bottom layer of the sintering bed, was studied to handle uneven heat distribution problems in the conventional iron ore sintering process. A mathematical simulation method was adopted to contrastively study the fuel segregation distribution sintering process and the conventional iron ore sintering process. The accuracy of the model was verified through the sintering experiments. In addition, different heights of the upper and bottom sintering beds were discussed to assess the fuel segregation distribution sintering technology. In contrast to the conventional iron ore sintering process, the temperature evolution in the sintering bed using the fuel segregation distribution sintering technology tended to be more reasonable and the heat accumulation in the upper bed increased, which meant that the melt quantity index increased from 2178 to 2387 K·min−1, and cooling rate decreased from 360 to 199 K·min−1. The drawbacks of the conventional iron ore sintering process, such as the heat shortage in upper bed and excess heat in lower bed, were therefore improved, which was also proven to promote the sinter quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking)
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14 pages, 8267 KiB  
Article
Kinetic Analysis of Isothermal and Non-Isothermal Reduction of Iron Ore Fines in Hydrogen Atmosphere
by Binbin Lyu, Guang Wang, Fan Yang, Haibin Zuo, Qingguo Xue and Jingsong Wang
Metals 2022, 12(10), 1754; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12101754 - 19 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2097
Abstract
Direct reduction of iron ore with H2 has become an alternative technology for iron production that reduces pollutant emissions. The reduction kinetics of iron ore fines in an H2 atmosphere under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions were studied by thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray [...] Read more.
Direct reduction of iron ore with H2 has become an alternative technology for iron production that reduces pollutant emissions. The reduction kinetics of iron ore fines in an H2 atmosphere under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions were studied by thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to measure the mineral composition and analyse the morphology of the reduced fines, respectively. In the isothermal reduction experiment, it was found that the final reduction time was shorter, the higher the temperature, and the metallic iron particles formed a dense matrix structure. It is likely that the initial stages reduction process is the result of a combination of gaseous diffusion and interfacial chemical reaction mechanisms, and that the later stages a combination of interfacial chemical reaction and solid diffusion is the rate control mechanism. In the non-isothermal experiment, the heating rate had a significant effect on the reaction rate. The results show that the non-isothermal reduction proceeded through three stages: mixing control model, two-dimensional diffusion, and three-dimensional diffusion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Efficient and Sustainable Blast Furnace Ironmaking)
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