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RAW MATERIAL PLANT

FOR IRON MAKING

IRON ORES
ORE
MAGNETITE
62
HEMATITE
(a) RED HEMATITE
60

APPEARANCE

COMPOSITION

STEEL GREY OR BLACK

EARTHY OR ROCK ,RED

(b) BROWN HEMATITE


60-42

BROWN EARTHY

SIDERITE OR SPATHIC

CRYSTALLINE GREY

IRON STONE
42-30

GREY TO LIGHT BROWN

EARTHLY OR STONEY

% OF IRON

Fe 3O4

Fe 2O3

72-

70-

2 Fe 2O33H2O

FeCO 3
FeCO 3

48-35

MAGNETITE:

HEMATITE:(RED)

HEMATITE:(BROWN)

DIFFERENT IRON ORES

LOCATION OF IRON ORE MINES IN


INDIA

Iron Ores

The most important variety of iron ore are:


Nomenclature Composition Fe %age

Location
Makarwal, Swabi, Chitral (PAK),
Land of midnight sun (Sweden),
Pennsylvania(USA), Siberia(Russia)

Magnetite
(Black oxide)

Fe3O4

72.4

Hematite (red,
brown &
black)

Fe2O3

40-65

Kala bagh, Chnari, Chaghi, Chalghazi (PAK),


Lake superior, Utah (USA), Lorraine (France),
Amazon basin (Brazil)

Limonite &
other
hydroxide
types of ores

2Fe2O3 . H2O
to
Fe2O3 . 3H2O

20-55

Not found in PAK,


Britains East coast

Siderite

FeCO3

Low in
Fe

Hazara, Mardan (PAK),


South Wales, Staffordshire &west York (UK)

Iron Pyrite
(yellow)

FeS

42

Mardan, Chitral (PAK)

Background Raw Materials used

Coke

Pellets, Sinter

Iron Ore

Plus Dolomite, limestone etc


Page 12

February 2011

Edward Long

Siemens VAI Metals Technologies Ltd

BLAST FURNACE

Raw materials
Iron ore magnetite , Hematite ,Siderite
Coke used as fuel
Lime stone /Dolomite/ Silicon used as flux

Where from iron produced?


Raw iron is found in earths crust,
as an ore.
Iron ore mostly found as Fe2O3 (the
form of iron oxide found as the
mineral hematite).

Where from iron produced?


At present, blast furnace is most commonly
used furnace to produce iron.
The Blast furnace iron making process
basically consists of the conversion of iron
oxide to iron in liquid form . This requires
reductant for reduction of iron oxide and
heat for the above reduction reaction to
take place. The primary source to fulfill
both these requirements is carbon (in the
form of coke).

Where from iron produced?


The blast furnace is a vertical
counter-current heat exchanger as
well as a chemical reactor in which
burden material charged from the top
descend downward and the gasses
generated at the tuyere level ascend
upward.

Raw Material Section in iron making


Broadly a raw material section in iron
making plant has the following
sections:
a. Iron Ore Handling System
b. Coke & Coal Handling System
c. Lime & Other Material Handling
System
d. Sinter Plant

Flow Diagram

Iron
Ore

Blast
Furnace

Iron
Ore
Mine

Ore crushed &


Transported from
mine to plant

Blast
Furnace

Steel Plant

Iron Ore Section


Stack
Yard

Material
Handling
System

Iron Ore Section


Iron ore chunks dugs from the earth and
taken to process plant.
Chunks are crushed to small fractions, and
impurities are removed by magnetic
separator or other means. The small iron
fractions are formed into marble sized
pellets in forming drums and discs. Then
the pellets are transported to stack yard of
steel plant.

Iron Ore Section

Iron ore is collected from mines and crushed

Iron Ore Section

Stack Yard

Processed iron ore are dumped at stack yard

Iron Ore Section


Belt Conveyor

Iron ore are transported through belt conveyor

Iron Ore Section


Material
Handling
System

Raw Materials are


Stored and
transported
inside steel plant
and fed into
Blast Furnace
through material
handling system

Flow Diagram
Iron
Ore

Coal

Coke
Oven
Plant

Coke

Blast
Furnace

Metallurgical Coke

Coke is a solid carbonaceous material derived from


destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur
bituminous coal.
The volatile constituents of the coalincluding water,
coal-gas, and coal-tarare driven off by baking in an
airless oven at temperatures as high 1000 C.
Metallurgical coke is produced by carbonization of
coal at high temperatures to produce a macroporous
carbon material of high strength and relatively large
lump size.
Notes:
Metallurgical cokes must have a high strength to support
heavy loads in the blast furnace without disintegration.

Coke Manufacturing Process


Bituminous coal is pulverized by ball mill into fine
powder.
Fine coal is heated in coke oven battery at 700900
C in absence of air. This process is called
Carbonization.
After soaking at this temperature for about 78 hrs.,
it is allowed to cool in the furnace.
Due to coking property of bituminous coal powdered
coal converts into lump size and becomes very hard
and highly porous.
After cooling, the coke produced is crushed into
desired size.

Coke Manufacturing Process


Strength of the coke,
fixed Carbon (88-92%),
sulphur content and
ash content
is determined in the testing laboratory for
justifying the quality of the coke.
By-products like tar may also be collected during
carbonization process.

Quality Control and Standards


Coking coal used should have
low ash content,
low sulphur and
should be highly coking in nature for better quality of coke.
Other properties like
porosity,
abrasive strength and
hardness
must be checked in the laboratory for maintaining the
quality of Metallurgical coke.

Coal & Coke Section


Processed &
Transported from
mine to plant

Stack
Yard
Steel Plant

Coal
Mine

Transportation by
Material Handling
System

Coke

Blast
Furnace

Material
Handling
System

Stack

Coke
Oven
Plant

Coal & Coke Section


Coal are collected from mines. Then
they are washed & crushed to pieces.
After that coal is transported to stack
yard of steel plant. From stack
through material handling section,
they are transported to coke oven
section, where coal is baked and
converted into coke.

Coal & Coke Section

Coal is collected from mines

Coal & Coke Section

Coal is processed, washed and crushed and then


transported into stack yard of steel plant

Coal & Coke Section

Processed coal is dumped at stack yard and transported


to coke oven plant by material handling system

Coal & Coke Section: Coke


Oven Plant
Coke is source of thermal energy
inside the Blast Furnace, which burns
and the converted heat melts the iron
ore.

Coal & Coke Section: Coke


Oven Plant
Coke Stack

Material
Handling
System

Storage Bunker
(Coal Tower)

Stamp
Charging Car
Coal Pushed in

Water
Sprayed

Coke lump collected


under ground,
Crushed & Stacked

Quenching
Car

Coke
Pushed out

Coke Oven
Battery
Waste Volatile
Substance

Waste

Coke Bridge

Liquid Chemical

Off gas
used as fuel

Coal & Coke Section: Coke


Oven Plant

Schematic View of Coke Oven battery. Here instead of


collecting coal at stamp charging car, loose coal is
directly fed into the oven from top.

Coal & Coke Section: Coke


Oven Plant

Stamp Charging Machine: Erection Stage

Coal & Coke Section: Coke


Oven Plant

Stamped Coal cake ready for charging into the oven

Coal & Coke Section: Coke


Oven Plant

Stamped Coal cake pushed into the oven

Flow Diagram
Iron
Ore
Coke
Coke
Oven
Plant

Coal

Flux

Blast
Furnace

Flux

Flux crushed &


Transported from
source to plant

Blast
Furnace

Steel Plant

Flux Section
Stack
Yard

Material
Handling
System

Flux Section
Flux is added in the blast furnace to
remove impurities, by producing slag.
Lime is the most commonly used flux
material. Lime may be used as a flux
in the form of CaO, limestone
(CaCO3), dolomite (magnesium
calcium carbonate) or dolomitic lime
(product obtained from burning or
roasting of dolomite).

Flux Section
Lime is used as a flux in solid,
particulate form and reacts with
impurities in the charge to form a
slag.
It is important that the slag be kept
fluid, not only to increase its ability to
scavenge impurities from molten
metal, but also to permit the slag to
be readily removed from the furnace.

Flux Section
Formation of slag has a adverse effect also.
Lime in reaction with silica or silicates
present in the ore forms dicalcium silicate,
which has 38000C melting point. It form a
coating on lime particles and prevent it
from further reaction.
Auxiliary flux is used for the purpose of
facilitating the reaction between lime and
silica or silicates. Fluorspar is a example of
auxiliary flux.

Flow Diagram
Iron
Ore
Coke
Oven
Plant

Coal

Coke
Blast
Furnace

Flux
Fines
from
different
sources

Sinter

Sinter Plant Section


In order to enhance the productivity of
blast furnaces, a high percentage of sinter
charge is a prerequisite.
Sinter is an agglomeration of iron ore fines,
coke and limestone in the form of cakes.
To ensure sinter burden in the blast
furnaces at 75 per cent, a total of 3 million
tonnes of sinter was envisaged for a
production of about 2 million tonnes of hot
metal.

Sinter Plant Section

Sinter Plant

Sinter Plant Section

Sinter Plant

Sinter Plant Section

Simple Flow Diagram of Sinter Plant

Sinter Plant Section


The raw materials used are as follows Iron ore fines (-10 mm), coke breeze (-3
mm), Lime stone & dolomite fines (-3mm)
and other metallurgical wastes. The
proportioned raw materials are mixed and
moistened in a mixing drum. The mix is
loaded on sinter machine through a feeder
onto a moving grate (pallet) and then the
mix is rolled through segregation plate so
that the coarse materials settle at the
bottom and fines onto the top.

Sinter Plant Section


The top surface of the mix is ignited
through stationary burners at 1200oC. As
the pallet moves forward, the air is sucked
through wind box situated under the grate.
A high temperature combustion zone is
created in the charge -bed due to
combustion of solid fuel of the mix and
regeneration of heat of incandescent sinter
and outgoing gases. Due to forward
movement of pallet , the sintering process
travels vertically down. The different zones
created on a sinter-bed are shown in the
simple flow diagram of sinter plant.

Sinter Plant Section


Sinter is produced as a combined result of
locally limited melting , grain boundary
diffusion and recrystallization of iron
oxides.
On the completion of sintering process,
finished sinter cake is crushed and cooled.
The cooled sinter is screened and + 6 mm
fraction is dispatched to blast furnace
through material handling system and -6
mm is re-circulated as return sinter.

Blast Furnace
All the raw material is charged into
the blast furnace, from top, through
variable throat armour or any other
means.
The purpose of a blast furnace is to
chemically reduce and physically
convert iron oxides into liquid iron
called "hot metal".

Blast Furnace
The blast furnace is a huge, steel stack
lined with refractory brick, where iron ore,
coke and limestone are dumped into the
top, and preheated air is blown into the
bottom.
The raw materials require 6 to 8 hours to
descend to the bottom of the furnace where
they become the final product of liquid slag
and liquid iron. These liquid products are
drained from the furnace at regular
intervals.

Blast Furnace
The hot air that was blown into the
bottom of the furnace ascends to the
top in 6 to 8 seconds after going
through numerous chemical
reactions. Once a blast furnace is
started it will continuously run for
four to ten years with only short stops
to perform planned maintenance.

Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace

Pig Iron - Properties & uses


Definition:- It is a high-carbon iron made by reduction of
iron ore in the blast furnace.

Metallic iron, which is a product of reduction of


of iron ore, appears in the lower part of stack & in
the bosh.

It contains ~ 1 % C and found to in spongy form. As


this material sinks down in the B.F. and is heated
further, iron dissolves C in increasing quantities.
This reduces the melting temp & it melts and draws
off to the hearth in the form of drops.

Pig Iron (Continue)


Pig iron is really a complex alloy. In addition
to Fe, it contains up to 10 % of other
elements, mainly, C, Mn, Si, S & P.
Total amount of C in the pig iron is usually
between 3 4% & is present either as
compound, iron carbide (Fe3C) or as uncombined carbon in the form of graphite.
Pig iron low in S & high in P may be used in
the manufacture of acid steel & high-duty
iron castings.

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