7TH EUROPEAN COKE AND IRONMAKING CONGRESS - ECIC 2016

Coke is the only raw material which remains solid even at the lowest zone of blast furnace. The bed-permeability in the bosh zone of the blast furnace is maintained by the solid coke structure. The wetting behaviour of slags in the coke bed of the bosh region in a blast furnace plays a very important role on the process efficiency by directly influencing the free movement of the burden and furnace gas and thereby affecting the fuel consumption. Cokes of unsuitable quality will lead to lower permeability in the bosh zone and hinder the furnace operation. In this work, various industrial coke samples are treated with slags of different basicities in a drop-shape analysis facility at high temperature similar to process conditions. The coke samples have been treated under standard CRI (Coke Reactivity Index) test conditions beforehand in order to impart a closer process simulation. The results display the variations in wetting angle, temperature and time for different coke and slag combinations as a function of coke properties and slag compositions. The wetting behaviour at the coke/hot metal interface has also been investigated. The results provide a better understanding of the solid-liquid interaction which takes place at the bosh region of the blast furnace.