8th International Congress on Science and Technology of Ironmaking - ICSTI 2018

In sinter plants, at the end of the sintering process the product is subjected to high performance screens of 20 mm, 10 mm and 5 mm respectively. This allows part of the middle size fraction to be utilized as a hearth layer in sinter strands. Normally, the screened product is then remixed to be sent to the blast furnace plant, where it is charged into the furnace. In contrast, if the screened material is charged in separate layers in the BF, the overall pressure drop may be decreased, as narrow material distribution results lower pressure drop. In order to verify the concept a set of pressure drop experiments were carried out for each of the different size fractions and coke particle layers along with the combination thereof. In this paper, the results from the experiments are discussed along with a discussion on the implication of such a charging process on blast furnace operation.