Thermal reactivity and flowability of pulverized coal blending with iron-bearing dust injection in blast furnace process

Pulverized coal (PC) blending with iron-bearing dust (IBD) injection technology in blast furnace (BF) iron-making process was proposed to valorize the IBD. Three aspects containing the co-flow property of PC and IBD, thermal reactivity and corresponding kinetics during the PC combustion process, as well as thermal variation and unburned PC distribution in BF were the main focuses of the present work. It has found that the Carr-flowability indexes of PC and IBD appear little difference. Their blends can be smoothly transported when adding portion of the IBD is less than 6%. In addition, comprehensive combustibility index (S), ignition index (Ci), and burnout index (Db) of the PC are improved when the mass fraction of the IBD enhances from 0% to 3%, and 6%, which proves that blending with the IBD can accelerate the PC combustion process. Moreover, the combustion activation energy (E) decreases after adding the IBD, which supports the improved thermal reactivity. Also, the accumulation of unburned PC in BF presents a decline tendency, which may promote the permeability of BF and help enhancing the pulverized coal injection dosage.