Factors influencing carbon dissolution from cokes into liquid iron

In a blast furnace carburisation of iron is one of the most important reactions and must be better understood if the blast furnace is to be made more sustainable. Identifying the key mechanisms governing the rate of carburisation of liquid iron is complicated by the intricate nature of the carbonaceous materials used. In this study two cokes prepared from coals of similar rank, ash yield and carbon crystallite structural parameters were investigated. It is found that the apparent carbon dissolution rate in molten iron at 1823 K for the two cokes differed by over an order of magnitude. Coke 1, K=14.7X10(-3)s(-1), carburised molten iron much faster than Coke 2, K= 1.1 X10(-3) s(-1) and the difference is attributed to differences in the composition of their mineral matter.