RECYCLING OF PLASTIC RAW-MATERIALS AS RED UCING AGENTS IN BLAST-FURNACES

Plastics, such as those accumulated within the scope of Germany's Dual es System Deutschland, a packaging recycling scheme, were tested for t heir suitability as reducing agents in the blast furnace process. It w as found that all the relevant parameters were met and that waste plas tics can therefore be used as a substitute for coal or oil in blast fu rnaces. A system of waste plastics injection was developed in several stages and an industrial installation with an annual capacity of 70 00 0 t built at blast furnace II of Stahlwerke Bremen. Its operation is a ccompanied by numerous tests and measurements. Seen as a central eleme nt of the measurement programme are the measurements of dioxin and fur ane emissions which, in all cases, have been found to be at extremely low and hardly detectable levels. An ecobalance undertaken by independ ent institutes shows plastics recycling in blast furnaces to occupy a top ecological placing compared with the other feedstock recycling pro cesses.