PROPERTIES OF IRON-BEARING MATERIALS UNDER SIMULATED BLAST-FURNACE INDIRECT REDUCTION CONDITIONS - PART 1 - REVIEW AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

A review of currently used standard tests to characterise the behaviou r of iron bearing materials in a blast furnace shaft is carried out. I n particular, the relevance of standard test low temperature reduction degradation and reducibility results to blast furnace operation is di scussed. Following a review of more sophisticated tests, designed to o btain a closer simulation of blast furnace conditions, a laboratory sc ale furnace built at the BHP Research Newcastle Laboratories is descri bed. The furnace is capable of testing around 500 g of ferrous materia l with simulated vertical blast furnace profiles of tem perature and g as composition. The maximum sample temperature used in the furnace was 900 degrees C, and a gas mixture composed of N-2, H-2, CO2, and CO wa s used for reduction. Three BHP blast furnaces were considered, and te mperature-gas composition profiles were calculated using a numerical t wo-dimensional flow, heat transfer, and reaction model of the blast fu rnace shaft. The wall and centre profiles of each of the furnaces were simulated. Finally, the properties of the iron bearing materials sele cted for the study, including sinters, pellets, and lump ores, were ch aracterised under standard test conditions.