Coal combustion under conditions of blast furnace injection; [Quarterly] technical report, September 1--November 30, 1993

A potentially new use for Illinois coal is its use as a fuel injected into a blast furnace to produce molten iron as the first step in steel production. Because of its increasing cost and decreasing availability, metallurgical coke is now being replaced by coal injected at the tuyere area of the furnace where the blast air enters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the combustion of coal during the blast furnace injection process and to delineate the optimum properties of the feed coal. This investigation is significant to the use of Illinois coal in that the limited research to date suggests that coals of low fluidity and moderate to high sulfur and chlorine contents are suitable feedstocks for blast furnace injection. This study is unique in that it will be the first North American effort to directly determine the nature of the combustion of coal injected into a blast furnace. This proposal is a follow-up to one funded for the 1992--1993 period. It is intended to complete the study already underway with the Armco Inc. steel company and to initiate a new cooperative study along somewhat similar lines with the Inland Steel Company. The results of this study will lead to the development of a testing and evaluation protocol that will give a unique and much needed understanding of the behavior of coal in the injection process and prove the potential of Illinois coals f or such use