Pilot plant testing of Illinois coal for blast furnace injection. Technical report, March 1--May 31, 1995

A new use for Illinois coal is as fuel injected into a blast furnace to produce molten iron as first step in steel production. Because of cost and decreasing availability, metallurgical coke is being replaced by coal injected at the tuyere area of the furnace where the blast air enters. Purpose of this study is to evaluate combustion of Illinois coal in the blast furnace injection process in a pilot plant test facility. (Limited research to date suggests that coals of low fluidity and moderate to high S and Cl contents are suitable for blast furnace injection.) This proposal is intended to complete the study under way with Armco and Inland and to demonstrate quantitatively the suitability of Herrin No. 6 and Springfield No. 5 coals for injection. Main feature of current work is testing of Illinois coals at CANMET`s pilot plant coal combustion facility. During this quarter, two additional 300-pound samples of coal (IBCSP-110 Springfield No. 5 and an Appalachian coal) were delivered. Six Illinois Basin coals were analyzed with the CANMET model and compared with other bituminous coals from the Appalachians, France, Poland, South Africa, and Colombia. Based on computer modeling, lower rank bituminous coals, including coal from the Illinois Basin, compare well in injection with a variety of other bituminous coals