Authors:
Ranjan Dey | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
Panneerselvam S | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
C. Natarajan | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
Velappan S | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
Subhasis Gangopadhyay | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
Thiagarajan N | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
Raghavendra Pai | Carborundum Universal Limited | India
Blast Furnace ironmaking process is currently the dominant process for providing steelmaking raw materials worldwide. However, the blast furnace process relies heavily on metallurgical coke and involves coke-making and sintering operations, which often attract serious environmental concerns. Therefore, Direct Reduction and Smelting Reduction technologies using non-coking coal or other gases as reducing agents to replace metallurgical coke have emerged as alternative routes for iron production. Due to the vast difference in operating conditions between these processes, requirement of suitable refractory lining and critical parameters also vary to a large extent.
Silicon Carbide based refractories with different bond system e.g. Silicon Nitride, SiAlON have been established as most suitable lining refractory in the critical area of blast furnace over the years. The major advantage of Silicon Carbide Refractory with Silicon Nitride and SiAlON bonding are Alkali Resistance, Oxidation Resistance, Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Shock Resistance, Abrasion Resistance etc.
For direct reduction of iron in shaft furnace process using natural gas, high alumina refractory specifically for bustle port and the wall requires superior Refractoriness Under Load and Creep resistance properties.
Characterisation of developed refractories for lining of blast furnace, COREX and DRI shaft kiln has been discussed in these paper.