2018 Volume 58 Issue 4 Pages 667-676
The paper examined the changes in microstructure and inorganic elements in their true mineral forms of the coke samples from various hearth locations using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) after the blow out and cool down of a 2800 m3 industrial blast furnace. The results illustrate that all deadman coke samples from fines to lumps were confirmed to be highly graphitized. Furthermore, the deadman coke was filled up with the accumulated KAlSiO4 during its descent process and the blast furnace slag which consisted of Ca2MgSi2O7–Ca2Al2SiO7 system and Ca2ZnSi2O7 phases. Besides the slag phases, the iron was also observed in the deadman coke soaked in the iron layer. Those cause that the mass of the deadman coke is about 1.62–2.82 times larger than that of the feed coke under the same conditions. Thus it may make the deadman which was designed to float sit on the hearth bottom as the permeation of the slag and the liquid iron into the deadman coke was not taken into consideration during the design process. We concluded that the slag phase below the taphole level is primarily derived from the blast furnace slag. Moreover, the deadman coke carrying final slag may come in contact with the hearth bottom and react with ceramic pad or carbon brick with a sitting deadman, thereby it results in degrading the hearth lining. Meanwhile, the slag phases below the taphole level can provide the material for the formation of skull to protect the hearth lining.
