Abstract
Ore-based steelmaking generates various residues including dusts, sludges, scales and slags. Recycling of these residues within the process or via other applications is essential for sustainable production of steel. In blast furnace (BF) ironmaking, the gas-cleaning equipment generally recovers the particles in the off-gas as dust and sludge. Traditionally, the dry dust is recycled via the sinter or, in the case of pellet-based BF operation, via cold-bonded briquettes and injection. As the BF sludge mainly consists of iron and carbon, this residue is of interest to recycle together with the BF dust. However, depending on how the BF is operated, these two residues are more or less the major outlet of zinc from the furnace. Thus, to limit the recycled load of zinc, both materials cannot be recycled without dezincing the sludge prior to recycling. Dezincing and recycling of the low-zinc fraction of BF sludge via sinter have been reported whereas recycling via cold-bonded briquettes has not been performed. In the present study, cold-bonded briquettes containing the low-zinc fraction of dezinced BF sludge were charged as basket samples to the LKAB Experimental Blast Furnace (EBF). The excavated basket samples from the quenched EBF suggested that additions of up to 20 wt.% of upgraded BF sludge was feasible in terms of reducibility and strength. Based on these results, BF sludge were added to cold-bonded briquettes and charged in industrial-scale trials. The trials indicated that the annual generation of BF sludge, after dezincing, could be recycled to the BF.
