1997 Volume 83 Issue 2 Pages 97-102
In order to clarify the sinter properties desirable for blast furnace operation, a new measuring apparatus with a gas preheater has been developed. This apparatus can raise a gas temperature up to 1700°C and conduct an adiabatic heating control. Using this apparatus, it is possible to detect the heating and reduction delay of sinter due to a rapid endothermic reduction of molten FeO.
As a result of the experiments by using sinter samples produced by a sintering pot, the sinter having a low bulk density and a large amount of micro pores shows a high reduction degree at 1200°C.
A new evaluation method has been presented to determine the sinter properties related to the permeability of cohesive layer in the blast furnace. In this method, five indices which need to have values with certain ranges are selected.
The sinter desirable for blast furnace operation should have a low SiO2 content when CaO/SiO2 is high. This means that a sinter should have a low slag volume with a high melting point in order to form a permeable cohesive layer.
Further studies are necessary to measure the actual sinter properties and verify the validity of this method by analyzing the relation between these indices and the results of the blast furnace operation.
