Accretion on the lining of the blast furnace results in a harmful effect on burdendescent, which also has a negative effect on energy balance. This eventually leads toincreased CO2emission. We examined which blast furnace zones were significantly affected by thethickness of the accretion layer and how this affects the blast furnace gas streamrelations. Using a heat transfer model, the samples taken from the accretion andstatistical analysis of the typical operating parameters of the blast furnace, amathematical model was created in order to determine the thickness of blast furnace shaftaccretion and its effect on gas utilization.

Three hundred years after the first production of coke, the history of this importantbreakthrough, an energy transition that, together with the invention of the steam engine,opened way to the industrial revolution, is still thought provoking on subjects such asthe rate of change and the factors that are favoring or slowing down the rate of change,the role of infrastructure and technology in the development of industry, the role ofprotectionism or free-trade on technological changes and last, but not the least, thedevelopment of science and technology as tools for the improvement of the processes andproducts. From the first information of G. Jars and his metallurgical trips and the smallscale tests of the first pioneers of the Enlightment, to the development of large sizeplants incorporating new technologies, this history is that of the important social switchfrom a small scale peasant seasonal activity with many workshops, to the large scaleintegrated industry concentrated in a few places and connected with the suppliers and themarket by the new transportation infrastructure (canals, railways) developed incontinental Europe throughout the XIXth century. Scientists (such as Ebelmen, Lecocq,Boudouard, Berthellot) and technologists (such as the innovation brought by Belgianfurnaces) have played an important role in this mutation.

Nowadays, finding ceramic materials with good physical-chemistry characteristics to makeceramic cups is no longer a big difficulty. However, the stability of the construction,the anti-penetration ability and the adaptability of the working profile of the hat faceof the ceramic cup are of critical importance to prolong the campaign life of the ceramiccup itself and thus the BF hearth. In a lot of cases, the so-called “ceramic cup” isformed just by one, two or more rings of the standard-shaped ceramic bricks which areinstalled closely against the carbon hot face. In these linings, there are manypenetrating linear joints from the hot face to the cold face through the ceramic lining.Both the overall stability of the construction and the anti-penetration ability of thelining are very poor. Therefore, the goal of installing a ceramic cup, to protect thecarbon lining from the erosion of hot metal, would be difficult to achieve and thelifetime of the ceramic cup would not be long no matter what excellent materials werebeing used. However, an “Integrated Ceramic Cup” structure for the BF hearth is composedof special-shaped ceramic blocks which are all interlocked with each other. In such aconstruction, there is no linear breakthrough joint from the hot face to the cold face ofthe ceramic lining. A ceramic lining with this structure can effectively avoid hot metaland gases penetrating into and then through the joints of the ceramic lining to attack thecarbon lining behind. As a result, the campaign life of the BF hearth, and also thecampaign life of the blast furnace, would be prolonged. Nowadays the “Integrated CeramicCup” structure has been used in many modern blast furnaces and its significant performancehas been proved.

The Australian Pilbara blend lump ore, which entered the Chinese market in 2007, is aspecial blending ore. To master its behavior and effect in a BF adequately, themetallurgical properties and high temperature reactivity of the Pilbara blend lump ore andsix other kinds of lump ore were researched. The reasonable proportion and mixing patternof the Pilbara blend lump ore was studied by carrying out softening and dropping propertytests, and this provides technological support for practical production.