What is the most common furnace used in steel production?
A widely used method is the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), which is particularly suitable for producing steel from recycled scrap metal. BOF and EAF each have their specific applications and advantages, depending on the type of steel being produced and the resources available.
1.In steel production, the blast furnace is the most commonly used type of furnace. It is an ironmaking equipment and the first process of steel smelting. The blast furnace is a vertical countercurrent continuous operation smelting equipment used to smelt iron ore into pig iron at high temperature. It is one of the main equipment in the steel industry and has a long history and wide application.
2. Importance of blast furnace in steel production
The blast furnace plays an important role in steel production. First, it is the main equipment for ironmaking. It reduces the iron oxide in iron ore into metallic iron through high-temperature reduction reaction, and removes impurities to obtain pig iron or molten iron.
Secondly, the blast furnace can process a variety of raw materials, including iron ore, coke, flux, etc., and convert the raw materials into useful iron products through preheating and reduction reaction. In addition, the chemical reaction in the blast furnace releases a large amount of heat energy, which can be further used to heat and melt the charge, realizing the efficient use of energy.
3. Structure and working principle of blast furnace
The outer shell of the blast furnace is a steel plate, and the shell is lined with refractory bricks. There is a cooling device between the furnace shell and the refractory material. The blast furnace body is divided into five parts from top to bottom: throat, furnace body, furnace waist, furnace belly and furnace hearth.
The working principle is to load iron ore, coke and flux from the top of the furnace, and blow preheated air from the tuyere along the furnace periphery at the bottom of the furnace. At high temperatures, the carbon in the coke reacts with the oxygen in the blasted air to produce high temperature and reducing gases. These reducing gases heat the slowly descending charge during the ascent and reduce the iron oxide in the iron ore to metallic iron.
4. The Importance of Blast Furnaces in Steel Production
As the basic equipment for steel production, the blast furnace is of great significance to the development of the steel industry. It not only determines the scale and efficiency of steel production, but also directly affects the quality and cost of steel products.
Therefore, the technological progress and performance optimization of blast furnaces have always been one of the important directions for the development of the steel industry. With the continuous development and technological progress of the steel industry, the performance and efficiency of blast furnaces will continue to improve, making greater contributions to the development of the steel industry.