Study of Flue-Gas Recirculation Sintering

Abstract

The sintering process in a sinter machine with a sintering area of 224 m² involving recirculation of flue gas to reduce the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere and its flow through a bag filter to be installed after the existing electrostatic precipitator is analyzed. Alternatives of supplying a portion of the flue gas alone or mixed with atmospheric air or hot air from the sinter cooler to the bed to increase the oxygen content of the gas are considered. It is shown that forcing atmospheric air into the bed is inappropriate. It is recommended to recirculate a mixture of 70% flue gas and 30% air. Implementing the recommended alternative will reduce the gas flow through the bag filter by 30–35%, the CO emissions into the atmosphere by 8136 tons/yr, and the solid fuel consumption by 5600 tons/yr.