Combustion of Waste Gas in the Electrosmelting of Reduced Iron-Ore Pellets in an Arc Furnace

Abstract

Research on the electrosmelting of reduced iron-ore pellets and briquets in an arc furnace permits the development of a method of burning the waste gases in three zones of the furnace, by the supply of pellets through tubular (hollow) graphitized electrodes in the furnace bath. The smelting of the pellets at the fuel–oxygen burners and oxygen tuyeres is intensified by ensuring the combustion of the waste gases above the melt in the furnace. The combustion rate of the waste gases in the furnace’s working space is monitored in the gasexhaust channel by means of sensors recording the content of CO, CO₂, H₂, O₂, and other gases. On the basis of the results, the heating and melting of the iron-ore pellets may be accelerated, as well as the heat and mass transfer between the metal, the slag, and the working gas in the furnace. In addition, the thermal and economic indices of pellet electrosmelting in arc furnaces may be increased.