New developments for powder coal injection into the blast furnaces

Experiments and results concerning Powder Coal Injection into blast furnaces are presented. A pilot plant, similar to a blast furnace tuyere, with a high thermal gradient, developed at Escola de Minas-UFOP, Brazil, is described. Several tests have been performed in this pilot plant, using a mixture of three coals and preheating the coal, giving the following conclusions: preheating of coal and the mixture of more than two coals, not commonly practised by now, are appropriate for improving the combustion rate and thus enhancing the coal injection technique.