Development of an oxygen blast furnace and its research progress in University of Science and Technology Beijing

An oxygen blast furnace (OBF) has the advantages of high productivity, high coal injection, low fuel ratio, high gas calorific value, and low carbon emissions; the OBF process is one of the most likely low-carbon ironmaking processes to achieve large-scale application. This paper first introduced the development history of an OBF. The early research work mainly focused on solving the problem of “upper cooling and lower overheating” caused by oxygen instead of air blasting and summarized the OBF process and its main characteristics proposed by researchers in various countries. Then, the progress made by the researchers of the University of Science and Technology Beijing in the research and development of the OBF process was systematically summarized. The studies include the process design of an OBF, the reduction and soft melting of iron-bearing furnace charge, pulverized coal combustion under the conditions of oxygen blast and circulating gas injection, the physical and chemical behavior of recirculating gas during the heating process, as well as the numerical simulation of the raceway and the whole furnace, which gives a theoretical foundation for the engineering implementation of the OBF. Finally, the carbon flow and carbon saving potential of the OBF were analyzed. It is proposed that a hydrogen rich carbon circulating oxygen blast furnace will be an important development in the direction of low-carbon ironmaking.