New challenges in Tap hole practices at H blast furnace Tata Steel

Mahesh Agarwal, Shailendra Rai, R V Ramna, Ajit D Kothari and S K Roy

Tata Steel Limited
Jamshedpur-831001
Phone:+91 0657-2148560
Fax: +91 0657-2431060
E-mail: mahesh.agarwal@tatasteel.com

Key words: blast furnace, cast house practice, tapping, Taphole clay, hot metal, slag

Introduction:
Over the past few years, hot metal productivity of blast furnaces has been increased worldwide.
This progress has been made possible through a process of rethinking in the area of casthouse
operation, especially with regard to the tapping technology. On the basis of long years of
experience in the blast furnace cast-house area and after having examined a large number of tap
hole management practices in cast-house operation, Tata Steel has implemented several
technical improvements in cast house practices. These new methods are tuned to furnace
operation so that - taken as a whole - a considerable economic advantage is realised. These
improvements have been incorporated in casthouse operation at the large-capacity H blast
furnace at Tata Steel.

Taphole is one of the most critical areas of the blast furnace. Tap hole experiences heavy
chemical attack, especially during slag tapping. Swings in temperature during “normal and
stable” operation are extreme. The situation does aggravate significantly due to serious
deviations from the “stable” dynamic operation. Molten metal and slag produced in a blast
furnace get discharged through tap hole mounted on the sidewall of the blast furnace hearth in a
trough, which acts as a receptacle for the liquids drained. The temperature of hot metal in
discharging process ranges 1460-1520 0C. The mixed liquid discharged from the tap hole is
separated by gravity during flow down the main trough. Basic objective of the trough is to
provide optimum iron/slag separation with maximum availability and necessary accessibility to
allow rapid repairs. This paper presents and discusses operational features of the tap hole
practice.
H Blast Furnace at Tata Steel:
H Blast Furnace, at Tata Steel with a name plate capacity of 2.5 mtpa (7150 tpd) was blown-in
on 31st May’08 after a construction period of 25 months. It ramped-up quickly fast and
stabilized beyond rated capacity within six months and is expected to produce 3.0mt during
FY’10.To achieve 3.0 mtpa hot metal production, H Blast Furnace needs to produce over 9000
tpd HM on an average everyday with a peak of 10500, better is hearth drainage thus enabling
good hearth permeability and, thereby, consistently high level of HM production. Therefore,
improvement in cast duration is considered as an important step towards achieving high
production level.

9.5 m

3814 m3

14.7 m

13.0 m

H Blast Furnace
Figure-1: Blast furnace profile. Figure-2: H Blast furnace cast house design

Casting requirements to enable higher production rate requires empty hearth practice. This has
to be enabled by long taps at uniform casting rate from beginning to end. This results in better
hearth drainage.
Blast Furnace key Features
Metallic burden
Hearth diameter m 13.0
Sinter % 70
Working volume m3 3230
Iron ore % 30
Inner volume m3 3814
Reducing agents
Tuyeres No’s 34
Coke Kg/thm 400
Tap holes No’s 4
Coal injection Kg/thm 150

Table-1: H Blast furnace Construction data Table-2: Typical burden

Tap Hole Practices at H BF

• Tapping will be done from opposite tap holes
(phase 1 & 3)
• Phase 2 & 4 are for changing the set of tap
holes (this will be for minimum time)

TAPHOLE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

To achieve reliability at the taphole with regard to opening and closing, a two-step approach
was adopted:
Tapping Equipment
• Equipment opportunities are identified by determining if the equipment is capable of
performing within its designed limits. If the equipment is identified as capable, then the
maintenance and operational aspects of the equipment are evaluated.
Taphole:
 Development of improved taphole clay properties.
 Improvements of taphole face condition & life.
In addition the following factors also play important role:
  Development of standard operating procedure for cast opening & closing.
 Hearth liquid level measurement through level-2 system.

Taphole performance of H blast furnace:

All considerations aimed at improving casting practice to optimise the casting at H blast
furnace are based on the following points:
 High productivity and availability of blast furnace.
 No impact on lower part permeability of the furnace.
 Reduction of refractory cost at cast house.
 Standard & benchmark practices in cast house operation.
To improve tapping strategy, it is necessary to use proper quality of taphole clay, which should
have the following properties:
 High strength.
 Good tap hole length ( ~ 3.8 m for H BF)
 Erosion & corrosion resistance.
 Good drill ability
 Low specific consumption & low cost.
 High cast duration
 No spitting.
 Low setting time
 No nozzle jamming
 Minimum cleaning requirements.

These properties are indispensable for proper drainage and efficient operation.
Based on the past 17 months of operating experience with casting practice and faced with a
challenge to achieve 9000 tpd, the following objectives have been laid down:
 Casting duration more than 36 hours in a day.
 8 tapping per day.
 Slag time ratio > 95.0 %
 Specific clay consumption < 0.25 kg/thm
Estimating hearth liquid levels:

Hearth liquid level estimation leads to improved hearth management and provide means to
stabilise the plug and sidewall temperatures, preserve the back of the taphole area and to avoid
interference in the gas distribution and burden descent. A hearth liquid level measurement
system has been developed thru’ in-house developed L-2 system and is in continuous use. This
liquid level model is being further developed as a control for supervising tapping parameter
control.

Figure-3: Liquid level monitoring model Figure-4: Casting rate & hearth occupancy.

Trials in developing TAPHOLE CLAYS

Following approach was used for taphole clay development:
• Along with different suppliers different clay mixes were developed and the physical properties
tested. A test to determine the relative resistance of the clay to erosion from iron and slag was
developed at laboratory scale. Large numbers of trials were conducted with various
formulations from different suppliers based on a standard.
• Accurate comparison of actual performance of different clays, was enabled by automated and
filtration to eliminate abnormal process conditions and human judgment error. All results were
statistically compared to allow decision making based on actual performance data.
• Experience and inputs of different shift operator is collected through computerised program
developed .This enable better tracking of performance.
• To ensure uniform practice between shifts, typical standard operating procedures have been
developed and all operators trained on them.
The amount of clay to be pushed when plugging the tap hole is governed by the required tap
hole length. At first, this was gauged by a dial arrangement on the back of the gun. It was later
changed to a digital readout.

Taphole clay trial results:

Supplier Tap Hole Casting Erosion Performance Remarks

Length Duration stabilized

Very Good Very Normal Yes Overall Good

A Good Performance

Good Good Normal Yes, But not Double Tap

B as per Hole Operation
requirement

Good Good High Yes, Short Period

C Trial

Fair Not Good High Yes Short Period

D Trial

Results:

H Blast Furnace casting Duration (Hours)

38.0
AIM Total Casting Duration Daily Basis: >36 Hours
36.0 35.3
Both Blower
trippage Problem 34.2
34.0 33.5
32.7
31.9 32.0
32.0 31.1
30.2
30.0

27.9
28.0
Stabilisation Period
26.1
26.0
Blower Problem

23.8
24.0
22.7 23.0 22.8
21.8
22.0 21.2

20.0
Jun-08

Aug-08

Sep-08

Oct-08

Nov-08

Feb-09

May-09
Jul-08

Dec-08

Jan-09

Apr-09

Jun-09

Jul-09

Aug-09

Sep-09
Mar-09

Figure-5: H blast furnace casting duration June’08 to Sept’09

 H Blast Furnace Production
11000
Both Blower
10000 Trippage Problem

8905 8954 8812

9000 8716
8298 8402 8385
7966
8000 7767
7471

7000
6179
Avg. tpd

5903
6000 5485 5380

5000
3913
4000
3321
3000

2000

1000

0
Aug-08

Nov-08

Apr-09

May-09

Aug-09
Jun-08

Jul-08

Sep-08

Oct-08

Dec-08

Jan-09

Feb-09

Mar-09

Jun-09

Jul-09

Sep-09
Month -->

Figure-6: H blast furnace production June’08 to Sept’09

Results obtained at H BF during the period Apr- Sept’09 are shown in the figure-7.

H BF Tap Hole Length H BF Casting Duration

4.00 180
3.90
3.80 175
3.70 170
(minutes)
THL(m)

3.60
3.50 165
3.40
3.30 160
3.20
155
3.10
3.00 150
April '09 May'09 June'09 July'09 Aug'09 Sep '09 April '09 May'09 June'09 July'09 Aug'09 Sep '09

H BF Specific Clay Consumption H BF No. of Cast

0.70 400
0.60 380
No. of cast in month

360
0.50 340
THL(m)

0.40 320
300
0.30
280
0.20 260
240
0.10
220
0.00 200
April '09 May'09 June'09 July'09 Aug'09 Sep '09 April '09 May'09 June'09 July'09 Aug'09 Sep '09

Figure-7: H blast furnace taphole performance Apr’09 to Sept’09.

Table below compares H BF performance with comparable blast furnaces, world-wide:-

Figure-8: H blast furnace taphole performance and other large furnaces of the world.

Conclusions:
H Blast Furnace at Tata Steel has achieved stable furnace operation within six months of
blow-in. Right quality of tap hole clay has enabled the furnace to attain this high productivity,
high casting rate and safe and standardised cast house practice. Tap hole clay, requires patient
partnership between the supplier and the user to develop the customised product suitable for the
specific Blast Furnace operation condition.

References:
1. TAPHOLE DESIGN, CASTING EQUIPMENT, AND OPERATING PRACTICES AT
DOFASCO by:: A.Petruccelli, D.H.Pomeroy
2. Alternating Taphole practice with a two-taphole blast furnace. By: A.Petruccelli,
D.H.Pomeroy
3. Improvement of the refractory technology for optimized costs in the blast furnace cast
house operation by: M. Peters, P. Rüther, P. Schmöle.
4. Blast furnace hearth condition monitoring and taphole management techniques by: R.J.
Nightingale, F.W.B.U. Tanzil, A.J.G. Beck, K. Price (Ironmaking Technology and
Development BHP Flat Products, BHP Steel Port Kembla, Australia).

5. NIGHTINGALE (R.J.), TANZIL (F.W.B.U.), BECK (A.J.G.), DUNNING (J.D.),

VARDY (S.K.) – Operation guidance techniques for blast furnace casting and liquids
management. Proc. 2nd International Congress of the Science and Technology of
Ironmaking and 57th Ironmaking Conference, Toronto (1998),567-580.

6. NIGHTINGALE (R.), DIPPENAAR (R.), LU (W.) – Developments in blast furnace

process control at Port Kembla based on process fundamentals. Proc. Belton Memorial
Symp., ISS, Sydney, Australia (January, 2000), p. 227-240.