Variation in hot metal and stag composition during tapping of blast furnace

To determine the quality of the hot metal and the thermal conditions inside the blast furnace, the composition of the hot metal and slag must be known. Obtaining representative metal and slag samples during tapping is thus highly important to blast furnace operation. The study covered in the present report focused on hot metal and slag composition variation during tapping from a commercial blast furnace. From the results, optimal sampling time points for obtaining elemental concentrations that can be taken as representative for the whole tapping sequence were identified. It was furthermore concluded, that the reliability of hot metal composition data is significantly improved by averaging elemental concentrations determined from two samples, each taken at a particular time point. One sampling, however, was found to be adequate for slag. Results from the study also showed a fairly strong correlation between amounts of silicon and carbon, sulphur and carbon, and silicon and sulphur in the hot metal, while a weaker correlation between hot metal temperature and each of these elements was observed.