Abrasion Resistance of Coke under Hydrogen Reduction Blast Furnace Conditions

The hydrogen enriched blast furnace is emerging as a viable alternate technology to reduce the carbon footprint of blast furnace ironmaking, during which injected hydrogen reduces the ferrous burden, generating water vapour as a by-product. To develop the practical applicability of the hydrogen reduction blast furnace, it is important to understand how the degradation of coke under such conditions differs in comparison with the conventional ironmaking blast furnace and thus determine the change in coke quality requirements.

This project focused on the impact of hydrogen-enriched conditions on coke abrasion resistance. Specific objectives included:

• Evaluation of the impact of reaction conditions that simulate both the conventional and the hydrogen reduction blast furnace on coke abrasion resistance.
• Development of correlations between conventional coke quality indices and abrasion resistance measured using tribological testing at 950°C in an inert atmosphere, following the partial reaction of samples with CO₂ or with steam, to represent the water vapour by-product of the reaction of hydrogen with iron ore.
• Linkage of the results to the coke microtextural components, and the rank and maceral composition of the parent coals.

Key findings are detailed in the report under the following headings:

• Under ambient testing conditions

• Under different tribological testing conditions

• Following partial pre-gasification in CO₂ or in H₂O

The overall results indicate that a higher quality coke with a lower gasification reactivity may be required for optimal coke abrasion resistance in the hydrogen-enriched blast furnace, to maintain an operation efficiency that is comparable to the conventional ironmaking blast furnace.