Disclosed is a blast furnace apparatus includes: a rotating chute; a plurality of tuyeres; a profile measurement device configured to measure surface profiles of a burden charged into the blast furnace through the rotating chute; and a blowing amount controller configured to control a blowing amount of at least one of hot blast or pulverized coal in each of the plurality of tuyeres, in which the profile measurement device includes: a radio wave distance meter installed on the blast furnace top and configured to measure the distance to the surface of the burden charged; and an arithmetic unit configured to derive the surface profiles of the burden on a basis of distance data for the entire blast furnace related to distances to the surface of the burden obtained by scanning a detection wave of the radio wave distance meter in the blast furnace in a circumferential direction.

This invention provides processes and systems for converting biomass into high carbon biogenic reagents that are suitable for a variety of commercial applications. Some embodiments employ pyrolysis in the presence of an inert gas to generate hot pyrolyzed solids, condensable vapors, and non-condensable gases, followed by separation of vapors and gases, and cooling of the hot pyrolyzed solids in the presence of the inert gas. Additives may be introduced during processing or combined with the reagent, or both. The biogenic reagent may include at least 70 wt %, 80 wt %, 90 wt %, 95 wt %, or more total carbon on a dry basis. The biogenic reagent may have an energy content of at least 12,000 Btu/lb, 13,000 Btu/lb, 14,000 Btu/lb, or 14,500 Btu/lb on a dry basis. The biogenic reagent may be formed into fine powders, or structural objects. The structural objects may have a structure and/or strength that derive from the feedstock, heat rate, and additives.

Methods, apparatuses, and systems to collect fine particle coal are provided herein. For example, these methods, apparatuses, and systems may be incorporated into a coal processing plant to collect a portion of the fine particle coal that is normally lost in the system. A fine particle coal also is provided. The fine particle coal may have a particle size of 1000 μm or smaller and a water content of from about 5% to about 20%, by weight.

A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is as follows. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers, and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace center side toward a furnace wall side by using a rotating chute. After charging of the ore is started, only the ore is charged from the rotating chute at least until charging of 45 mass % of the ore is completed based on a total amount of the ore to be charged per batch; then, discharging of low-reactivity ore charged in the auxiliary hopper is started; and then, the low-reactivity ore is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute.

A method for charging raw materials into a blast furnace is as follows. The blast furnace includes a bell-less charging device that includes a plurality of main hoppers and an auxiliary hopper. The auxiliary hopper has a smaller capacity than the main hoppers. The method includes discharging ore charged in at least one of the plurality of main hoppers, and then sequentially charging the ore from a furnace center side toward a furnace wall side by using a rotating chute. After charging of the ore is started, only the ore is charged from the rotating chute at least until charging of 45 mass % of the ore is completed based on a total amount of the ore to be charged per batch; then, discharging of low-reactivity ore charged in the auxiliary hopper is started; and then, the low-reactivity ore is charged together with the ore from the rotating chute.

An oxygen injection system for a direct reduction process, including: a common circumferential gas injection header adapted to be coupled to an oxygen source and an enrichment natural gas source and adapted to deliver oxygen from the oxygen source and enrichment natural gas from the enrichment natural gas source to a reducing gas stream flowing through a conduit axially disposed within the common circumferential gas injection header through a plurality of circumferentially disposed ports to form a bustle gas stream; wherein the common circumferential gas injection header includes a circumferential oxygen injection header adapted to deliver the oxygen from the oxygen source to the reducing gas stream through the plurality of circumferentially disposed ports and a circumferential enrichment natural gas injection header adapted to deliver the enrichment natural gas from the enrichment natural gas source to the reducing gas stream through the plurality of circumferentially disposed ports.

Some variations provide a carbon-negative carbon product that is characterized by a carbon intensity less than 0 kg CO.sub.2e per metric ton of the carbon-negative carbon product, wherein the carbon-negative carbon product contains at least about 50 wt % carbon. In some embodiments, the carbon intensity is less than 500 kg CO.sub.2e per metric ton of the carbon-negative carbon product. Other variations provide a carbon-negative metal product (e.g., a steel product) that is characterized by a carbon intensity less than 0 kg CO.sub.2e per metric ton of the carbon-negative metal product, wherein the metal product contains from 50 wt % to 100 wt % of one or more metals and optionally one or more alloying elements. In some embodiments, the carbon-negative metal product is characterized by a carbon intensity less than 200 kg CO.sub.2e per metric ton of the carbon-negative metal product. The carbon-negative metal product can contain a wide variety of metals.

The present invention provides a novel method for supplying a reducing gas to the shaft part of a blast furnace with which a large amount of reducing gas containing hydrogen at a high concentration can be supplied to a deeper position in the blast furnace (location of the blast furnace closer to the center axis in the radial direction) and with which it is possible to reduce the total generated amount of CO.sub.2 of the CO.sub.2 amount that is reduced by conducting hydrogen smelting in the blast furnace and the CO.sub.2 amount that is generated during production of the reducing gas supplied to the blast furnace. The method for supplying a reducing gas to the shaft part of a blast furnace according to the present invention is characterized by reforming coke oven gas by increasing the temperature thereof to 1200 to 1800 C. in a reactor in which an oxygen-containing gas is supplied to preheated coke oven gas to generate reformed gas in which hydrogen gas is enriched; mixing the reformed gas with CO-containing gas in the reactor so that the hydrogen concentration of the reducing gas is adjusted to 15-35 vol % (wet); and supplying the resultant reducing gas to the shaft part of the blast furnace under a condition of a ratio of a flow rate of reducing gas blown into shaft part/flow rate of reducing gas blown into tuyere >0.42.

A fine ratio measuring device that measures a ratio of fines adhering to the surface of a material in the form of lumps, the fine ratio measuring device includes: an illumination unit that illuminates the material in the form of lumps; a spectrometer that performs spectral analysis on light reflected from the material in the form of lumps to measure spectral reflectance; and an arithmetic device that extracts at least one feature quantity from the spectral reflectance measured by the spectrometer and computes the fine ratio from the extracted at least one feature quantity.

Disclosed is a blast furnace apparatus includes: a rotating chute; a profile measurement device configured to measure surface profiles of a burden charged into the furnace; and a tilt angle controller configured to control a tilt angle of the chute, in which the device includes a radio wave distance meter installed on the furnace top and configured to measure the distance to the surface of the burden, derives the profiles on a basis of distance data for the entire furnace obtained by scanning a detection wave of the distance meter in the furnace in a circumferential direction, and includes at least one of arithmetic units configured to command during rotation, on a basis of the surface profiles obtained, the controller to change the tilt angle of the chute, or a controller to change a rotational speed of the chute or a feed speed of the burden fed to the chute.