A method for converting a blast furnace plant for synthesis gas utilization includes:

constructing a syngas stove, and constructing a syngas supply system for connecting the syngas stove to a blast furnace;

connecting a first syngas stove to the top-gas supply system, the cold-blast and hot-blast supply systems and operating the first syngas stove for hot blast generation;

disconnecting a first original stove from the top-gas supply system, the cold-blast and hot-blast supply systems; and

converting the first original stove to adapt it for producing syngas. The method includes

connecting the first original stove to the top-gas supply system;

disconnecting the first syngas stove from the cold-blast and hot-blast supply systems, connecting the first original stove and first syngas stove to a gas-combination supply system; and

operating the first original stove and first syngas stove to produce and then supply syngas to the blast furnace via the syngas supply system.

Blast furnace plant (1) and shutdown process for such a blast furnace plant (1). The blast furnace plant comprises a blast furnace (2) and a gas cleaning section (6) for cleaning gas from the blast furnace. Clean gas is released via a clean gas vent line (11) downstream of the gas cleaning section.

A plant complex may include a unit that produces CO.sub.2-containing gases, a gas conducting system for CO.sub.2-containing gases, a gas/liquid separation system, a reformer that is connected to the gas conducting system and where the CO.sub.2-containing gas reacts with H.sub.2 and/or hydrocarbons to give a CO— and H.sub.2-containing synthesis gas mixture. The reformer is connected to a reactor for producing higher alcohols in which the synthesis gas mixture reacts with H.sub.2 to give a gas/liquid mixture containing higher alcohols. For separating off the alcohols of the gas/liquid mixture, the gas/liquid separation system is connected to the reactor for producing higher alcohols.

A charging system for a shaft smelt reduction furnace includes a frame structure for mounting on a top charge opening of a shaft smelt reduction vessel; a center shaft arrangement supported by the frame structure and for removing off-gas gases from the furnace and to introduce granular charge materials to form a stack of materials in the furnace. The center shaft arrangement includes a center hood for off-gas extraction; a pair of first and second feed channels for first and second materials. The center hood includes a pair of facing off-gas panels defining an off-gas channel. The partition walls include lower portions that extend towards each other below the center hood to define a center feed passage, whereby material descending through the first feed channels may accumulate on lower portions according to the angle of repose of the material, permitting self-adjustment of the first material stock-line in the shaft arrangement.

According to a certain viewpoint of the present invention, there is provided a blast furnace operation method comprising blowing a high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas containing 80 mol % or more of hydrogen gas from a tuyere under: a condition in which a blowing temperature of the high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas is room temperature or higher and 300° C. or lower and a gas volume of the hydrogen gas in the high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas is 200 Nm.sup.3/t or more and 500 Nm.sup.3/t or less; a condition in which the blowing temperature of the high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas is higher than 300° C. and 600° C. or lower and the gas volume of the hydrogen gas in the high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas is 145 Nm.sup.3/t or more; a condition in which the blowing temperature of the high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas is higher than 600° C. and 900° C. or lower and the gas volume of the high-concentration hydrogen-containing gas is 125 Nm.sup.3/t or more, or the like.

A method for operating a blast furnace with which, even in the case where there is an increase in the powder ratio of coke to be charged into the blast furnace, it is possible to achieve the stabilization of blast furnace operation. The method includes blowing air through a tuyere disposed in a lower part of the blast furnace, successively measuring a particle size distribution of coke transported to the blast furnace, and adjusting at least one of a blast volume and a coke ratio in accordance with an index derived from the particle size distribution.

Herein discussed is a method of producing hydrogen comprising introducing a metal smelter effluent gas or a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) effluent gas or a mixture thereof into an electrochemical (EC) reactor, wherein the EC reactor comprises a mixed-conducting membrane. In an embodiment, the method comprises introducing steam into the EC reactor on one side of the membrane, wherein the effluent gas is on the opposite side of the membrane, wherein the effluent gas and the steam are separated by the membrane and do not come in contact with each other.

Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for granulation of a blast furnace slag and recycling of waste heat. The apparatus comprises an aerosol granulation nozzle module, a flow guide, a cyclone separator and a waste heat recovery device; wherein the aerosol granulation nozzle module comprises a slag flow controller, a compressed air flow control valve, a water volume control valve and an aerosol spray gun; the flow guide is configured to fully mix the medium temperature gas and the high-temperature granular slag having a primarily solidified surface in the flow guide; and the cyclone separator is configured to separate the high-temperature granular slag and the medium-to-high-temperature gas. The present invention completes the granulation of blast furnace slag, and organically couples slag sensible heat recovery with sludge drying, thereby recovering the waste heat in the process of slag granulation and improving the efficiency of waste heat recovery and utilization.

Methods of recovering coal combustion products (CCPs) and/or dry bottom furnace slag (DBFS) from coal combustion byproducts are disclosed. The methods include compiling coal combustion byproducts (e.g., from combustion of lignite coal and/or bituminous coal), grinding the coal combustion byproducts to form ground coal combustion byproducts with a maximum particle size of 40 microns, and separating CCPs from the ground coal combustion byproducts using an electrostatic precipitator. The following CCPs can be separated from the coal combustion byproducts using the presently disclosed methods: fly ash, bottom ash (e.g., containing pyrites), scrubber materials (e.g., calcium sulfate and calcium sulfite), and raw coal.

Methods of recovering coal combustion products (CCPs) and/or dry bottom furnace slag (DBFS) from coal combustion byproducts are disclosed. The methods include compiling coal combustion byproducts (e.g., from combustion of lignite coal and/or bituminous coal), grinding the coal combustion byproducts to form ground coal combustion byproducts with a maximum particle size of 40 microns, and separating CCPs from the ground coal combustion byproducts using an electrostatic precipitator. The following CCPs can be separated from the coal combustion byproducts using the presently disclosed methods: fly ash, bottom ash (e.g., containing pyrites), scrubber materials (e.g., calcium sulfate and calcium sulfite), and raw coal.