The invention relates to a method for controlling suspension in a suspension smelting furnace. The method comprises feeding additionally to pulverous solid matter and additionally to reaction gas reducing agent into the suspension smelting furnace, wherein reducing agent is fed in the form of a concentrated stream of reducing agent through the suspension in the reaction shaft onto the surface of the melt to form a reducing zone containing reducing agent within the collection zone of the melt.

A raw material supply device that supplies a raw material into a flash smelting furnace and supplies first gas and second gas into the flash smelting furnace, includes: a first gas pathway that is provided in a lance and supplies the first gas into the flash smelting furnace; a raw material pathway that is provided out of the lance and supplies the raw material into the flash smelting furnace; a second gas pathway that is provided out of the raw material pathway and supplies the second gas into the flash smelting furnace; and a blade that is provided in the first gas pathway, has an inclined face with which the first gas is collided and revolves the first gas toward a lower side of the flash smelting furnace, the inclined face being inclined with respect to a flow direction of the first gas in the first gas pathway.

A raw material supply device that supplies a raw material into a flash smelting furnace and supplies first gas and second gas into the flash smelting furnace, includes: a first gas pathway that is provided in a lance and supplies the first gas into the flash smelting furnace; a raw material pathway that is provided out of the lance and supplies the raw material into the flash smelting furnace; a second gas pathway that is provided out of the raw material pathway and supplies the second gas into the flash smelting furnace; and a blade that is provided in the first gas pathway, has an inclined face with which the first gas is collided and revolves the first gas toward a lower side of the flash smelting furnace, the inclined face being inclined with respect to a flow direction of the first gas in the first gas pathway.

In this application is disclosed a novel equipment for solid waste treatment in general, whose state of the art foresees various types of reactors for thermal processing of solid waste, it is constituted by a reactor that has the combustion processed under a thermal cyclone effect produced by air nozzles.

In this application is disclosed a novel equipment for solid waste treatment in general, whose state of the art foresees various types of reactors for thermal processing of solid waste, it is constituted by a reactor that has the combustion processed under a thermal cyclone effect produced by air nozzles.

A method of operating an ironmaking or steelmaking plant with low CO.sub.2-emissions is provided. Hydrogen and oxygen are generated by water decomposition and at least part of the generated hydrogen is injected as a reducing gas into one or more ironmaking furnaces with off-gas decarbonation and reinjection into the furnaces of at least a significant part of the decarbonated off-gas and at least part of the generated oxygen is injected as an oxidizing gas in the one or more ironmaking.

A method of operating an ironmaking or steelmaking plant with low CO.sub.2-emissions is provided. Hydrogen and oxygen are generated by water decomposition and at least part of the generated hydrogen is injected as a reducing gas into one or more ironmaking furnaces with off-gas decarbonation and reinjection into the furnaces of at least a significant part of the decarbonated off-gas and at least part of the generated oxygen is injected as an oxidizing gas in the one or more ironmaking.

A method for producing an expanded granulate made of a sand grain-shaped mineral material uses a propellant. The material is transported along a transport path through multiple heating zones in a furnace shaft, heated to a critical temperature at which the surfaces of the sand grains plasticize, and the sand grains are expanded based on the propellant. The material is fed from the bottom together with an amount of air; the material is transported from the bottom to the top along the transport path by the air quantity which flows from the bottom to the top in the furnace shaft and the sand grains are expanded in the upper half of the transport path. The material is heated such that the material immediately prior to entering into the furnace shaft is at a material entry temperature lower than the critical temperature and higher than the ambient temperature.

A method for producing an expanded granulate made of a sand grain-shaped mineral material uses a propellant. The material is transported along a transport path through multiple heating zones in a furnace shaft, heated to a critical temperature at which the surfaces of the sand grains plasticize, and the sand grains are expanded based on the propellant. The material is fed from the bottom together with an amount of air; the material is transported from the bottom to the top along the transport path by the air quantity which flows from the bottom to the top in the furnace shaft and the sand grains are expanded in the upper half of the transport path. The material is heated such that the material immediately prior to entering into the furnace shaft is at a material entry temperature lower than the critical temperature and higher than the ambient temperature.

An abrasion-resistant material for the working face of a metallurgical furnace cooling element such as a stave cooler or a tuyere cooler having a body comprised of a first metal. The abrasion-resistant material comprises a macro-composite material including abrasion-resistant particles which are arranged in a substantially repeating, engineered configuration infiltrated with a matrix of a second metal, the particles having a hardness greater than that of the second metal. A cooling element for a metallurgical furnace has a body comprised of the first metal, the body having a facing layer comprising the abrasion-resistant material. A method comprises: positioning the engineered configuration of abrasion-resistant particles in a mold cavity, the engineered configuration located in an area of the mold cavity to define the facing layer; and introducing molten metal into the cavity, the molten metal comprising the first metal of the cooling element body.