The present disclosure discloses a lance, including a lance head having: a first tube; a second tube, in which the first tube is fitted over the second one; and a through hole tube, in which the through-hole tube has a plurality of axial through holes, a second channel is defined by the first tube, the second tube and the through hole tube, and a first channel is defined by an inner cavity of the second tube and the plurality of axial through holes; an air inlet tube in fluid communication with the second channel; and an air inlet seat connecting with the second tube and having an air inlet channel which is in fluid communication with the first channel. The lance according to the present disclosure can spray uniform gas and can reduce energy consumption. The present disclosure also discloses a multi-fluid lance device equipped with the lance.

An oxygen blowing lance comprising: a lance body including an oxygen conduit and cooling water inlet and outlet conduits surrounding said oxygen conduit; a lance head connected to said lance body and comprising a nozzle body, said nozzle body including a central strut having bore hole, a plurality of nozzles arranged about said central strut, and a plurality of cooling chambers arranged about said central strut, wherein said plurality of nozzles are in fluid communication with said oxygen conduit for discharging oxygen from said oxygen conduit onto a metal bath in a converter vessel, and wherein said plurality of cooling chambers are in fluid communication with said cooling water inlet and outlet conduits; a temperature probe or camera assembly, such as an optical or infrared camera assembly, received in said bore hole for monitoring the temperature of said lance head or molten heat in which the lance is inserted; signal lines connected to said temperature probe for conveying signals from said temperature probe whereby operation of said blowing lance is regulated in response to said signals; and a protective pipe pressurized with a gas disposed in the bore and surrounding said temperature probe assembly and the signal lines.

A process for the production of a PGM-enriched alloy comprising 0 to 60 wt.-% of iron and 20 to 99 wt.-% of one or more PGMs selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium and rhodium, the process comprising the steps of (1) providing a PGM collector alloy comprising 30 to 95 wt.-% of iron, less than 1 wt.-% of sulfur and 2 to 15 wt.-% of one or more PGMs selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium and rhodium, (2) providing a copper- and sulfur-free material capable of forming a slag-like composition when molten, wherein the molten slag-like composition comprises 40 to 90 wt.-% of magnesium oxide and/or calcium oxide and 10 to 60 wt.-% of silicon dioxide, (3) melting the PGM collector alloy and the material capable of forming a slag-like composition when molten in a weight ratio of 1:0.2 to 1 within a converter until a multi- or two-phase system of a lower high-density molten mass comprising the molten PGM collector alloy and one or more upper low-density molten masses comprising the molten slag-like composition has formed, (4) contacting an oxidizing gas comprising 0 to 80 vol.-% of inert gas and 20 to 100 vol.-% of oxygen with the lower high-density molten mass obtained in step (3) until it has been converted into a lower high-density molten mass of the PGM-enriched alloy, (5) separating an upper low-density molten slag formed in the course of step (4) from the lower high-density molten mass of the PGM-enriched alloy making use of the difference in density, (6) letting the molten masses separated from one another cool down and solidify, and (7) collecting the solidified PGM-enriched alloy.

A gas-coolable gas lance comprising an inner tube for a supply of a gas A, wherein the inner tube is surrounded by an outer tube, wherein the inner and the outer tube form a hollow space between themselves, wherein the inner tube has a bottom opening and a top opening, wherein the bottom opening comprises or is an exhaust for the gas A, wherein the hollow space is closed at its bottom and has a top opening, wherein the hollow space comprises an arrangement of tubes for a supply of a gas B to the bottom region of the hollow space, wherein the outer tube, the hollow space's bottom and the exhaust for the gas A are made of stainless steel. The gas lance can be used in a pyrometallurgical process for the production of a PGM-enriched alloy.

A gas lance which can be used in a process of any one of the preceding claims, said gas lance comprising or consisting of a rod having inner channels along its length axis, wherein the rod is made of a non-oxidizable ceramic material having a melting point above 1800 C. The gas lance can be used in a pyrometallurgical process for the production of a PGM-enriched alloy.

A gas-coolable gas lance comprising an inner tube for a supply of a gas A, wherein the inner tube is surrounded by an outer tube, wherein the inner and the outer tube form a hollow space between themselves, wherein the inner tube has a bottom opening and a top opening, wherein the bottom opening comprises or is an exhaust for the gas A, wherein the hollow space is open at its bottom and has at least one inlet for a gas B, wherein the outer tube and the oxidizing gas exhaust are made of stainless steel. The gas lance can be used in a pyrometallurgical process for the production of a PGM-enriched alloy.

A method is provided for operating a blast furnace by blowing at least a solid reducing material and a combustible gas into the furnace through tuyeres with a lance inserted into a blowpipe, wherein a tube-bundle type lance obtained by bundling a plurality of blowing tubes is used and when only a solid reducing material or two kinds of a solid reducing material and a combustible gas or three kinds of a solid reducing material, a combustible gas and a gaseous reducing material is simultaneously blown into an inside of the blast furnace through a tube for blowing the solid reducing material, a tube for blowing the combustible gas and a tube for blowing the gaseous reducing material in the tube-bundle type lance, two or more tube-bundle type lances are inserted into the blowpipe to approximate their front ends to each other and blowing is performed so that the respective blowout streams interfere with each other in the blowpipe.

The invention provides a lance including: a central pipe having a wear-resistant ceramic layer coated on an inner wall thereof; a central casing pipe having a casing pipe groove in an outer wall thereof, in which the central casing pipe is fitted over the central pipe and has a length less than that of the central pipe; a central pipe fitted over the intermediate pipe, in which a combustion-supporting gas chamber is formed between a front part of the central pipe and the intermediate pipe, an external diameter of a rear part of the intermediate pipe is greater than an external diameter of a front part of the intermediate pipe, and an intermediate pipe groove is formed in an outer wall of the rear part; and an outer casing pipe fitted over the intermediate pipe, in which a cooling medium chamber is formed between the front part of the intermediate pipe and the outer casing pipe, and a cooling medium injection channel is defined by an inner wall of the outer casing pipe and the intermediate pipe groove. The lance according to an embodiment of the present invention has a prolonged service life, because wear and tear caused by injection of pulverized coal is reduced by providing the wear-resistant ceramic layer on the inner wall of the central pipe, which means a replacement cycle is prolonged, in addition, a lager combustion-supporting gas chamber can be formed between the central pipe and the front part of the intermediate pipe, thus greatly reducing resistance to gas, energy consumption and costs.

An apparatus for injecting gas into a vessel is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a gas flow duct from which to discharge gas from the duct, an elongate central structure extending within the gas flow duct, and a plurality of flow directing vanes disposed about the central structure adjacent the forward end of the duct to impart swirl to a gas flow through the forward end of the duct. The apparatus also comprises cooling water flow passages in the vanes that have inlets at the forward ends of the vanes and outlets at the rear ends of the vanes.

Provided is a lance and an operation method using the same, in which a suction hole allowing source gas to be injected into a container, in which a reaction gas is generated, is included. The suction hole is formed in a source gas passage where the reaction gas is introduced into the passage. Thus the temperature of the gas injected into the container may be easily increased without using any separate heating device, and secondary combustion efficiency may be increased. In addition, the gas sprayed at a high temperature is provided, and thus additional heat may be supplied into the container. Thus, excessive use of fuel used to increase the temperature of the container may be avoided, and thus operation costs may be reduced and operation efficiency and productivity may be increased.