A method for treating combustible material of the present invention includes providing a pipe opened to a molten substance surface above the molten substance surface of molten substance stored in a furnace body for smelting nonferrous metals, and blowing combustible material containing valuable metals and oxygen-enriched air into the molten substance surface of the molten substance from the pipe.

The invention relates to a method for smelting non-ferrous metal sulfides (13) in a suspension smelting furnace and to a suspension smelting furnace. The suspension smelting furnace comprises at least one injection means (18) for injecting at least one of fluid (19) and pulverous matter (20) into a settler (2) of the suspension smelting furnace from at least one of a first side wall structure (8) and a second side wall structure (9) of the settler (2) so that fluid (19) and/or pulverous matter (20) is injected into the settler (2) above a top surface (16) of a layer of melt (15) in the settler (2).

The present invention relates to a method for pneumatically blowing a powdery substitute reducing agent in a dense flow process, by means of a transport gas, into a gasification reactor, or via a tuyere into a blast furnace. The substitute reducing agent is gasified in a gasification reaction. The transport gas comprises a fuel gas, the constituents of which or the oxidation constituents of which are at least partly involved in the gasification reaction.

A method of starting a molten bath-based process for smelting a metalliferous material is disclosed. The method includes using the heat flux of water-cooled elements in lower parts of a smelting vessel to provide an indication of molten bath temperature during at least an early part of the start-up method and adjusting injection rates of oxygen-containing gas and/or carbonaceous material into the smelting vessel to control the molten bath temperature during start-up without exceeding critical heat flux levels and tripping the start-up method.

An apparatus for producing a bloated mineral granulate with a heated processing channel (1) for the mineral granulate fed to a conveying flow (13), wherein an inflow opening (4) is provided in the processing channel (1) for forming a granulate-free laminar flow (5) running along the inner wall of the processing channel, is described.

In order to design a device of the type described above in such a way that a continuous, qualitatively controllable production process is achieved, it is proposed in that the processing channel (1) comprises two channel sections (16), (17) with differing cross-sections, wherein the channel section (16) with a smaller cross-section projects into the channel section (17) with a larger cross-section, forming the inflow opening (4), and wherein the channel section (16) with a smaller cross-section is enclosed by the channel section (17) with a larger cross-section in such a way that an inflow opening (4) is formed completely around the projecting region of the channel section (16) with a smaller cross-section.

A fluid assisted particle injector for a metallurgical furnace, comprising: an injector tube having an entrance end, an exit end and a removable tip; a cover tube disposed over the injector tube; a fluid and particle injector port in line with the longitudinal center axis of the injector tube and a secondary fluid port for directing pressurized fluid over the outside of the injector tube and within the cover tube; the injector tube defining a tapered internal bore having a particle entrance end and a particle exit end, wherein the diameter of the particle exit end is smaller than the diameter of the particle entrance end.

An installation for distribution of granular or powder material via pneumatic transport comprising at least one dispensing hopper (3) for temporary storage of said granular or powder material, the dispensing hopper being suited to being, alternately, pressurized for emptying the dispensing hopper and depressurized to permit filling thereof, and a device for depressurizing said dispensing hopper. The depressurizing device comprises a depressurizing duct (12) connected to said dispensing hopper, a bag filter (11), having a maximum operating flow rate, connected to the depressurizing duct, and flow control means (15) for controlling the flow rate in said depressurizing duct through the bag filter. The bag filter (11) is suited to operating under pressure, and the flow control means (15) are located on the depressurizing duct (12) downstream of the bag filter (11) and are arranged to provide a flow rate which is at most equal to the maximum flow rate of the bag filter. Application in particular to an installation for injecting coal into a blast furnace.

The invention relates to a method for producing an expanded granulate (29) made of a sand grain-shaped mineral material (1) using a propellant; wherein the material (1) is fed to a substantially upright furnace (2); wherein the material (1) is conveyed along a conveying path (4) through a plurality of vertically separated healing zones (5) in a furnace shaft (3) of the furnace (2), wherein each heating zone (5) can be heated by at least one independently controllable heating element (6); wherein the material (1) is heated to a critical temperature at which the surfaces (7) of the sand grains (1) become plastic and the sand grains (1) are expanded through the propellant. It is provided according to the invention that the material (1) is fed together with an amount of air from below, wherein the material (1) is conveyed from bottom to top along the conveying path (4) by means of the amount of air which flows from bottom to top within the furnace shaft (3) and forms an air flow (14), and wherein the expanding of the sand grains (1) occurs in the upper half, preferably in the uppermost third, of the conveying path (4).

A molten iron refining method having, an auxiliary material, and an oxidizing gas supplied through a top-blowing lance, to a cold iron source and molten pig iron that are contained/fed in a converter-type vessel, and molten iron is subjected to a refining process. A pre-charged cold iron source is charged into the converter-type vessel at an amount not larger than 0.15 times. A furnace-top-added cold iron source that's part or all of the cold iron source and added from a furnace top is fed during the refining process. A burner at a leading end of the top-blowing lance that spray holes through which a fuel and a combustion-supporting gas are ejected. During the refining process, a powdery auxiliary material processed into powder that's part of the auxiliary material is blown in, to pass through a flame formed by the burner.

The present invention relates to a method for pneumatically blowing a powdery substitute reducing agent in a dense flow process, by means of a transport gas, into a gasification reactor, or via a tuyere into a blast furnace. The substitute reducing agent is gasified in a gasification reaction. The transport gas comprises a fuel gas, the constituents of which or the oxidation constituents of which are at least partly involved in the gasification reaction.