Journal of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Vol. 44, No. 4, October-December 2002, pp.

167-183 Printed in India, NML, ISSN 0972-4257

Significance of burden distribution in the performance of a blast furnace

A.K.VAISH and R.K.MINJ
National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur - 831007, India

Abstract : The performance of a blast furnace is considerably influenced by burden distribution. The bed permeability and efficiency of gas utilization are improved by proper distribution of burden materials. The burden distribution is significantly affected by adopting different types of charging system. The charging sequence plays specific role in each type of charging system. The Paul Wurth bell less top charging system offers more flexibility in distribution of burden materials at any desired location. The furnace performance with regard to productivity, fuel rate and hot metal quality can be certainly improved by changing the burden distribution pattern Key words : Burden distribution, Performance. Blast furnace process, Charging device. Productivity, Fuel rate, Hot metal qualigt Burden trajectont Temperature profile.

INTRODUCTION
The Blast Furnace is a countercurrent packed bed reactor being successfully used in all integrated iron and steel plants of the world to produce hot metal. The cost and quality of hot metal produced is directly related to its stable operation. The blast furnace burden generally comprises of sintered material, lump ore, pellets, coke, lumpy BOF slag and fluxes. During charging the burden materials tend to segregate radially according to their size, density and operating characteristics of the distribution system. The burden distribution during charging system has proved to be vitally important for the operation of the blast furnace. It determines to a great extent gas permeability and its distribution and hence reduction and smelting of the charged materials. It thereby influences output, fuel consumption and furnace campaign. The-^pe of charging equipment used and its mode of application plays a key role in the burden distribution and the operation of blast furnace. Both burden distribution and gas flow distribution play major role in deciding the stability of furnace. Since 1960, the burden distribution control technology has made rapid progress through (i) the introduction of the movable armor and the bell-less charging equipment (ii) the usage of newly developed probes''' for measuring the gas flow distribution and the burden profile and (iii) improvement of control accuracy made through studies with physical model experiments,' , and estimation with mathematical models'41. From seventies it is urged to improve the yield of raw materials and fuels for energy conservation. In a large size reactor like blast furnace, it is extremely difficult to acquire uniform burden distribution and uniform gas flow to acquire optimum operating conditions for stable performance. Burden distribution has acquired more significance in recent times when it is essential to drive the furnace at higher rates for higher productivity, with higher injection rates of pulverized coal to decrease coke consumption. The developments in burden distribution and its significance in furnace performance have been outlined.

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Fig. 1 : Schematic diagram of three z ones in the blast furnace.

BLAST FURNACE PROCESS - ITS CONCEPT

Blast furnace is a counter current reactor where hot reducing gases generated in front of tuyeres move up and the charge moves down. Due to intimate gas-charge contact, heat transfer from gas to charge is accompanied by oxygen and carbon transfer from charge to gas. The distribution of gas is determined by the permeability of charge in the furnace. The gas distribution in the blast furnace has great influence on the major functions of the furnace namely heat exchange and chemical reactions. There are essentially three zones'" in a blast furnace i.e., lumpy zone, a cohesive zone and a dripping zone as shown in Fig. 1. The cohesive zone is mostly either in an inverted V shape or W shape. This separates the low temperature lumpy zone from high temperature dripping zone. In the lumpy zone, the gas flows through the entire cross section of the furnace depending on the radial distribution of coke/ ore ratio. The gas distribution in the lumpy zone is primarily governed by the particle size distribution in the charge and the burden distribution at the stock level. Since ore and coke are having widely different permeability, the distribution of ore/coke strongly effects the gas distribution"-". The non-uniform gas distribution impairs the gas-solid heat transfer as well as utilization of reducing gases across the cross section of the furnace'-`". The regions having higher coke to ore ratio offer lower resistance to gas flow and in these regions temperature isotherms move up. The gas flows in zigzag fashion in the lumpy region. It is due to different permeability of ore and coke layers and also by the inclination of layers. The cohesive layers formed by the softened ferrous burden have only a small residual permeability'I"', which depends on raw material quality and degree of reduction of materials. The gas flows around these layers through alternative coke layers or coke slits. The shape and size of cohesive zone play an important role in the gas distribution in the furnace. The thickness of cohesive zone depends on the softening-melting characteristics of burden under blast furnace conditions. The cohesive zone descends downward as ore/coke ratio increases""

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION In the dripping zone, the gas flows primarily through annulus formed by the "deadman" and inner boundary of cohesive zone and finally it goes out through the coke slits. The factors that influence the furnace performance significantly are burden distribution at the stock level and high temperature properties of burden. Thus, one can conclude that the cohesive zone influences the gas distribution in the furnace and,its size and shape are determined by the burden distribution and high temperature properties of burden materials. The sizes of lumpy zone and dripping zone are also determined by these factors. It can therefore be clearly implied that for stable furnace operation, the cohesive zone must be stable. FLOW PATTERN OF GAS IN STACK ZONE
In a blast furnace reducing gas ascends and reduces the descending iron oxide particles. Raw ln'aterials are charged in alternate layers of ore and coke into the stack zone . They retain their layered arrangement as they move downward countercurrent to the flow of gases that preheat and prereduce these iron -bearing granular materials . The reducing gas is generated initially in the raceway zone by the combustion of coke and injectants with oxygen from the hot blast. The gases flow upward in the active coke zone and into the stack zone through the coke slits in the cohesive zone where the ore starts to melt . In the stack, the coke is larger and more permeable than-the ore , gas flows preferentially towards those regions where the coke layers are relatively thicker than the ore layers . Within the ore layers , the gas flows preferentially away from smaller particles . The principal zones of the blast furnace as determined from dissected furnace"--"' are shown in Fig. 2.

STACK ZONE

COHESIVE ZONE

ACTIVE COKE ZONE cohesive layer

rc--Vl- X7
metal W-shaped

RACEWAY HEARTH

I V-shaped ^ Cohesive Zone Shape

ZONES IN THE BLAST FURNACE

Fig. 2 : Principal zones of the blast furance.

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The layer particles with a low surface to volume ratio are not reduced as readily as smaller particles, gas flows more strongly around layer particles, it leaves the furnace at higher temperature and with a higher percentage of reductant (CO + H). This gas is not as well utilized as the gas in the wall region. The burden and gas distribution in the furnace are affected by: - Raw material size and quality. - Blast conditions. - Furnace geometry. - Furnace charging equipment. The blast furnace generally comprises of materials of various sizes with different physical properties. It is not possible to distribute all materials at the top of the stock column such that the entire vertical and horizontal cross-section of the furnace offers minimum resistance to the gas flow. Non-uniform distribution of the charge material results in a non-uniform radial distribution of particle size and voidage. It leads to non-uniform permeability of the stock column and non-uniform radial distribution of the gas flow, which affects the change descent rate. In a blast furnace the stock line cross section can be divided into three zones"', namely peripheral, intermediate and central. Each peripheral zone as well as central zone consists of 25 percent of the area while the intermediate zone consists of about 50 percent of the total cross section area. Generally 30-35% of the total gas passes through the intermediate zone and the remaining 65-70% of gas passes through the peripheral zone and central zone causing its uniform distribution. Since the majority of gas passes through the central zone and peripheral zone, it is desirable to achieve a uniform distribution in these zones by proper burden distribution at the top. The radial distribution of the gas plays a decisive role in the operation of the blast furnace. It not only affects its utilization, but also the descending behavior of the burden materials as well as the wear of the furnace walls. Altering the charging pattern of the burden materials can control the gas distribution. The charging pattern of the burden materials can be adjusted by manipulation of the dump size, stockline level and movable armors in furnaces with bell type charging equipment and by altering the dump size, tilting angle, or rotation speed of the chute in furnaces with bell less tops. Furnaces are often run with a high gas flow in the center, which can be achieved by employing centre-coke charging. Different techniques measuring the burden profile have been developed"151 based on devices in either direct contact with the burden surface, such as mechanical profile meters, or indirectly, e.g., with microwaves. An estimate of the burden thickness distribution can be obtained by processing the information from such devices.

BURDEN MATERIALS AND BURDEN TRAJECTORY

The blast furnace mainly consists of sintered material. The other burden components are pellets and lump ore of relatively favorable properties in respect of disintegration strength and reduction under load behavior. The particle size of (i) sinter range between 5 and 50mm (ii) lump ores between 8 and 30mm (iii) coke between 25-80 mm and + 40mm and (iv) BOF slag between 12-60mm. The blast furnace operation results are greatly influenced by the sinter properties, especially by the grain size and drum test stability and the disintegration strength of the sinter during reduction under low temperatures.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION

The burden trajectory depends upon the mode of charging device and it plays significant role in deciding the overall pattern of burden distribution. Generally when material is dumped in a heap on the stationary bed, the finer particles tend to accumulate on the peak and lumps slide down accordingly to their kinetic energies and the largest particles go the farthest away. When two different materials are dumped under the same conditions, they follow different angles of repose i.e., their surfaces form different angles with the horizontal. The angles of repose of ore layers vary between 30-35,,C while that of coke layers between 34-400,16]. The angle of repose depends upon the moisture content of material, its size and its coefficient of friction. Generally, smaller size particles have greater angle of repose. On dumping, as material fall on the stock surface, they take a parabolic path. Depending upon whether the particles hit the in-wall directly or the stock surface, their profile is of 'V' shape or 'M' shape. In 'V' shape profile, the ore fines accumulate at the place where the material falls on the surface due to their high coefficient of friction and higher angle of repose while large pieces roll down and spread towards the center. The coke particles being larger than ore in size generally spread towards the center more than ore. Thus coarse materials i.e., coke accumulates in the center and finer particles i.e., ore accumulates at the periphery. In 'V' shape profile, the periphery becomes partially blocked and a major volume of gas passes through the center. As a result the thermal and reduction potential of the gas is only partially utilized in 'V' shape trajectory profile. Like wise in 'M' shape profile, the materials strike the stock surface, the fines accumulate at the striking point and the larger particles roll down on either side. In this case, better uniformity in the permeability is achieved. As a result the thermal and chemical potential of the gas is better utilized. Too much peripheral flow of gas is avoided since it causes the overheating of in-wall. The fines present in the periphery region are likely to stick on the refractory and may markedly decrease the peripheral gas flow.

ORE / COKE RATIO

The ore / coke ratio plays significant role in deciding the gas distribution and CO utilization in the vertical and horizontal cross sections' '41. The zone in which the ore / coke ratio is high or gas / ore ratio is low, the temperature is supposed to be lower and gas utilization is higher. This type of situation generally exists in the intermediate zone. On the other hand this ore / coke ratio is low or gas / ore ratio is high in the peripheral and central zones. The gas / ore ratio is normally kept quite high in the central zone which results in high temperature. The high temperature favours direct reduction which being endothermic, cools down the gas, thus facilitating gaseous reduction. The gaseous reduction, being exothermic , it again increases the temperature. Thus, a dynamic equilibrium is set-up automatically in the centre. A very high gas velocity or a small residence time of ascending gas is unfavorable for fuel economy. A decrease in residence time or an increase in the velocity of ascending gas leads to decrease in indirect reduction. However, the voids offer tortuous path to the ascending gas, thus, ascending gas changes its direction, increases its residence time with turbulence and effective gas / solid contact. The gas velocity and gas temperatures are related to each other. A very high gas velocity associated with less residence time hinders the heat exchange as well as gas utilization. Often high top pressures are employed to increase the residence time of the gases in the furnace.

OVERBURDEN TEMPERATURE PROFILES

Henrik Saxen1'I studied the temperature distribution in depth and presented overburden temperature profiles for six characteristic distributions based on artificial neural network (ANN)

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Fig. 3 : Temperature profiles of six characteristic distributions. analysis. The temperature profiles of six characteristic distributions are illustrated in Fig. 3. These six temperature profiles are

- Flat profile
- Inverse `V' or `U' shape profile - `W' shape profile with some peripheral gas flow - `W' shape profile with considerable peripheral gas flow - Inverse `V' shape with some peripheral gas flow - Inverse `V' shape with little peripheral gas flow Flat Profile The flat profile of temperature distribution is obtained in abnormal situation such as with marked decrease in wind acceptance or major hangings etc. Inverse `V' or 'U' Shape Profile This type of profile corresponds to a quite rare state possibly with an inactive deadman. This type of profile may be obtained during operation with high-pulverized coal injection (PCI) rates, which do not undergo complete combustion in the raceway. `W' Shape Profile with Some Peripheral Gas Flow It is a well-balanced profile. It corresponds to a situation where slight gas flow occurs along the wall and prevents the formation of accretions.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION

Small Bell Hoppers Large Bell

Fig. 4 : Bell tops charging device:

`W' Shape Profile with Considerable Peripheral Gas Flow This type of profile corresponds to a furnace state in which an excessive peripheral gas flow occurs to clean up the build-ups on the wall. Inverse `V ' Shape Profile with Some Peripheral Gas Flow This type of profiles corresponds to a situation where slight gas flow occurs along the wall and more pronounced gas flows in the central region. This type of profile corresponds to operations with low fuel rate. Inverse `V ' Shape Profile with Little Peripheral Gas Flow This type, of profile corresponds to a situation with little peripheral gas flow. It is a good profile with superior physico-chemical characteristics of raw materials.

CHARGING DEVICES TO CONTROL BURDEN DISTRIBUTION

Three types of charging devices namely Bell Tops, Bell Top with Movable Armor and Paul Wurth Bell-Less Top are being used for charging the burden materials in the blast furnaces. Bell Tops Many blast furnaces are equipped with bell tops, (Fig. 4). The distribution of materials in the radial direction is strongly influenced by spacing between the large bell and the throat wall (Fig. 5). The control of radial burden distribution in bell tops is limited to the selection of batch size, the order of placing materials in the large bell, the frequency of dumping of the large bell and the stock line level. Bell Tops with Movable Armor The movable armor permits to vary the throat diameter for any given batch of material. It allows for numerous variations of M or V shaped profiles. Bell Top with Movable Armor charging device with M shaped profile is shown in Fig. 6. One can exert a considerable influence over radial burden distribution using movable armor. In this device the ore/coke

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Large sell

Distance between Large Bell and Throat Wall

Stockline Levels and Resulting Stockl i ne Profiles

Furnace Wall

Fig. 5 : Bell cha rged blast furnace geometric parameters.

Fig. 6 : Bell top with movable armor device.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION

Fig. 7: Paul Wurth bell-less top device.

ratio and particle size segregation can be closely controlled in the wall and intermediate regions and can be strongly influenced in the central part of the furnace . With movable armor, layer charging is used to permit a different setting for each burden material.

Paul Wurth Bell-Less Top

The Paul Wurth Bell-Less Top charging includes one or more lock hoppers which discharge material through a gate into a rotating chute. The burden distribution can be controlled precisely, by adjusting the angle of inclination of the chute and the rate of discharge from the hopper. Bell-Less Top charging device with flat profile is shown in Fig. 7. Using this charging device particle size segregation is minimized and any profile, including the flat profile can be obtained. Presently bell-less top charging device is being installed almost in all new furnaces throughout the world due to the flexibility in its operation.

EFFECT OF CHARGING PRACTICE ON BURDEN DISTRIBUTION AND GAS FLOW IN FURNACES WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARGING SYSTEM Furnaces with Bell-Top Charging System
In bell type charging system, the burden distribution characteristics are basically as illustratedl"I in Fig. 8. The burden material is charged near the wall of the furnace and it'rolls towards the furnace center according to its angle of repose. As it rolls down towards the center, the burden material classifies itself into size fractions. The fine fraction remains at the impact point near the wall and the coarse fraction is deposited at the terminal point of rolling in the furnace center. The segregation of the burden material is influenced by their discharge characteristics from the charging apparatus. The angle of repose varies with the velocity of the ascending gas as shown"") in Fig. 9 and the angle of inclination of the ore and coke layers is influenced accordingly. The ore and coke are distributed as schematically illustrated""' in Fig. 10 and assume characteristic layer profiles depending on whether the coke layer collapses when ore is charged after coke or coke is positioned away from the furnace wall. These characteristics arise from the distribution of profile of coke, which are designated V, M and U shaped respectively.

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Coarse material

n: Fine material

wall

Center

Fig. 8 : Particle size segregation of burden materials in furnace.

9 0

I
0.2 0.4 Gas velocity relative to minimum flooding

I
0.6 Fig. 9 : Relationship between gas velocit and angle of repose.

The most commonly used filling sequences are forward till and the layer fill. The forward fill corresponds to OOCCC/. where 0 = ore skip, C= coke skip and /= larger bell dump and the layer fill corresponds to OO/CCC/. Likewise the reverse tilling corresponds to CCCOO/ and produces strong wall flows and can help removal wall accretions but at the expense of furnace efficiency. Different charging practices have different effect on burden distribution and gas flows as mentioned below:

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION

Mixed layer

Fig. 10 : Process of formation of burden distribution profile.

- Increased percentage of pellets in the charge takes more ore towards furnace center. As a result the gas flow is decreased in the central region and increased towards wall region. Reverse fill Maces a layer of coke on wall and more coke and fines in the furnace center. Reverse fill causes increased flow of gas right on the wal: and in the furnace center. It leads to less reducing gas utilization. Layer fill places more ore in the furnace center. It leads to decreased flow of gas in the central region and increased flow in the wall region. - Increased batch size places more coke in the furnace center, which leads to increased flow of gas in the central region and decreased flow of gas in the wall region. - Decreased coke/ore ratio also places more ore in the furnace center, which leads to decreased flow of gas in the central region and increased flow of gas in the wall region. In order to obtain high performance and on all- coke operation, the material distribution had to be adjusted to provide a more centralized gas flow with correspondingly decreased gas utilization and higher fuel consumption. Therefore in order to reduce the fuel rate, the gas utilization can be improved by appropriate adjustment of skip sequences, stock line level and coke base. In bell type top charging system, which has no movable throat armour, the material distribution, gas permeability and its distribution are controlled by means of stock line level, charging sequence and coke base. Generally a temperature probe is installed above the stockline level relatively soon after commissioning to permit conclusions as to what material distribution would be best suitable for gas permeation and furnace operation under the existing burden conditions. Apart from conventional process control with respect to pressure loss, top gas temperature and gas utilization, the probes are inserted to measure the gas temperature distribution over the furnace radius above stockline level. The stockline level has considerable effect on gas distribution, permeability and gas utilization. For constant charging sequence of CCS.IS.ICC.IS.IS.I the influence of stockline level on gas distribution is illustrated1 1 in Fig. 11. One can clearly note that with the lowering of the stockline level, the gas temperatures are reduced at furnace wall and increased at the furnace center. It can be seen that the most favourable stock line level in respect of pressure loss and gas utilization is proved to be about 2.7 m below the closed bell. Further Fig. 12 indicates"1 the influence of various charging sequences on the gas distribution for the stock line level 2.7m. The most appropriate charging sequence CCS/S/CC/S/S is compared with the basic charging cycle of

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Pattern 'A' 15 10

wall

center

Fig. 16 : Graoin size segregation of charged material.

Pattern 'B' Fig. 17 : Charging progrannne of blast .furnace.

Furnaces with Paul Wurth Bell - Less Top Charging System In furnaces with Paul Wurth Bell-Less Top charging system, the effects of material charging and distribution depends on chute operation. It offers more flexibility of distributing the materials at any desired location. Great control over the material segregation can be practiced using PW bell-les top charging system. The instrumentation and control panel controls the chute RPM, chute angle, chute swing speed and chute revolutions in a particular ring in Paul Wurth Bell-Less Top system of charging. Weighed quantity of sized raw materials namely ore, sinter and coke in the specified proportions are individually charged. The raw materials are thus filled in layers. The stock level is maintained by synchronizing the charging and discharging rates. During the filling of raw materials one can study the formation of layers of different materials and their shape/ profile, segregation or distribution of finer size fractions, trajectory of the falling burden stream and landing of particles, formation of peak in the individual layer, shifting of the peak position and rolling down of particles from the peak etc. This basic phenomenon can be captured/ photographed by means of video camera. The process of charging is continued till layer profiles are stabilized generally the top layer and 5 to 6 layer below the top layer are of academic interest. This charging study gives an idea of bed permeability, gas distribution through the burden layers and radial temperature distribution profile of the gases ascending through the burden column. In actual operation, the active and inactive regions, of the furnace can be identified and corrective action can be taken under stable operation, all regions namely central, intermediate and peripheral remain fully active over the entire cross section. The stock line profiles of the various charged materials can be measured by means of non-conducting ultrasonic sensing system and the radial distribution of burden /coke ratio can be determined. A specially designed collecting device can also determine the particle segregation of sinter and coke. Fig. 16 showst'`'t the results of such profiles measurements and of the particle distribution. Two charging patterns have been

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illustrated" in Fig. 17. In pattern `A' the ore/coke ratio was adjusted high in the outer material rings and lower towards the furnace center. No material was charged on the innermost rings No. 1-4 while in pattern `B', the ore/coke ratio was lower in the outer material rings and increased towards the furnace center. Corresponding to these two charging patterns, the radial gas temperature distribution above stock line level is shownU9l in Fig. 18a and 10m below stock line in Fig. 18b. Likewise the gas utilization above stock line and 10 m below stock line corresponding to charging pattern Wand B' is shown"" in Fig. 19a and Fig. 19b respectively. The pattern, the pressure distribution along the height of blast furnace is illustrated"" in Fig. 20.

Fig. 18 : Gas temperature distribution of blast furnace.

(b)

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Fig. 19 : Gas utilization of blast furnace.

(b) 20

(a)

1981

1982

hot blast pro""

level

Pressure tbal Fig. 20 : Pressure distribution along height of blast furance.

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A.K.VAISH and R. K.MINJ DEMAG / PAUL WURTH BELL-LESS TOP CHARGING SYSTEM ITS SPECIAL FEATURES The gas distribution within the furnace and thus furnace efficiency is substantially influenced by the precision with which the burden is distributed with the Demag / Paul Wurth bell-less top. This system is characterized by a significantly more uniform distribution of burden components than that achieved with a bell-top with an adjustable throat armour system. The Demag / Paul Wurth bell-less top enables the charge to be distributed selectively over the entire furnace throat cross section by means of a rotating distribution chute. Changing chute angle or the ring number of the chute can dump the charge material at the desired place to provide uniform permeability of the stock cross-section. It has greater flexibility of the charging pattern than that of any other system. In general, more gas passes through regions containing more coke resulting in a higher temperature of the region. Therefore, more coke is desired in the central region to make the furnace central working which results in lower thermal load on the wall and leads to efficient and smooth working of the furnace. In view of this fact generally coke is charged into rings more towards the centre and metallics are charged towards the periphery. It overall results in lower coke rate and higher efficiency of gas utilization.

RELEVANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION STUDIES

The following characteristic information can be obtained through in depth burden distribution studies: - The profiles of individual burden layer namely coke layer, ore layer, sinter layer, sinter plus coke layer, non-coke layer and the layer thickness. - Segregation behaviour of different burden materials. - Ore or sinter / coke distribution in radial direction. - Voidage and its distribution in the radial direction. - Pressure drop along and across the furnace height. - Burden descent rate. - Heat flux on the walls. - Temperature profile of gases and solids - Degree of heat exchange between gases and solids - Interfacial resistance to gas flow and its effect on gas distribution. - Indices for central and peripheral working. - Size, shape, location and volume of cohesive zone. - Variation in the gas composition along and across the burden column provided suitable probes are installed. - Interfacial resistance to gas flow and its effect on gas distribution. The physical as well as mathematical modelling, artificial neural net working and analysis of plant data generated through various probes certainly play major role in comprehending the in-depth burden distribution studies. These studies are essential for improving the performance of blast furnace.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF BURDEN DISTRIBUTION CONCLUSIONS - The development of bell-less top charging system is a noteworthy achievement in the direction of uniform burden distribution in the furnace. - The gas distribution within the furnace and its efficiency are substantially influenced by the precision with which the burden is distributed. - The desired improvement in heat transfer and gas distribution can be achieved by changing the burden distribution pattern without adversely affecting the gas permeability. - The in-depth burden distribution studies can improve the blast furnace performance with regard to productivity, fuel rate and hot metal quality.

REFERENCS
1. Togino, Y., et. at., (1979), Tetsu-to-Hagane, 65, S598. 2. Wakuri. S., et. at., (1980), Tetsu-to-Hagane, 66, S686. 3. Isoyama. T., et. at.. (1983), Tetsu-to-Hagane, 69, S686.
4. Okuno, Y., et. al.. (1983), Paper presented at the 54" Ironmaking Committee. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science No. 1668, November. 5. Lahiri, A.K., (1985), ` Blast furnace process- the current concept', International Symposium on Blast furnace ironmaking, 15-16 November, Jamshedpur, India pp 171-178

6. Kuwabara, M., and Muchi, I., (1977), Trans. ISIJ, 17, p. 321. 7. Hatano, M., and Kurita, K., (1982), ibid, 22, p. 448.
8. Yogi, J., Takada, K., and Omori, Y., ibid, p. 884. 9. Lahiri, A.K., and Seshadri, V., (1969), J. Iron and Steel Inst., 207, p. 293. 10. Yamaoka, Y., Hota, H., and Kajikawa, S., (1982), Trans. ISIJ. 22, p. 164. It. Tukdogan, E.T., (1980), Physical Chemistry of High Temperature Technology, Academic Press. 12. Hashimoto, S., et. at., (1977), Burden and gas distribution in blast furnace , Process technology Division, Proc. ISS-AIME, Ironmaking Conference, Pittsburgh, Pa., pp. 169-187. 13. Ishikawa. Y.. (1976), Some considerations on the operation of large blast furnaces, Revue de Metallurgie, 73, March, pp. 283-317. 14. Pandey, B.D., and Yadav, U.S., (1990), Ironmaking & Steelmaking, 26(3), pp. 187-192. 15. lizuka, N., et. at., (1980), Development and application of measuring equipment for burden distribution in the blast furnace, Nippon Kokan Technical Report, Overseas , 30, pp . 13-23. 16. Suzuki. G., et. al., (1972), Recent development in metallurgical science and technology. Iron and Steel Silver Jubilee Symposium, Indian Institute of Metals, New Delhi, p. 199.

17. Saxen, Henrik.. 13" PTD Conference Proceedings, 1995, pp. 433-439. 18. Hisanori, M., et. al., (1987), Nippon Steel Technical Report, No. 35, Oct. pp. 19-31.
19. Winzer, G. Pfrotschner, G., Engel, K., and Beseoglu, M.,(1985), ` Burden distribution control at Mannesmann's blast furnace operation', International Symposium on blast furnace iron making. 15-16 November, Jamshedpur, India, pp.179-190.

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