FEATURES OF INDUSTRIAL PROSE IN UKRAINIAN SOVIET LITERATURE: THE SHORT STORY “BLAST FURNACES” BY DMYTRO BUZKO

The paper highlights the features of ‘industrial’ prose in the Ukrainian Soviet literature of the 1930s clarifying the main formal and semantic characteristics of “industrial” genres, their reception in criticism, and such characteristics of this genre as style, plot, figurative and thematic principles. Based on D. Buzko’s text “Blast Furnaces”, the paper shows the transitional period between the free avant-garde artistic movement in Ukraine of the 1920s and the implementation of socialist realism as the only official style in Soviet art in the 1930s. As a representative of the futurist movement, deeply engaged in the elaboration of early cinema theories, Dmytro Byzko wrote a novel “Holiandiia”, which deconstructed official narratives and topics of the late 1920s. The comparison of the “Blast furnaces” with this novel helps not only to see the mentioned transition but also to notice the divergence of the “Blast furnaces” and more canonical pieces of this genre. Dmytro Buzko’s “Blast furnaces” extremely accurately reflects the expectations from literature at that time: the heroes explain the main stages of work at the metallurgical plant, and by their example, in words and deeds, agitate readers to become conscious builders of socialism. Although a large number of similar techniques, ideas, and even views of the author can be found in “Holiandiia” and “Blast furnaces”, the first novel is a sharp critique of the contemporary reality, while “Blast furnaces” is a text complementary to reality. The analysis of “Blast furnaces” shows the process of the search for an ideal and canonical protagonist as well as an antagonist for the Soviet literature. The last one in this text is represented by the typical for the whole Ukrainian literature covetous farmer who, in a new political reality, plays a role of a small evil ready to harm ordinary workers and socialistic future.

Revisiting the Rist diagram for predicting operating conditions in blast furnaces with multiple injections

Background: The Rist diagram is useful for predicting changes in blast furnaces when the operating conditions are modified. In this paper, we revisit this methodology to provide a general model with additions and corrections. The reason for this is to study a new concept proposal that combines oxygen blast furnaces with Power to Gas technology. The latter produces synthetic methane by using renewable electricity and CO2 to partly replace the fossil input in the blast furnace. Carbon is thus continuously recycled in a closed loop and geological storage is avoided. Methods: The new model is validated with three data sets corresponding to (1) an air-blown blast furnace without auxiliary injections, (2) an air-blown blast furnace with pulverized coal injection and (3) an oxygen blast furnace with top gas recycling and pulverized coal injection. The error is below 8% in all cases. Results: Assuming a 280 tHM/h oxygen blast furnace that produces 1154 kgCO2/tHM, we can reduce the CO2 emissions between 6.1% and 7.4% by coupling a 150 MW Power to Gas plant. This produces 21.8 kg/tHM of synthetic methane that replaces 22.8 kg/tHM of coke or 30.2 kg/tHM of coal. The gross energy penalization of the CO2 avoidance is 27.1 MJ/kgCO2 when coke is replaced and 22.4 MJ/kgCO2 when coal is replaced. Considering the energy content of the saved fossil fuel, and the electricity no longer consumed in the air separation unit thanks to the O2 coming from the electrolyzer, the net energy penalizations are 23.1 MJ/kgCO2 and 17.9 MJ/kgCO2, respectively. Discussion: The proposed integration has energy penalizations greater than conventional amine carbon capture (typically 3.7 – 4.8 MJ/kgCO2), but in return it could reduce the economic costs thanks to diminishing the coke/coal consumption, reducing the electricity consumption in the air separation unit, and eliminating the requirement of geological storage.

Prospects of steel industry development accounting ecological restrictions

Discussion of many years on consequences of man’s activity effect on environment at present moved to a practical aspect. New ecological and economical limits dictate a necessity to reduce the carbon intensity of metallurgical processes. It was noted that the technological couple “blast furnace – basic oxygen furnace” is a basic method of steel production, based on utilization of coke as a fuel and reducing component. Distribution of metallurgical capacities by types of fuel used shown, which confirms application of carbon-containing fuel-reducing additions in overwhelming majority of technological processes of iron production. Data on projects reducing carbon intensity of metallurgical industry presented, most of which aimed at changing the technology of BF process. Experience of steel industry of Japan on perfection machinery and technology of BF production considered, which enabled to reduce total consumption of reducing agents down to figure less down to 450 kg/t of hot metal, which is the best index among countries of the world. It was shown that increase of a blast furnace volume results in change of BF process technology. Such an increase also results in decrease of carbon consumption – blast furnaces of large volume have lower specific consumption of fuel and reducing agent. The specific coke rate in blast furnaces of large volume is by 71 kg/t of hot metal less comparing with blast furnaces having volume less 1000 m3, and the total fuel consumption in large blast furnaces is by 51 kg/t of hot metal lower. Accounting necessity to decrease the carbon footprint in steel products, basic ways of steel industry technologies development can be enlargement of facilities with shutdown of small and not effective capacities, changing sinter and BF charges structure with increase of more qualitative raw materials and pellets, application of alternative kinds of fuel and reducing additions.