COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF GASEOUS FUEL EMISSION

The work presents estimated comparative assessment of emissions release in combustion products during work of high–power steam boilers with the use of traditional fuel – natural gas and alternative fuels – blast–furnace and coke–oven gases generated in the process of technological cycle at iron and steel and coke–chemical enterprises. Calculation algorithm is shown and formulas for assessment of carbon content in exhaust gases are defined, conclusions on ecological efficiency of gaseous fuels are given. The purpose of the work was to evaluate the emissions of harmful substances generated during the combustion of natural, blast furnace and coke oven gases, justification of the calculation of carbon content of a given chemical composition and determine the optimal environmental impact of analogues of natural gas. The comparative estimation of pollutant emissions into atmospheric air during combustion of natural, coke oven and blast furnace gases revealed: – high sulfur dioxide emissions from combustion of blast furnace and coke oven gases due to the presence of sulfur compounds in the composition of these gases; – relatively high emissions of nitrogen compounds for natural and coke oven gases and relatively low emissions for blast furnace gas; – сarbon emissions are high for all types of fuels which have been considered, most carbon dioxide gets into the air when burning natural gas, least – when burning blast furnace gas; – significantly higher methane emissions are observed during the combustion of natural and coke oven gases, respectively, smaller – for blast–furnace gas combustion; – coke oven and natural gases are characterized by low mercury emissions. Comparative assessment of the calculated values of hazardous substances emissions in the combustion products in the process of combustion of natural, coke–oven and blast–furnace gases shows that even at lower working heat of combustion values the coke–oven and blast–furnace gases can compete with natural gas. For the first time, a comparative characterization of the emissions of harmful substances in the combustion of natural, coke oven and blast furnace gases is presented, and it is shown that the gases used in coke and metallurgical industries, which are used as analogues of natural, are logical to use, but require the installation of treatment systems. The paper defines a formula for calculating the carbon content in natural gas from the Urengoy–Uzhhorod gas pipeline. The provided calculations and the introduction of simplified formulas serve as an example for the calculation of emission factors and emissions in assessing the level of safety of existing equipment and can be used in the development of permit documents of enterprises that carry out emissions of harmful substances to the environment.

Silicon Metallurgy and Ecology Problems

Modern silicon production technology is associated with a risk of negative environmental impact due to the fact that in addition to the final product, other reaction products are formed, including dust, from the incomplete use of charge materials. Gases released during silicon smelting in ore-thermal furnaces are characterized by the content of a large amount of fine dust. Dust consists of 94–96% of silicon dioxide. As a result of the use of sulfur-containing raw materials in furnaces as sulfur reducing agents, sulfur compounds in the form of SO2 are present in the furnace gases entering for purification, and nitrogen oxides are also present. The developed silicon recovery smelting technology reduces the technological energy consumption and increases the furnace productivity in proportion to the amount of carbon replaced by silicon carbide. Replacing carbon with silicon carbide reduces the dust content and the amount of exhaust furnace gases, and changes their composition. Thus, reducing the amount of pollutants reduces their anthropogenic impact on the environment. Keywords: silicon, gas cleaning dust, gas capture system, microsilica

Mathematical Model of a Heating Furnace Implemented with Volumetric Fuel Combustion

Heating flame furnaces are the main type of furnaces used for heating and heat treatment of metal products in metallurgy and mechanical engineering. In the working chamber of a modern heating furnace, there should be neither high-temperature nor stagnation zones. One of the methods used to provide such combustion conditions is the application of distributed (volumetric) combustion. Owing to this method, heating quality is ensured by creating a uniform temperature field and equivalent heat exchange conditions, regardless of the placement of the charge in the working chamber of the furnace. In this work, we numerically study the volumetric combustion and influences of small- and large-scale recirculation ratios of furnace gases, the influence of temperature fluctuation on the regenerator nozzle, and the working parameters at the starting phase and reverse.

Effect of the natural gas hydrogen on variation of the heat and reducing processes along the blast furnace radius

The expenses for the blast furnace coke are one of most significant part of the hot metal cost. To save the coke, various technologies are used, capable to replace the coke by cheaper additional fuel (AF), in particular by natural gas (NG). The injection of considerable volumes of NG results in an increase of hydrogen share in the blast furnace gases and in a significant variation in the blast furnace technology. Study of peculiarities of such variations is necessary to use the NG more effectively. Based on the mathematical model of the blast furnace process, estimation of the effect of natural gas hydrogen on changes in the heat and reducing processes along the blast furnace radius was accomplished. A formula was elaborated, confirmed by practice, for calculating the degree of hydrogen usage ηН2 along the radius of the furnace. It was determined, that the reducing action of hydrogen along the furnace radius takes place unevenly –decreasing from the periphery to the axial zone of the blast furnace. To estimate the quantitative relations of the reducing action of hydrogen, parameters of the PAO “MMK” and PAO “ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog” blast furnaces for a long period of operation were analyzed. It was determined, that in the axial and intermediate zones of a blast furnace, values of criterion RН2, designating the oxygen share in the burden removed by hydrogen, are in the range of 0.11–0.16 and weakly depend on the NG consumption. In the peripheral zone near the walls, the value of R Н 2 sharply increases to 0.22–0.27. In this zone of the blast furnace the quantity the burden oxygen, removed by hydrogen, accounts for 80–85%. Therefore, hydrogen accomplished the heat and reducing processes mainly in the peripheral zone of the furnace. At the NG consumption increase, the ore load should be increased for the peripheral zone, near the walls individually accounting hydrogen action along the furnace radius. This will make possible to increase the degree of hydrogen usage and decrease the coke consumption.