10. Conclusion

This article looks at the behavior and properties of materials entering the blast furnace (iron-bearing materials, coke, coal, hot wind) and blast furnace products (cast iron, slag and gas).

In modern blast furnaces, iron-bearing materials are prepared in the form of iron ore agglomerates or pellets. Compared with raw ores, which are highly heterogeneous by nature, agglomerates and pellets have the perfectly controlled and regular physico-chemical characteristics required for blast furnace operation: grain size, chemical composition, mechanical strength at ambient and high temperatures, reducibility.

The properties of coke enable it to fulfill the three roles it must play in the blast furnace: chemical, thermal and aerodynamic. Its behavior and the corresponding quality criteria are analyzed, in particular its mechanical strength after the...