Blast furnace wind requirements
Air heaters - Cowpers devices

The wet wind blown to the nozzles is used in its entirety to burn the carbon in the coke and any auxiliary fuels injected, and produce the primary gas made up of CO, N ₂ , H ₂ and the thermal energy required for the various reactions, heating and melting of the charge.

The coke burns in the cavity facing the tuyere, producing a gas at a temperature of between 2,000 and 2,200°C, known as the adiabatic flame temperature (AFT), which is one of the key parameters in blast furnace operation. Since TAF is a function of the amount of thermal energy released into the cavity, wind temperature is the main means of adjusting this temperature.

In operation with auxiliary fuel injection to the nozzles, the cooling effect of the injection (cracking heat) must be...