Mini Blast Furnace
Our Unit/Mini Blast Furnace
Mini Blast Furnace
Narsingh Ispat Limited boasts state-of-the-art facilities for the production of Pig Iron at our plants in Chowka, Jharkhand. Equipped with the cutting-edge technology in our laboratories, we have established ourselves as the market leader in producing high-quality Pig Iron in the region. We source the primary mineral raw materials, including iron ore and limestone, from the finest mines across the country. We are planning to establish our own Coke Oven Plant to optimize costs and enhance efficiency. Our blast furnaces are meticulously designed to ensure the optimal use of minerals while minimizing costs. At our blast furnace site, we operate Sinter Plant that recycles iron ore and coke fines into sinter cakes, which serve as feed for the furnace. This process not only improves iron recovery but also directly reduces our production costs. Additionally, our Pulverized Coal Injection Plant is designed to lower the coke rate in our furnaces, further contributing to our cost-saving initiatives.
The different grades of Pig Iron manufacture we are
- Steel Grade Pig Iron
- Foundry Grade Pig Iron.
Pig iron production involves smelting iron ore in a blast furnace, where iron oxides are reduced by carbon from coke at high temperatures. The process starts with the introduction of iron ore, coke (a form of carbon-rich fuel), and limestone into the top of the furnace. As the materials descend, hot air, often enriched with oxygen, is blown into the bottom of the furnace, creating extremely high temperatures (around 1500-2000°C) that cause the coke to burn, releasing carbon monoxide. This gas reacts with the iron ore, stripping away the oxygen and leaving molten iron. Simultaneously, limestone helps remove impurities by forming slag, a by-product that floats on the surface of the molten iron and is later removed. The molten iron, now separated from impurities, collects at the bottom of the furnace and is tapped off as pig iron. This form of iron is typically high in carbon (around 3.5-4.5%) and contains traces of other elements like sulfur, silicon, and phosphorus, making it brittle and unsuitable for most applications without further refinement. Pig iron is often transferred to steel-making furnaces, where its carbon content and impurities are reduced to produce different grades of steel, or it can be cast directly into products like ingots for further use in foundries. This entire process relies on maintaining the correct balance of raw materials, heat, and chemical reactions within the furnace to ensure the efficient production of pig iron.
The fuel source for pig iron production is primarily coke, a vital carbon-rich material made by heating coal in the absence of oxygen to drive off volatile compounds, leaving behind almost pure carbon. Coke plays a dual role in the blast furnace: first, it provides the immense heat needed to melt the iron ore and other materials. As air (often enriched with oxygen) is blasted into the furnace from below, the coke burns at temperatures of around 1500-2000°C. This intense heat causes the iron ore to melt, forming molten iron.
Second, coke acts as a reducing agent. In the blast furnace, iron ore typically exists as iron oxides, and for iron to be extracted, the oxygen atoms must be removed. The carbon in the coke reacts with the oxygen in the iron ore, forming carbon monoxide, which in turn reduces the iron oxide by pulling the oxygen away, leaving behind molten iron. This reduction process is essential for converting the raw iron ore into usable pig iron.
The structure of coke is also crucial, as its porous nature allows gases to pass through the furnace and maintain the necessary chemical reactions. Additionally, its high carbon content and hardness ensure that it remains stable under the extreme furnace conditions, supporting the burden of raw materials above it while maintaining combustion and reaction efficiency. Overall, coke is indispensable to the pig iron production process, both as a fuel and as a chemical agent.
