Investigating carbon type differentiation techniques for blast furnace dust

ABSTRACT Coal char presence in blast furnace dust, indicates the inefficiency of combustion in the raceway. A retroactive approach has been applied by investigating the presence of carbon sources in blast furnace dust via carbon type differentiation methodologies. The current state of the art in carbon type differentiation for similar applications consists of thermogravimetric analysis, however this technique does not allow for samples to be analysed in line with the ever-changing conditions of the blast furnace. Here, the TGA method has been trialled for use with blast furnace dust, with improvements offered to the heating profile, allowing for faster analysis. Moreover, alternative techniques have been trialled, in combination with characterisation methods such as XRD, SEM/EDS, total carbon and ICP-OES. The ‘Winkler Method’ originally designed to quantify charcoal in soil sediment, has been successfully optimised for carbon type differentiation in blast furnace dust, showing good correlation with the original benchmark technique.