Current status and development trends of innovative blast furnace ironmaking technologies aimed to environmental harmony and operation intellectualization

Blast furnace (BF) ironmaking is dominant for reducing pollution emission and energy consumption in iron and steel industry. Under the increasingly strict environmental pressure, some innovative technologies of BF ironmaking for environmental protection have been developed and applied in actual operating facilities. The current state of BF ironmaking in Europe, America, Japan, and China were briefly overviewed. Moreover, some innovative BF ironmaking technologies aiming at environmental harmony and operation intellectualization in the world, such as waste gas recycling sintering, BF operation with coke oven gas injection, ferro-coke, lime coating coke, BF visualization and intellectualization, were roundly summarized. Finally, some discussion on the technologies was carried out and the development trends of BF ironmaking were pointed out. The review could provide references and supports for the progress of environment-friendly technologies of BF ironmaking, thereby promoting their practical applications and achieving sustainable development of BF ironmaking, especially for Chinese ironmaking industry.