The processes for direct and smelting-reduction of iron ores have, compared to the blast furnace, the advantage of being independent from coke. They will gain importance for mini mills based on the EAF steelmaking route. DRI capacity and production have steadily increased worldwide over the past three decades. DRI production in 2002 was 45 Mt and utilization of installed capacities reached 97%. A further increase in capacity and production is expected. The only smelting-reduction process under industrial application is the Corex process. The four operated plants in the world have in 2002 produced 2.66 Mt hot metal.

Since systems for examining coke quality are labour-intensive and time-consuming, automatic coke sizing and shaping equipment has been assessed. Variations in coke shape as well as size affect blast furnace permeability, so potential for replacing abrasion-resistance testing has been investigated by examination of size and shape changes between the oven wharf and the furnace. Results demonstrate the ability of on-line monitoring to facilitate coke quality assessment, permitting identification/correction of problems.

Belgo-Mineira, Arcelor Group, has at Monlevade Works one sinterplant with 120 m2 of strand area and its own iron ore mine (Andrade mine). Aiming to increase sinter production combined with the use of 100% of its own iron ore, the Hybrid Pelletized Sinter (HPS) process, developed by JFE (former NKK), was chosen among other alternatives. The HPS process started up at Monlevade Works in December 2002 and since January 2003 100% of Andrade iron ore has been used at the sinterplant. The contractual sinterplant productivity target (42 t/m2.24h) has been achieved.

CRM has developed a technique to measure the hydrostatic pressure in the blast furnace hearth. Three measuring campaigns have been performed at Arcelor Cockerill-Sambre BF B. Complementarily, a mathematical model computing the liquid levels in the hearth and the position of the bottom of the dead man has been developed. It takes into account the movement of the dead man. Its results are consistent with the pressure measurements. The combined use of the model and the measurements allow estimating the coke bed voidage in the hearth and concluding if the dead man is floating or not. For most casts, it begins to float a few minutes after plugging. The estimated coke bed voidage is very well related to the quality of the coke used during the measuring campaigns.

The effect of blast furnace productivity on the erosion of the hearth wall and the campaign life was examined. First, the molten iron flow in the hearth was studied by a model experiment and an iron flow estimation model calculation. Next, the temperature distribution in the hearth wall was calculated by a heat transfer model, and the erosion of the wall and formation of the solidified layer were estimated. The study led to the erosion pattern during the blast furnace campaign life, which was verified by the actual furnace erosion pattern.

Kwangyang has been operating five large size blast furnaces and K-1 BF was relined in March 2002 after finishing 15 years of operation successfully. To secure enough cast pig iron as one of countermeasures to a low HMR at the steelmaking process during the relining period, four other blast furnaces came to increase their productivity in advance, before the start of the K-1 BF long stoppage. Particularly, during the ultra-high productivity operation period from March to June, K-3 BF marked a new POSCO productivity record and a new silicon record simultaneously on May in spite of unstable sinter consumption due to the width extension of No. 1 & No. 3 sintering strands and 13 years furnace life. It was 2.76 t/day$\cdot$m3/IV in productivity and 0.15% in silicon level in pig iron. These remarkable records were based on some advanced Kwangyang BF know-how and recent developments like higher facilities reliability, optimum allotment of hot blast and oxygen, high sophisticated burden distribution control and special screening equipment of raw materials.

ThyssenKrupp Stahl operates four blast furnaces with a hot metal production of up to 12 million tons per year in total. To minimize the costs in the cast house operation and to optimize the tapping performance, measures were taken to prolong the lifetime of the refractory lining of the troughs by a supreme effort. Extensive technical measures in the total cast house area with the aim of best economical efficiency were taken. This report shows the effects for the cast houses of the big Schwelgern furnaces.

The solid flow inside a blast furnace is modelled using a stand-alone finite element program and a constitutive equation called hypo-plastic, in order to better simulate the granular material behaviour. The parameters of this constitutive equation are calibrated using data obtained from simple soil mechanics tests on coke and sinter materials, such as triaxial and oedometric devices. Steady velocity, stress and void fraction fields are obtained after several iterations of the code. Knowledge of the solids velocity field makes it possible to determine the dead man profile, as well as its renewal kinetics. Burden trajectories and time lines are also computed. Knowledge of the stress field makes it possible to compute pressures acting on the burden as well as on the walls. Finally, the knowledge of the void fraction field makes it possible to determine gas paths. The solid flow model was validated on 2D and 3D small-scale cold blast furnaces, but the simulations never required any tuning parameter. This code is in fact an invaluable tool to determine the effect of blast furnace profile on solid flow conditions, and vice versa.

This paper describes the equipments and systems, designed and supplied by VOEST-ALPINE Industrieanlagenbau (VAI), for the extension of the stainless steel production plant of Ugine & ALZ at Genk. The main results obtained during the first year of full operation of this modernized plant are presented.

The main objective of this paper is to present a model based on advanced artificial intelligence techniques to determine the preset values of the roll forces to be applied on the temper mill of a galvanizing line. This model will preset both the roll force needed for the required material and will also preset the necessary tension. The roughness is also foreseen by applying this method.