Japan’s Major Blast Furnaces Try to Use Less Reducers

Japanese major integrated steel makers accelerate to decline consumption of reducer, which is mainly coke, at the blast furnaces in order to reduce emission of carbon dioxide. They use around 510 kilogram of reducer per tonne of pig iron production. They try to reduce the volume under the 3-year plans starting from April 2006. The consumption is estimated to decrease by around 2% or 10 kg to average less than 500 kg reducing the usage by around 800,000 tonnes per year, according to provisional estimate for plans of Nippon Steel and JFE Steel. They also reduce the cost for expensive coking coal along with the lower emission of CO2. They input coke from the top of blast furnace and inject pulverized coal from tuyere of the furnace. The reducer ratio depends on quality of coking coal. European integrated steels’ reducer consumption is less than 500 kg per tonne of pig iron when they use high quality coking coal more. Japanese integrated steels have higher technology of pretreatment of coal to use lower grade coking coal and use more non- and soft-coking coal and pulverized coal injection under the difficult purchase condition. Japanese improve the operating technology to reduce reducer rate though they need certain portion of reducer for stable production. Nippon Steel, which realized lowest reducer rate of all the Japanese integrated steel makers, has used around 500 kg of reducer per tonne of pig iron in the past 5 years. The firm’s reducer rate is averaged 490 kg now with 120 kg of PCI. The firm will reduce the consumption of reducer as much as possible along with more PCI. JFE Steel’s reducer rate is just less than 500 kg at Fukuyama of West Japan works. The firm tries to reduce the rate from current 480 kg to around 470 kg under the new plan starting from April 2006. The firm will also increase PCI from current 120 kg. Sumitomo Metal Industries’ reducer rate is around 510 kg per tonne of pig iron at Wakayama works for stable operation. The Kashima works tries to keep the stable production at the current rate. The 2 works try to increase PCI rate. Kobe Steel also tries to reduce consumption of reducer. The Kakogawa works’ reducer rate is 511 kg with 146 kg of PCI. The Kobe works’ reducer rate is 521 kg with 174 kg of PCI. Nisshin Steel will increase the PCI from current 120 kg to 160 kg at Kure works in its next business plan while the firm keeps the current reducer rate at 500 kg.