The Interfacial Behavior Between Coke and Liquid Iron: A Comparative Study on the Influence of Coke Pore, Carbon Structure and Ash

Identifying key factors governing the dissolution rate of metallurgical coke into liquid iron is important for sustainable developments of blast furnace iron-making. This study investigated the metallurgical coke dissolution into liquid iron by comparing the interfacial behavior between four carbonaceous materials and iron to clarify the influence of coke pore, carbon structure and ash. The wettability between coke and molten iron is reduced by the disorder of the carbon structure, and the presence of minerals can significantly reduce the rate of carburization with the dissolution breadth and depth of coke powder tablets reaching minimum values, 11 mm and 0.33 mm, respectively. The presence of pores significantly improves the dissolution rate, and the dissolution breadth and depth of coke slices increased to 16.5 mm and 0.97 mm, respectively. The main mechanism by which the pores accelerate the rate of metallurgical coke into the molten iron is to improve the contact area between the iron and the coke slices at high temperatures. The effect of the carbon structure and ash on the dissolution rate becomes weaker when there are pores in the coke.