A novel clogging prevention system for pre-

scrubber of Gas Cleaning Plant

by high-pressure water jets

S Thirumalai Selvam
Vinod Kumar, UK Mondal & Ashit Prasad

Steel Authority of India Limited

R&D Centre for Iron and Steel, Ranchi-834002
Blast Furnace Gas (BF Gas)

 Blast furnace (BF) generates gas at the furnace top ( ~ 300 deg
C), which is an important by-product of the BF process

 BF gas has substantial calorific value. (~850 kcal/cum )

 It is usually contaminated with dust (~ 30 g/cum ) and water

particles (~ 100 g/cum)

 To be used as fuel gas, it is necessary that the raw BF gas is

cleaned and cooled to reduce gas volumes and moisture
content.

 Gas cleaning system (i.e., GCP) is to remove particulate matter

from BF gas. In addition, the system also cools the gas to
reduce its moisture content, thus increasing its calorific value.
Principle of Gas Cleaning Plant (GCP)
 The recovered sludge/dust contains relatively high quantities of
iron and carbon and can thus be recycled
 Emergency water Line

B1
DN 300

M
HV4 Layout of a
B.F. Gas from
Dust Catcher
DN 2400
GAS CLEANING PLANT
NRV-1

Compensator LEGENDS

PI W/N-1
DN 150 Flange Joint
79 m3/hr
PI W/N-2

Primary
DN 150 Butterfly valve

M1 PI W/N-3 NRV-2
Secondary Stage Motor operated
gate valve

Stage
79 m3/hr
PI W/N-4
DN 150 Check valve/ NRV
79 m3/hr
W/N-5 Expansion Joint
DN 150

SCRUBBER
P
63 m3/hr

3/hr
M2 Hydraulic Valve

316 m
Fresh water

Recirculation
W/N-6 P DN 300

water line
St/N2 St/N2 B2 M
W/N-7 P Orifice Plate

DN 250
W/N-8
P Manhole
St/N2
St/N2 Globe/Gate Valve
W/N-9 P M Semi Clean
M3 G8 Gas Line
DN 100 Gate Valve
G6
Level G8A
Transmitter
Line 1-3
M8

For Gas analyser

DN300

DN300

G7

For Dust analysis

DN 400
Polythene
St/N2
Tube
W18 St/N2
DN400

HV2 St/N2

DN 150 W/N-10 St/N2

105 m3/hr
HV1 HV3 For flow meter
W/N-11 St/N2 B3 B4 B5
St/N2 TRT
W22
W/N-12 G2 G1 TG
W16 W17 M9
Syphon
DN 100
Breaker

Clean B.F. Gas

W20 W21
DN2400

to Network
G4 St/N2 DEMISTER
DN400 DN 400
W19 DN 3500 W35 TRT G10
M4 G5
DN250 DN 100 W30A
St/N2 St/N2
St/N2 G3

DN100
Water
DN 250
DN 250

Seal Water
3/hr
3/hr

315 m

To Drain
315 m

Water U Seal
G9

DN 2400
M6 level
Polythene Control W30
M5 W24 W26 M7
Tube G12 D5
St/N2 To Drain

DN150
St/N2
DN 400

From BF
HV5 HV6
W37 Flushing
D6 To Drain
Hydraulic water line W32
W29
To Drain

DN 25

W23 W25 To Drain

3/hr

DN 300

Room

DN200

DN200
630 m

D10
DN 80 DN150
To Drain DN80 DN80
W28 G11
DN200 W27
D9
DN 40
From PH1

To Drain W38 Recirculation Pumps W39

M D1
W4 DN 300 NRV W5 DN80 DN80
W33 Drain
DN 100

DN200 D4
DN 80

W15 NRV W14

DN 20

W3 DN 300 W9
D8
DN 300 W8 Flushing
DN40

W36 D3 W40
From PH3

W31 To Drain W13 NRV W12 water line

DN20
DN 20

W34 To Drain
W2
DN 400 D7 NRV W7 D2
W6 DN 300 HV7
Water line for the bearing cooling of RCP W11 NRV To Drain
Booster Pumps W10
To Drain To Drain
W1 DN 400
 The Scrubber of GCP – 2’nd stage of cleaning

 BF gas is cleaned in contact with water and almost all the

Pre-Scrubber
suspended particles are separated (more than 99 %)

 In addition to the basic functions of cleaning and cooling of

the top gas, the Scrubber also controls the top pressure of
the blast furnace.

 For smooth and stable BF operation the top pressure must

be controlled and held as constant as possible.

 Trouble-free scrubber operation, is a prerequisite to

economical iron production in the BF.
AG-Scrubber

 The performance of the scrubber is to be optimized to

provide high reliability and superior performance of BF

 It mainly consists of:

(a) Pre Scrubber (b) AG Scrubber
 BF Gas
(From Dust Catcher)
Normal
NormalOperation
Operation

 BF
BFgas
gasisiscleaned
cleanedby
bywater,
water,sprayed
sprayedthrough
through99
No.
No.Spray
SprayNozzles
Nozzles

 All
Allnozzles
nozzlesarranged
arrangedon
onthe
thecentre
centreline
lineof
ofthe
the
Spray
scrubber.
scrubber.
Nozzles

 Semi
Semicleaned
cleanedBF
BFGas
Gasisistaken
takentotothe
theAG
AG
Scrubber
ScrubberSection
Sectionthrough
through33No.
No.of ofGas
GasGuiding
Guiding
Pipes
Pipes
Gas guiding
Pipes
 Dirty
DirtyWater
Waterisiscollected
collectedininthe
theconical
conicalsump
sumpand
and
discharged through Drain Pipe to the Launder
discharged through Drain Pipe to the Launder
By-pass
Drain Pipe  By-Pass
By-PassDrain
DrainPipe
Pipetoto discharge
dischargethe
theover-flow
over-flow
Main Drain of
ofthe
thesump
sump
Pipe

Pre Scrubber
 BF Gas

Major
MajorIssues
Issues
 Sludge
Sludgeaccumulation
accumulationatatthe
thebottom
bottomofofconical
conical
sump
sumpleading
leadingtotoflooding
floodingofofthe
thesump
sump
Accumulated
Sludge  Leading
Leading toto chocking
chocking the
the By-Pass
By-Pass drain
drain pipe,
pipe,
causing
causingthe
thedirty
dirtywater
waterenters
entersthe
theGas
GasLine
Linetoto
AG
AGScrubber
Scrubber

 The
The particulates’
particulates’build-ups
build-ups inside
inside wall
wall fell-
fell-
down
downononits
itsweight
weightand
andchoke
chokethe
thesump.
sump.

 The
The above
above issues
issues are
are not
not noticeable
noticeable from
from
outside
outside

Pre Scrubber
 Photograph of a clogged sump in Pre-scrubber

Gas Guiding pipe

Accumulated Sludge

Sump (Pre-scrubber)
 BF Gas Inlet to
Pre Scrubber Zone
AAfully
fullyclogged
cloggedPre-Scrubber
Pre-Scrubbercauses:
causes:

High  GCP
GCPseize
seizetotooperate
operate

 BF
BFtotobe
beshut-down
shut-down
BF Top
Pressure
 48
48hrs
hrsneeded
neededto
tomanually
manuallyclean
cleanthe
the
sump
sump

 Serious
Serioussafety
safetyissues
issuesininmanual
manual
cleaning
cleaningdue
dueto
topresence
presenceofofCO
COgas
gas

 Huge
Hugeproduction
productionloss
lossof
ofBF
BFi.e.,
i.e.,48
48
hrs
hrs

 IsIsaround
aroundRs.
Rs.100
100lac
lacloss
loss
economically
economically
 Sample &
Analysis
Earlier
Earlierpractice
practicefor
forCleaning
Cleaningthe
the
sump
sump

 Purging
Purgingof
ofPre
PreScrubber
Scrubberwith
withNitrogen
Nitrogen&&
Sample
SampleAnalysis
Analysis

 Cutting
Cuttingof
ofnew
newmanholes
manholesand
andDrain
DrainPipe
Pipe

 Making
MakingofofPlatform
Platforminside
insideShell
Shell

N2 Purging  Cleaning
CleaningofofSludge
Sludgemanually
manually
 Dirty BF Gas
Innovative high-pressure water-jets clogging
prevention system for pre-scrubber

High-pressure water jet nozzles

Sump

HP PUMP MOTOR
Slurry Out PIPE LINES

PRE-SCRUBBER
GA of the online clogging prevention system for pre-scrubber
Novelty of the installed system

1) An online spraying system that can be operated in tandem with GCP operations.

2) System is suitable as:

 Preventive system against clogging (To be operated regularly)

 De-clogging system (To be operated as and when required)

3) Unique spray nozzle with swiveling head for easy changing the spray direction.

The installed multi-Stage HP Pump Spray nozzle with swivelling head

Conclusions

 This novel clogging prevention system of pre-scrubber was

introduced at GCP#2 of BSL in the year 2020

 This system is operated regularly in tandem with normal

operation of the pre-scrubber

 Since its implementation no failure of pre-scrubber due to its

clogging has occurred

 No significant settling / building up of particulates inside the wall

and the sump of the pre-scrubber is observed

 This on-line high pressure water-jets cleaning system has helped

in improving the availability of the BF by 48 hrs/year and the
reliability of BF operations.

 The elimination of pre-scrubber failure due to clogging for the

past 2 years has yielded around Rs 200 lacs financial savings,
since then.
Thank you