DOI: 10.52150/2522-9117-2025-39-02

O. S. Nesterov¹,Ph. D. (Tech.), Senior Researcher, ORCID 0000-0002-0183-0327
L. I. Garmash^1,*, Ph. D. (Tech.), Senior Researcher, ORCID 0000-0002-6873-6685
K. P. Lopatenko¹, Researcher
M. H. Boldenko¹, Junior Researcher
O. L. Chaika¹, Ph. D. (Tech.), Senior Researcher, ORCID 0000-0003-1678-2580
N. H. Ivancha¹, Senior Researcher, ORCID 0000-0002-5366-9328
M. H. Dzhyhota¹, Junior Researcher, ORCID 0000-0003-3062-5127

¹Iron and Steel Institute of Z. I. Nekrasov National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Academican Starodubova Square, 1, Dnipro, 49107, Ukraine

^*Corresponding author: larysagar@gmail.com

INFLUENCE OF HYDROGEN ON REDUCTION PROCESSES IN A BLAST FURNACE

Abstract. A necessary condition for the efficient and stable operation of blast furnaces is the understanding of the regularities of the softening-melting processes of different types of iron ore raw materials. These processes are very specific for different types of raw materials and different conditions. The addition of hydrogen to mixtures of reducing gases significantly affects their parameters. The main advantages of using hydrogen in reducing gases are its significant potential for replacing fossil fuels and reducing CO₂ emissions, which is expressed in the positive impact on the reduction and softening-melting processes and the possibility of optimizing the operation of the blast furnace by improving the permeability of the charge layer. Among the main disadvantages and problems are the lower efficiency of using hydrogen in industrial conditions, the high cost of its production and endothermic behavior, which requires a higher temperature environment to achieve acceptable efficiency. The complexity and multifactorial nature of the processes that occur in the plastic zone of the blast furnace can lead to contradictory consequences when using hydrogen-containing gases. A series of experiments were conducted to study the influence of hydrogen content on the properties of the cohesion zone (softening, melting and dripping temperatures, and softening-melting ranges) of sinters and pellets of Ukrainian production in the laboratory conditions of the Iron and Steel Institute. The results of the studies showed that for these types of iron ore raw materials, moderate enrichment of reducing gases with hydrogen (approximately 10-15%) can lead to significant improvements in the operation of the blast furnace. In particular, with an increase in the H₂ content, softening and melting temperatures increase. The addition of hydrogen has a positive effect on the high-temperature properties of all studied types of iron ore raw materials Ukrainian production, improving permeability, narrowing the cohesive zone and changing the softening-melting characteristics, which contributes to more stable and efficient operation of the blast furnace, but the high-temperature behavior of different types of iron ore raw materials has significant differences, which must be taken into account when developing recommendations for the use of hydrogen in a blast furnace.

Key words: reduction processes, hydrogen, iron ore raw material, cohesion zone, blast furnace.

For citation: Nesterov, O. S., Garmash, L. I., Lopatenko, K. P., Boldenko, M. H., Chaika, O. L., Ivancha, N. H. & Dzhyhota,M. H.(2025). Influence of hydrogen on reduction processes in a blast furnace. Fundamental and applied problems of ferrous metallurgy, 39, 20-33. https://doi.org/10.52150/2522-9117-2025-39-02

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Received 02.08.2025
Accepted 21.10.2025
Published online 01.12.2025