Patent ID: 8652395

Claim:
A method for feeding pulverised coal into a blast furnace; comprising: providing a tuyere stock for blowing hot blast air from a bustle pipe into a furnace hearth of a blast furnace through a tuyere installed in an opening in a furnace wall; providing a pulverised coal injection lance for feeding pulverised coal into the tuyere, the pulverised coal injection lance comprising an inner pipe for conveying pulverised coal and an outer pipe, coaxially arranged around the inner pipe, for conveying combustive gas, the inner pipe forming a separation wall for separating the pulverised coal from the combustive gas, the pulverised coal injection lance having a lance tip arranged in the tuyere; allowing the pulverised coal and the combustive gas to form a mixture of pulverised coal and combustive gas at the lance tip; and burning the mixture of pulverised coal and combustive gas in the tuyere; monitoring whether or not a flame at the lance tip is burning; and upon determination that a flame at the lance tip is not burning, reigniting a flame by temporarily reducing a flow of combustive gas through the pulverised coal injection lance, wherein, while the flow of combustive gas through the pulverised coal injection lance is temporarily reduced, a flow of pulverised coal through the pulverised coal injection lance is maintained.