The composition of mineral wool was selected for the research, based on the chemical composition of the raw materials, the determination of the acidity module to obtain the thermal insulation material with the best characteristics and the lowest cost of the production of basalt mineral wool. The paper deals with compositions of raw materials and selection chemical compositions of charges for production of basalt mineral wool, and the experiments of welded samples were made and tested for viscosity, surface tension, chemical analysis and x-ray analysis.

Lump solid fuel is one of the most important charge material components in layered cupola units. It determines layer gas permeability, conditions development for heat exchange with gasses in it, heat generation process rate and intensity. In present-day conditions of material shaft melting charge materials of boosted fractional makeup are used, as well as oxygen, carbon and hydrogen enriched air. In the circumstances the issue of ensuring the best gas dynamic conditions become particularly vital, both for the furnace low and high temperature zones, at the charge component oxidation and recovery processes development. Under conditions of continuous charge component movement in the layered unit workspace they are subjected to abrasive action of charge components with the result, which may be described by mechanical properties based on mass yield of certain fractions after disruption in a closed drum М10 and М40. Coke lump behavior at relatively high temperature (below 1100°С) in the presence of complete fuel combustion products СО2 and Н2О may be implicitly evaluated by coke strength after reaction (CSR) and coke reactivity index (CRI). When studying, particular combustion features of coal coke in conditions close to shaft cupola unit operation data of the total differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curve were used. Temperature ranges of intensive heat generation were determined from the beginning of active coke sample oxidation to completion of the burnout period, as well as apparent heating capacity and coke combustion thermal effect.

As of today, cupola-type units have rather wide range of use both for iron production or metal scrap remelting and for mineral melt production. The major fuel type for such units is solid fuel -cupola coke. Raw material market offers quite a wide range of such fuels to the factories. Their metallurgical properties based on certificate data may vary within a broad band. To determine the impact of coke grain size composition on its properties, 11 coke types from various manufacturers were selected. An actual property variation range of certain solid fuel types was identified to describe the nature of solid fuel impact on cupola shaft furnace performance. When studying the combustion properties of coal coke in conditions close to the cupola shaft furnace, operation data of total curve of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used.Temperature ranges were specified for intensive heat evolution from the beginning of coke sample active oxidation to the completion of the burnup period, as well as apparent heat capacity and heat effect of coke combustion.

Major unit for mineral melt production in industry is a shaft (cupola) furnace. Such type units are noted for the ease of fabrication and maintenance, high melting rate (up to 100-150 t/m2 per day), as well as high heat utilization efficiency (up to 60-80 % of the total supply). Design disadvantages may include inefficient workspace side-view, poor thermal and gas dynamic performance, lack of practical methods to impact the melting process. Another pressing problem is related to melt production in the amount of no more than 3 t/h, with the average coke consumption of up to 24-270 kg/t, and the overheating temperature level of no more than 1350-1400 °С. Thermal and gas dynamic performance analysis of mineral wool cupola furnace, based on evaluation of zone balance model demonstrated that mineral melt is produced under conditions of essential nonuniformity of the bed temperature, gas phase composition and heat exchange conditions, both throughout the bed height and the unit cross section.