In this paper the existing methods of an air-blast supply in a melt are considered. The capability of increase of a specific duty of an autogenous furnace, lowering of metal splashings and heat wastes with the help of a spatially oriented air-blast supply is exhibited, which one attaches a melt regulated rotary movement. The essentially new class radially of axial blowing tuyeres ensuring a spatially oriented air-blast supply is described.

The development of the chemical and metallurgical school of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute from the establishment of the university to the present time is shown. The main achievements in the field of metallurgy and chemistry, which served as a basis for the development of modern scientific schools of the metallurgical faculty, are presented.

This article presents outstanding scientists of Russia's first higher technical school – G.V. Plekhanov Leningrad Mining Institute. The authors' attention is drawn to the activities of M.F. Soimonov, A.A. Musin-Pushkin, N.A. Lvov, V.V.Kapnist, A.N.Olenin, D.I. Khvostov, G.R. Derzhavin, I.I. Chemnitzer and other people who studied or worked at the Mining Institute, patronized the first technical university of Russia or simply knew the graduates of the Mining School. In a lively form, the authors tell about outstanding figures of Russian history of the 18th - early 19th century, associated with the Mining Institute, who took part in the scientific and cultural life of Russia at that time.

The article is devoted to the issues of formation and development of mining and metallurgical science in Russia. It is shown that the fundamental thoughts about the necessity of higher mining education belong to M.V.Lomonosov and his colleagues at the Academy of Sciences. The outstanding role of M.F. Soimonov as a major scientist, statesman and direct organizer of the first Russian St. Petersburg Mining School, which later became the Mining Institute, is highlighted. The author characterizes the Russian scientific schools in the field of geology, mining and metallurgy, formed at the Mining Institute, and their most prominent representatives.

The composition of the off-gases of the converter process makes it possible to judge the degree of oxygen utilization from the blast, the burnout of metallic iron from the matte, and other features of the development of physicochemical transformations in the converter bath. ...

The concept of the blast flame temperature (the temperature of the oxidation reaction zone in the converter bath), was introduced in the book “Converter Converting in Non-Ferrous Metallurgy” and was further used in the analysis of various aspects of converter operation. Further refinements of this method are possible by taking into account the actual nature of the overall reactions corresponding to different periods of the process, and a certain heat exchange between the flame and the bath heated by it.

When creating a pyrometallurgical unit one must take into account such an important factor as the nature of the movement of slag melt in it, which means both the direction and power of slag flows, and the degree of mixing of the melt in different zones of the unit. ...

The correct choice of an optimal design of the depletion unit (geometry of the furnace space, location and depth of the tuyeres, etc.) is not possible without knowledge of the nature of slag movement, especially its degree of mixing. In this regard, cold modeling of the motion of the slag bath in a continuous slag depletion process was carried out ...

The horizontal converter, which has become widespread in the metallurgy of copper and nickel, belongs to the metallurgical units in which the conditions of blast supply play a decisive role. The existing limit of the converters' air load, which restricts their productivity, can be significantly exceeded. Work in this direction continues at the Furnace Department of the LGI.

Air supply to the converter is one of the determining characteristics of its operation. The productivity of converters under any conditions is ultimately determined by the amount of air blown in through the tuyere. Meanwhile, the question about the regularities of air blowing in relation to converters of non-ferrous metallurgy in modern literature is poorly covered. Many practical issus of converters operation are still unclear. For example, there are completely different opinions on the rational diameter of tuyere, there is no definite opinion on the angle of their inclination, cleaning mode and, most importantly, there is no any justification of the value of the so-called throughput capacity of tuyere, per 1 cm2 of cross-section. This throughput, conditionally recommended by practical data in the range of 0.8-1.0 Nm³/cm²·min, is, in fact, the only quantitative characteristic of the converter air regime, taken as a baseline for calculations in the design and operation of converters. Obviously, such throughput capacity of the tuyere is insufficient for characterization of air blowing, as it does not allow to reveal mutual dependence of many blowing parameters, converter operation conditions and other factors.