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The slag, iron and coke in the deadman are extremely difficult to obtain in regular production. In this study, a commercial blast furnace was shut down and the samples were adopted systematically through a dissection study. The image processing method was also involved to clarify the macroscopic morphology of the deadman coke and the coke size distribution as well as the variation of the deadman voidage. It was found that the average size of coke was distributed in "M-shape" and voidage of deadman decreased with the increase of distance to the hearth wall in the horizontal direction. The voidage in the middle and lower of the vertical deadman was the largest and the average size of coke decreased with the increase of the distance to the taphole centerline in the height direction. In addition, the formation mechanism was analyzed, including carburization with hot metal, coke graphitization, the erosion of slag, hot metal, gas flow, etc., which provided an important reference for the high efficiency and low carbon smelting of the blast furnace. • Coke size decreased gradually and the deadman voidage increased in the height direction of the hearth. • Coke size distributes in "M-shape" while voidage in "V-shape" in the horizontal direction. • Main ways of coke consumption are carburization reaction and consumption in the raceway zone, followed by graphitization and the washing of hot metal. • The consumed coke was replaced by the "new" coke falling from the upper loose coke zone to update the deadman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]