the coal falling into the lower region designed as a coal bunker 42 and accumulating there it has proved appropriate to design the coal bunker 42 such that it allows a filling height for the coal of at least one meter advantageously even more the nitrogen gas used for supplying the coal via the line 3 collects in the gas space 41 it can be discharged from the latter in a controlled way via the pressure regulating device 5 for this purpose the filter 51 is preferably designed to be resistant to pressure pulses in order to compensate pressure surges during the supply of the coal or the adjustment of the regulating valve 52 further optionally nitrogen may additionally be supplied to the gas space 41 via the actuating valve 56 the pressure regulating device 5 is operated via the control device 59 such that even in the case of fluctuating mass flow of the coal supplied via the supply line 3 the pressure and density in the pressure vessel 4 are kept largely constant specifically at a value which is sufficient for further transport to the blast furnace 99 what is achieved thereby is that the same pressure difference takes effect over all the lance lines 90 which are in operation to be precise the pressure required for further transport does not correspond exactly to the pressure in the gas space 41 but to the pressure.