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THE DANIELI DANARC PLUS M

2
FURNACE AT ABS MELTSHOP
Al do A. Fior
DANIELI CENTROMET Process Engineer
Buttrio, Ital y
SUMMARY
The paper describes the main design features of the
DANARC PLUS M
2
furnace in ABS meltshop, focusing
on the innovative technologies applied to the project.
The overall operating procedures are also illustrated,
together with a brief description of the experience
accumulated from first heat up to date.
1. INTRODUCTION

The installation of the DANARC PLUS M
2
furnace in
ABS meltshop is part of an overall remodernisation and
expansion of the steelmaking facility to more effectively
face the challenging requirements of the future.
The ABS actual annual production figures are in the order
of 535,000tpy in high quality steel, comprising a variety of
finished products, from continuously cast blooms and
billets or lingots, down to rolled products.
As a consequence of an impressive investment plan, ABS
will reach an annual production of over 1,000,000tpy with
a substantial decrease in operating costs, and with a
broader range of available products.
The DANARC PLUS M
2
furnace will face the greater part
of future production requirements, while the present
furnace will be dedicated to stainless steel production.


2. THE DANARC PLUS M
2
CONCEPT
2.1. Main design characteri stics
DC Arc Power Supply
The electrical power supply for a DC furnace typically
comprises two or four separate rectifiers (6-pulse rectifier
bridges). The rectifier transformers and the rectifiers are
normally arranged to obtain 12-pulse rectifying groups.
Each rectifier unit is individually controlled and is also
provided with a smoothing reactor in series in order to
reduce the instantaneous current peaks at short circuit and
to stabilise the arc.
The bottom electrode system comprises four billet type
electrodes embedded in the refractory lining. The upper
part of the electrode is a steel billet in contact with the
liquid steel and the lower copper part provides electrical
connections and cooling. The cooled region is located
inside the bottom refractory thickness with the aim to raise
the liquid-solid boundary, thus limiting the local heat load.
The power supply control system regulates simultaneously
the upper electrode position, arc voltage and the currents in
the four bottom electrodes.
Preheating Station
The preheating station consists in a water-cooled retention
bucket positioned on a car to enable a quick and fully
automated batch-charging into the furnace centre of scrap
heated to a mean temperature of 600C.
Hot off gases leaving the furnace, conveyed through a
mobile water-cooled duct, invest the scrap column from
above and transfer heat to the charge, cooling down during
their transit and exiting the station at approximately 450C,
thereby avoiding excessive thermal stresses in the retention
elements.
Hot fumes can by-pass the preheating station according to
process or maintenance requirements via a dedicated valve
and water-cooled duct, without interrupting furnace
operation.
Preheating technology, while guaranteeing much lower
consumptions in melting, does introduce negative factors
related to pollution (higher dioxin emission) and safety
(possible formtion of CO pockets, explosions); these
aspects must be faced with dedicated treatment units, such
as post-combustion chambers, and on-line emission control
systems.
Furnace design
One of the main aspects that distinguish the DANARC
PLUS design is its single bucket batch-charging
configuration, translating in a high furnace geometry, with
a second level of water-cooled panels rising above the
traditional shell-single level design (Fig. 1).
The consequences that arise from this configuration are
multiple:
reduced power off time for scrap charging;
reduced furnace radiation losses due to scrap
charging;
higher energy recovery due to second-stage
preheating (premelting) in the furnace atmosphere;
higher arc efficiency in long arc operation due to
extended scrap shielding towards the panels.

The alternative energy input is managed by 3 DANARC
modules, that guarantee high efficiency while eliminating
mobility related problems (blockage or non-standard
utilisation, typical of supersonic lances) and air infiltration.

DANARC modules are sidewall mounted units comprising
two injectors: an upper oxygen injector (Oxyjet) and a
lower coal injector (Carbonjet). Both operate also as
burners in the initial stages of the meltdown, after which
they switch to lance mode, promoting the total combustion
of the injected coal.
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The injectors are inserted in water-cooled copper boxes,
eliminating undesired air input.













Fig. 1: Furnace layout - side view

The furnace design takes full advantage of pneumatic
insufflation technologies, being equipped with lime
injectors; the water-cooled copper tile box configuration
was chosen also for these units.

Special mention must be given to the innovative panel
design, that consists in a double layer of water-cooled
panels, inner and outer, where the layer directly exposed to
the melting process has a large pitch between tubes.
The area between inner and outer layers, as between the
inner panel tubes, is initially filled with refractory
ramming mix, which during operation is gradually
replaced by slag, thereby drastically reducing the heat
losses related to direct exposure of the water-cooled
elements to furnace heat sources (recovery of up to 30% of
the 5080kWh/t in standard operation due to arc radiation,
hot fumes, burner flame, etc.) as well as increasing the
panels operating life.

Roof Design
The so-called cyclone roof of the DANARC PLUS M
2
furnace consists in a consecutive disposition of spiral
sectors of water-cooled tubes that form a hollow toroid at
the furnace ceiling.
Differential tube pitch in relation to the principal outlet
ducts position induce a low-speed uniform vertical gas
flow inside the shell, minimising particle entrainment in
the fume extraction system and maximising the heat
exchange between the hot off-gases and the unmelted scrap
inside the furnace (premelting).
As for the preheating unit, also the furnace roof is coupled
to a car for opening and closing.

Postcombustion Chambers and Emission Control
Preheating technologies must face emission restrictions, of
varying stringency according to different national
regulations.
Postcombustion chambers are therefore coupled to
preheating operations in the design, to face the dictated
requirements, and are equipped with burners and even
water-spray quenching units if necessary.
The introduction of post-combustion chambers in the
circuit enables the retention of the off-gases in a high
temperature zone for a sufficient time to destroy the toxic
organic compounds; high temperature quenching may be
added to prevent extensive reformation of the dioxins.

Optimisation of process control, obtainable by appropriate
automation parameter identification, is of paramount
importance to reduce costs related to off-gas treatment.
To overcome the pressure drop across the preheating
station, a booster fan is inserted in the fume extraction
system integrating its suction power to the main stack fans
capacity and varying its operating mode in relation to the
process phases.

2.2. Main automation aspects

Great attention has been paid in the project to the
implementation of an advanced control system, in order to
obtain:
better final product quality;
higher productivity;
lower costs;
better working conditions.

Apart from the capability of performing as a traditional
control system, the challenge that the project automation is
facing is to carry out an on-line process control supervised
by an autoadaptive expert system that not only controls the
process, but generates the process itself, seeking the
optimisation of productivity, quality and costs.

Process control is monitored by "intelligent" controllers
that focus on:
postcombustion, controlling module O
2
flow in
relation to furnace off-gas temperature and
composition (O
2
, CO, CO
2
);
preheating, controlling off-gas entry composition,
temperature and flowrate, and safe operating
conditions, in relation to moveable duct and fume by-
pass valve position;
foaming slag height, controlling adequate coal and
lime insufflation in relation to on-line calculation
models and measurements correlated to submerged or
exposed arc status;
secondary postcombustion, controlling
postcombustion chamber burners O
2
and CH
4
flowrates in relation to output fume temperature and
composition.
On-line control avails itself of the dynamic simulation that
verifies the correct evolution of the process on the basis of
signals from the field (Fig. 2).
3 / 6
Real
Process
State
Identifier
Dynamic
Models
Expert Supervisor
Alarms
Profile set-points
Estim.
outputs
Real
outputs
Identifiedstates and
validatedmeasures
+

+
+
Controllers
u
y
u
e
u'
r
~
x
^
x
PLC
^
x
Fig. 2: On-line control flow diagram
To avail itself of these automation capabilities, the process
parameters are continually monitored and registered by a
data acquisition system. The system registers signals from
the field second by second, and the whole heat is then
stored for record.
2.3. The meltdown process
To obtain the short tap-to-tap times, the DANARC PLUS
meltdown process is oriented towards time optimisation in
all operations: furnace charging, boring, preheat
positioning and execution, melting, tapping, tap-hole
refilling.
Furnace charging, as already commented, is carried out in
a single batch-charge, thereby diminishing power-off time.
When the furnace is ready to charge, the roof car cylinders
are actuated, fitting into conical seats and lifting the roof.
As the roof translates during opening, the preheating car
follows, bringing the shuttle bucket into position above the
furnace.
Considering the bucket valve opening time being 4sec
max., the overall charging operation is very quick as
preheating car and roof car are ready to simultaneously
move back into their positions for the meltdown phase.
As soon as the electrode swings back into position, the
boring of the high column of preheated scrap begins, while
modules start operating in burner mode (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3: Furnace meltdown configuration
Meanwhile, during boredown, the empty shuttle bucket is
removed from the preheating car and deposited in the scrap
charging area. Once these operations are concluded, the
second shuttle bucket, charged during the preceding heat
and in stand-by, is positioned into the empty car and
preheating can start once the fume by-pass valve is closed,
directing the furnace off-gas through the scrap charge.
In the later stages of the meltdown, the modules shift from
burner mode to lance mode. In this phase, post combustion
oxygen flow is controlled, as previously described,
according to the readings of the continuous off-gas
analysis and temperature.
Once an adequate liquid bath has been obtained, slag
height control is enabled so that arc length can be kept long
and superheating time reduced to a minimum.
A particularly time-effective solution has been applied to
optimise the tapping phase, enabling the furnace to be
tapped while the electrode is in the shell. The electrode
does not tilt with the furnace because, as a consequence of
adopting the high furnace approach, a long electrode is
necessary to bore through the whole charge and the
electrode column must be fastened directly to the ground,
to stiffen its structure.
The furnace shell rests on the tiltable platform that is
supported on rolls and tilting is commanded by 2 hydraulic
cylinders. In this manner, the shell moves backwards, or
forwards in deslagging, maintaining the shell's centre of
rotation in the vicinity of the electrode aperture in the
delta.
As tapping comes to its conclusion, the electrode is
extracted so that the furnace can be charged for the
following heat, once tap-hole filling and refractory
inspection have been completed.
4 / 6
3. A FOCUS ON THE ABS INSTALLATION
3.1. Particular design characteristi cs
The furnace at ABS presents all the aspects illustrated in
the DANARC PLUS M
2
concept. There are however some
peculiarities in the project that the authors would like to
describe.
DC Arc Power Supply
The supply system is a 1 x 12 pulse system made up of one
transformer and two converters, each feeding two anodes.
The secondary circuit dislocation has been designed to
reduce deviation effects on the arc by lowering the busbar
tunnel.
The anode installation is according to Danieli patent, and
the experience obtained from furnace operations in Spain
and Mexico has been integrated in their design, showing
greater thermal resistance and lower anode temperatures.
Digital converter control is operative in the system, and a
reduction of over 60% flicker disturbance is expected with
preheating in operation, along with a drastic reduction in
noise emission. In the trials conducted up to date, flicker
measurements have shown a reduction of approximately
50%.
Preheating Station
The buckets cooling water circuit is fed via quick
couplings that are automatically engaged with the
positioning of the bucket on the car.
The car is equipped with a liftable and rotating scrap
bucket cover, that avoids hot scrap fumes escaping the
extraction system during movement.
The cover is equipped with 4x3.5MW burners with
compressed air flame control to eliminate, in certain
temperature and %CO ranges, the formation of dangerous
CO pockets in the bucket. These burners are integrated in
the preheating control illustrated in 2.2.
From the bottom exit of the water-cooled scrap bucket, the
off gases are directed to the postcombustion chambers via
a refractory lined duct to maintain the temperature level
and minimise the subsequent re-heating requirements in
relation to emission control legislation.
Scrap Charging
The charging of the water-cooled shuttle buckets is made
by standard scrap baskets.
The shuttle bucket is positioned on a car that moves into
charging position under a truss supported funnel that, apart
from containing scrap flow during charging, acts as a
dedusting collector.
Automation
The automation of the system is entrusted to 6 PLCs,
subdivided as follows:
furnace automation (movements, hydraulics, cooling,
electrode regulation, etc.);
alternative energy automation;
AC/DC converter automation;
water treatment plant automation;
additives automation;
fume treatment plant automation.
The control room is configured for 8 workstations:
operator control, process management 1, model and
process control, data base and acquisition, technologist,
SW maintenance, process management 2, TV monitor
control.
All operations regarding furnace functioning are monitored
by a closed circuit TV system operating on 8 TV cameras
displaced in the working zone.
Automatic Sampling Equipment
The furnace is equipped with an automatic sampling
device that apart from taking a sample, measures bath
temperature and C content, eliminating working risks and
reducing power-off time.
3.2. Main design parameters
Electrical energy data
Transformer
Transformer rated power 2*43.5MVA
Primary system rated voltage 21000V10%
Short circuit fault level at 21kV 1000MVA
Sec. voltage range 780-400V
Sec. voltage range at full power 780-640V
Sec. voltage range at const. sec. current 640-400V
Max. sec. curr. for each sec. wind. 40kA
Converter
Number of bridges 2
Bridge type 6 pulse 2 way
Single bridge rated current 48kA
Auxiliary energy data
Modules
Nominal O
2
flow 3*2500Nm
3
/h
Nominal coal flow 3*30kg/min
Burner power

6*3.5MW

n2 burners per module unit (2 injectors)

Insufflation data
Lime
Number of injectors 3
Flowrate per injector 150kg/min
5 / 6
Geometrical data
Furnace
Furnace height 7380mm
Furnace diameter 5800mm
Electrode diameter 711mm (28")
Electrode stroke 8800mm
Shuttle bucket
Shuttle bucket height 8000mm
Shuttle bucket diameter 5500mm
Fume extraction data
Booster
Primary booster power 1*630kW
Nominal speed 1000rpm
Main fans
Stack fan power 3*800kW
Nominal speed 1000rpm
3.3. Main design performance figures
The design performance figures for the installation in ABS
are shown below; all specific quantities are relative to
tapped liquid steel:
Units
El.En.cons. [kWh/t] 280
O
2
cons. [Nm
3
/t] 38
CH
4
cons. [Nm
3
/t] 6
Coal inj. [kg/t] 13
Lime inj. [kg/t] 35
Electrode cons. [kg/t] 0.9
Power on time [min] 34
Tap-to-tap time [min] 42
Charge [t] 100
Tapped steel [t] 90
Productivity [t/h] 128
4. START-UP PHASE
Danarc Plus operations at ABS meltshop commenced in
mid-December 1998.
Stage1 of the start-up, aiming at the tuning and
consolidation of continuous operations bypassing the
preheating station, proceeded into the first half of 1999.
Stage2 operations, involving the full start-up of the
preheating unit, followed, pushing towards the operating
procedures that characterise the Danarc Plus M
2
design
performance figures.
The initial start-up heats proceeded in soft mode at
medium-low power levels and initially following an
intermittent operation to allow visual inspection of the
anode systems.
The furnaces state of readiness at start-up comprised full
operativity of all auxiliary equipment, which was duly
tested during the initial sessions, giving performances in
line with the expectations.
Already during the first heats, very satisfying results were
obtained from the DC arc power supply, regarding the
energetic uniformity obtained with vertical arc operations,
noting the total absence of twisting phenomena. This
result was considered very promising in view of
continuous operations with a high scrap column in the
furnace.
The solutions illustrated in 3.1. to eliminate electro-
magnetic induced deviation effects on the arc have proven
highly successful, as the furnaces interior is uniformly
heated.
The bottom anodes were tried up to maximum current for
successive heats and no inconveniences arose: anode
temperature and demineralised cooling water temperature
increase remained steady and low.
All heats were carried out starting with a full charge of
scrap in the furnace, except from the first heat of each
production session, which was molten in two buckets and
with limited use of alternative energy in the second bucket.
As was clearly expected, scrap charging proved to be a key
issue in the optimisation of the furnaces operation, not
only in relation to its different level qualities
(stratification), but also in terms of time intervals
associated to crane operation, shuttle bucket positioning
and charging.
5. OPERATIONAL RESULTS
At the moment, Danarc Plus operations are regularly
scheduled in the ABS production programme, alternating
activity with the AC furnace, dedicated to stainless steel
production.
The furnace is currently undergoing performance tests, and
soon the installation will formally be handed over to ABS.
Danieli will however continue its presence on the furnace,
taking advantage of the extensive data monitoring
capabilities and process control innovations as feed-backs
to continuously update the design and technological teams
for further applications.
The following graphs show the melting profile (Fig.4) and
preheating profile (Fig.5) of a heat performed by the
furnace.
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Fig. 4: Electrical and chemical energy profile
Fig. 5: Preheating profile
Regarding the melting profile, the graph shows, together
with the active power input, the alternative energy input of
the Oxyjet of one of the three modules: the profiles of the
remaining two modules are identical.
Interesting considerations can be made regarding the
preheating profile, in which, together with the active power
input, a signal from the preheating circuit is shown,
corresponding to the pressure drop across the water-cooled
scrap bucket.
Preheating operations in ABS have shown that this
installation is capable of safely preheating scrap with up to
15% turnings in the charge, thereby reducing the charge
cost related to PH operations. This is due to a highly
flexible circuit design, that allows partialisation of the gas
flow between PH circuit and bypass, whenever this is
required.
As can be seen, the pressure drop is in the order of
350mmH
2
O, a rather high value, corresponding to the
presence of turnings in the lower area of the bucket; a
quota of the EAF fumes is flowing through the by-pass.
Due to the fact that automatic crane handling must still be
implemented, PH operations start after approximately
15min POn.
Regarding melting operations, ABS has requested to use a
minimum of 15% charge of heavy home scrap (tundish and
ladle skulls, return ingots, etc.). Danieli has complied with
this process requirement, and the furnace has shown great
flexibility in charge practise, not only regarding the
process, that has been influenced partly by this restraint,
but also regarding mechanical reliability, thereby
surpassing other preheating installations, of a more
traditional type.
Regarding performances, the best heats with PH,
corresponding to a standard charge without turnings, have
shown a high energetic recovery, 55-60kWh/t with 20min
PH, in accordance with the design calculations.
Analysing the average data, Table1 shows the performance
figures of the operations carried out so far:
Specific
consumptions*
Unit Without
PH
With
PH
Delta
Electrical Energy [kWh/t] 359 302 57
Oxygen [Nm
3
/t] 39.8 37.8 2.0
Natural Gas [Nm
3
/t] 5.1 4.7 0.4
Coal [kg/t] 14.3 10.2 4.1
Tap Temperature [C] 1655 1655 -
Average Power [MW] 55 55 -
POn [min] 34 30 4
* specific quantities on liquid steel
Table 1: Performance figures
On commenting these figures, comparing with the design
performances presented in 3.3, it should be taken into
account that the actual charge density is 1100kg/m
3
(15%
heavy home scrap, mentioned above) while prior to this
change in charge practise, average density equalled
880kg/m
3
. Operating performances are therefore in line
with the design performances, as this variation in charge
density implies a greater consumption of approximately
20kWh/t.
It should be noted that the furnace operation covers all the
range of special steel grades produced by ABS, with the
exception of stainless steel (in 1998 equal to 5% of the
total).
So far, the intense and friendly collaboration between ABS
and Danieli in this project have brought splendid results in
the new furnaces start-up and performance.
The authors believe that continuing in this trend, the
remarkable results expected from the DANARC PLUS M
2
technology will become a reality, identifying this
innovative furnace as a valid competitor in world-wide
steelmaking in the very near future.
Electrical energy and preheating profile
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