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AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
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Paper 12-040.pdf, Page 2 of 8
AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
Standard
Average Deviation Minimum Maximum
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Paper 12-040.pdf, Page 3 of 8
AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 3. Multiple linear regression model shows the effect of a) tap temperature, b) tap to tap time, c) installation year
and d) furnace capacity on electrical energy consumption in kWh/ton.
In addition to the statistical data collected at foundries, improvements including new melting equipment
foundry operators were asked to report on what they (furnaces, power supply PLC, and water cooled panels)
considered to be the major factors with the greatest and improved ladle practices (improved linings, ladle
influence on energy losses during melting at their facilities. preheaters, alloy wire feeders and argon stirring).
The three major factors most frequently cited in the survey
(Fig. 4) were: refractory (75% of surveys), scheduling Table 4. The Major Improvements Implemented In 19
(70% of surveys) and casting yield (25% of surveys). Steel Foundries during Last 15 Years
Melting Furnaces
New Power PLC Water
Furnaces Supply Cooling
9 5 4 3
Ladles
Lining Preheat Alloy Wire Ar Stirring
7 2 2 1
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Paper 12-040.pdf, Page 4 of 8
AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
OXYFUEL BURNERS
Chemical energy from oxygen combustion of natural gas
was introduced in a 4 ton EAF through installation of an
oxyfuel burner through the door. Effective combustion of
Fig. 6. Sankey-diagrams (energy flows) of melting natural gas provides energy to the solid charge during the
steel in 15 ton EAF is illustrated. melting period. Table 5 shows the heat balance for a trial
heat. In this case, chemical energy through the addition of
natural gas is providing 10.7% of the total energy used.
IMPROVEMENTS IN MELTING ENERGY The oxyfuel burner use decreased melting time which
EFFICIENCY BY ADDITION OF CHEMICAL increased productivity and decreased overall energy
ENERGY losses. Therefore, the electrical energy consumption was
decreased from 480-500 kWh/t without oxyfuel burners to
Supplemental chemical energy is a promising way for 400-420 kWh/ton with burners. Figure 7 shows the
decreasing electrical energy consumption and increasing energy usage during steel melting cycle.
the efficiency and productivity of melting steel in steel
foundry EAFs. There are many technologies that are
possible for introducing supplemental chemical energy
into the EAF steel melting process including:
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Paper 12-040.pdf, Page 5 of 8
AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
Table 5. Energy Balance of Heat Using Oxyfuel Burner Because the heat of oxidation reaction is generated within
the liquid steel, heat transfer efficiency from the
Input energy: KWH/t % exothermic reactions should be nearly 100%. This
Electrical 418.1 79.5 expected efficiency is much higher than the typical 40%
Chemical (Natural Gas) 56.4 10.7 efficiency for post-combustion of CO above the bath. In
Chemical (from C oxidation) 51 9.8 this research work, the amount of exothermic heat
Output energy
generated during oxygen boiling was increased by adding
SiC with the solid charge.
To melt 353 67.17
To slag 53.81 10.24
Losses 118.71 22.59
Before After
CoherentJet CoherentJet
Number of heats evaluated 627 561
Mean (kWh/t) 513.9 464.8
Standard deviation (kWh /t) 37.7 47
Mean melt-down time (min) 104 90
Standard deviation (min) 29 30
SiC ADDITIONS IN EAF CHARGE Fig. 9. Sankey diagram shows the decrease in
Figure 8 illustrates the possible advantage of using SiC electrical energy consumption by the addition of
additions in solid EAF charge as an additional source of chemical energy (0.4% SiC in charge).
chemical energy.
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Paper 12-040.pdf, Page 6 of 8
AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
Table 7. Effect of SiC Additions and Melting Practice of the thermal properties of different ceramic materials
on Energy Consumption and Productivity of typically used for steel ladle linings on heat losses during
20 T Capacity EAF use was analyzed. From this work, a new type of ladle
lining was developed at Missouri S and T. It was based on
Electrical energy porous ceramics with the potential of significantly
consumption EAF productivity
decreasing the heat losses during use in addition to saving
Decrease, Increase,
Heats kWh/ton % Ton/hour %
considerable ladle preheat energy.
Without
SiC 467.3 6.22 EFFECT OF LADLE SIZE AND HOLDING TIME
With During industrial observations, detailed thermal data was
SiC 434.1 7.1 6.54 4.8 generated and collected from three to five typical heats at
each plant. The steel and ladle surface temperatures were
measured frequently throughout the holding period in the
IMPROVEMENT ON MELT LADLE PRACTICES ladle from tap to pouring using immersion thermocouples
and an infrared camera. In addition to the detailed data
Effective ladle design, preheat practices and use are collected during the foundry trials, information was
important for steel casting production. In foundry collected from the surveys of the 19 steel foundries. This
operations, the tap temperature of the liquid steel is data included: type of lining materials, ladle sizes and
typically superheated 250F to 500F (121C to 260C) above time/temperature profiles. The data collected through the
the steels liquidus to compensate for heat losses during survey and trials was analyzed to determine the factors
tapping and holding in small ladles with large surface area that were most important to energy losses in the ladle.
to volume ratios. This ratio changes from 0.5-0.6 1/m for One of the most important factors was found to be the
20 t ladles to 0.8-0.9 1/m for 5 t ladles to 3.5-3.8 l/m for ladle capacity. Figure 10 summarizes the effect of ladle
the 100 lb experimental ladle used in this study. Higher capacity on the average tap temperature and temperature
superheat is also necessary to provide sufficient steel losses during holding in the ladle. The tap temperature
fluidity to properly fill the mold cavity. In spite of the was found to be significantly lower for higher capacity
relatively short time that the steel is in contact with the ladles. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was
ladle lining, the huge thermal gradients in the lining drive used to study the effects of ladle size and validate the
high values of heat flux through the refractory surface. industrial measurements. Figure 11 summarizes the
Initial information about heat loses during steel ladling results of the study indicating the major difference in
was taken from a survey of steel foundries and from cooling rates based on ladle size.
industrial measurements at seven foundries. The influence
(a) (b)
Fig. 10. Graphs show the statistical effect of industrial ladle capacity on a) tap temperature and b) rate of
temperature loss.
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Paper 12-040.pdf, Page 7 of 8
AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
(a) (b)
Fig. 12. Effect of (a) temperature and (b) density on thermal conductivity of different types of ladle lining is graphed.
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AFS Transactions 2012 American Foundry Society, Schaumburg, IL USA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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