Innovative Advancements in EAF Operations at Sidertul, Mexico Using Praxairs CoJet 1 Technology

E. Edelstein Siderurgica Tultitlan S.A. de C.V., Tultitlan, Mexico S.K. Warty Praxair, Inc. West Orange, NJ Originally Presented at the 1999 AIST Conference, Pittsburgh, PA

Introduction
Siderurgica Tultitlan, S.A. de C.V. or Sidertul for short, is a minimill located in Tultitlan near Mexico City. Sidertuls product mix constitutes about 60 percent shapes for high strength structures and 40 percent for concrete reinforcing bar. This ISO 9000 certified facility, exports approximately 10-15 percent of its products to countries in Central and South America and the United States. As part of its plan to reduce costs and double steel production within the next three years, Sidertul decided to partner with Praxair, Inc. and install Praxairs CoJet coherent jet technology on its 50-metric tonne electric arc furnace. Sidertul chose this technology after evaluating other options that offered a combination of conventional burners and watercooled supersonic lances. In November 1998, two coherent jet nozzles were installed on the furnace to function in a
1

fully automated manner and provided burner, lancing, and post-combustion capability for scrap melting and refining to produce consistent quality steel. Results to date have been significant. Power consumption has been reduced by over 70 kWh/ton, tap-to-tap time has been reduced by about 18 minutes, and productivity has increased by over 24 percent. With this first phase transition, Sidertul is well on its way to achieving its goals for the next three years.

Background
Sidertul is the largest business division of The Feld Group, which is headquartered in Mexico City. The Feld Group initially started its steelassociated activities in 1946 as a trading house for materials in the construction market segment. Subsequently, its interests and investments were diversified in steel, aluminum alloys, recovery and processing of steel scrap, recovery of non-ferrous metals, and industrial gases. The primary focus of the Feld Groups

CoJet is a trademark of Praxair Technology Inc., in the United States and other countries.

activities today are directed towards the construction and automotive market sectors. Sidertul, the Feld Groups steel making facility, is located about 25 km (15.5 miles) from Mexico City. Suitably located, the plant has easy access to a key and strategic market of the country. The steel plant was built in 1985 with an installed capacity to annually produce 150,000 metric tonnes of steel billet of low-, medium-, and high-carbon steels. About 60 percent of the billets were shipped internally to affiliate companies of The Feld Group; 40 percent were marketed to rolling mills in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In the early 1990s, as part of the initial plan to make semi-finished products, a rolling mill with an installed capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes annually, was integrated into the steel making facility. Subsequently, with demand for rolled products steadily rising, the rolling mill capacity in 1996-1997 was increased to 180,000 metric tonnes per year. In line with this change, the melt shop EAF was also upgraded with the installation of a 3 MW oxy-fuel door burner from Praxair. This change helped boost furnace productivity to match the added rolling mill requirements. As demand for rolled steel continued to surge, additional changes and efficiency measures were instituted in early 1998 in the overall operations to allow for further increase in capacity. Sidertuls drive towards doubling its steel production and meeting this demand had begun. Amongst the changes and expanded capacities already incorporated are A four-strand continuous caster with annual capacity of 400,000 metric tonnes Extended scrap storage area with storage capacity over 30,000 M3 Three cranes of 15-metric tonnes capacity each to handle the scrap A reheat furnace enhanced to process over 350,000 metric tonnes annually

Rolling mill capability to produce over 350,000 metric tonnes per year of several types of cross section geometry and corrugates

In conjunction with these changes, new operating methods were introduced in scrap preparation and handling, thereby reducing the number of buckets charged per heat in to the furnace from four to three. Furthermore, the transformer was upgraded from 28.5 to 31.5 MVA and refining time reduced from 30 to 20 minutes. The combined effect of these changes helped achieve a tap-to-tap time of about 93 minutes per heat; a reduction by about 18 percent. While all the changes made so far had improved productivity somewhat, it was clear that further improvements in furnace output and operation were needed and had to come from a step change in operating practice. Therefore, to further boost productivity at the EAF, Sidertul decided in mid-1998 to investigate various technologies and pursue new options and methods for injecting oxygen in the furnace and increase the chemical energy input to the furnace. After evaluating proposals received from equipment suppliers offering supersonic lances and manipulators along with separate burner packages and Praxairs offer of its CoJet coherent jet gas injection technology, Sidertul selected Praxair to install its CoJet injectors on their 50-tonne furnace. This decision was made after careful screening of the various options available and finally governed by the following factors: Praxairs CoJet technology was the most economical, comprehensive package of burners, lancing, and post-combustion. The approach was innovative and yet seemed simple and logical. The technology had been proven with clear success at other mills.

Praxair was willing to back its claims of delivering the necessary results desired by Sidertul with a performance satisfaction assurance.

CoJet System Installation

In early November 1998, a complete CoJet package was delivered to Sidertul to commission the technology on their furnace. This included the following items: Two CoJet injectors Two mounting assemblies along with postcombustion nozzles An oxygen and natural gas valve train or flow control skid A Siemens S5-135U PLC software and hardware Operator interface and operating screens Two PCs with 300 MHz Pentium processors Two 20-inch touchscreen monitors Two electromagnetic shielding enclosures for the monitors

Praxairs CoJet Technology and Prime Goals for Sidertul

The CoJet gas injection system offered by Praxair is designed to provide multiple functions from a single wall-mounted device. Placed appropriately in the side wall of the furnace, the coherent injector can function as a burner to melt scrap, provide supersonic oxygen for lancing and decarburization, and at the same time, continuously carry out post-combustion during the heat. In essence, it can provide almost the total chemical energy to the furnace. During preliminary discussions, it was determined that to meet Sidertuls criteria of success, two CoJet injectors needed to be installed on the furnace. The primary challenge of the CoJet system was to attain three main objectives: 1. Achieve cost benefits from reduced power consumption (kWh/ton) 2. Increase productivity at the EAF (tons/hour) 3. Eliminate or minimize consumable pipe cost used by Sidertul to inject oxygen In addition, some secondary goals were to: 1. Reduce tap-to-tap time 2. Eliminate delays and inconsistent heats associated with the old practice at Sidertul of using manual consumable pipe to inject the oxygen in to the furnace 3. Reduce refractory and gunning consumption and cost 4. Lower carbon consumption and cost

Prior to shipment of the equipment to Sidertul, operations personnel of Sidertul were provided with training to review the basic operation of the skid and control system and become familiar with the operating screens, alarm signals, redundancy, and overall system check-out. This helped Sidertul personnel develop familiarity with the operation of the CoJet system before its actual installation at Sidertuls facility.

CoJet Operation and Results

The CoJet program was started up at Sidertul in November 1998, and the furnace was converted from a manually operated consumable lance pipe to a fully automated sequenced operation. Upon charging each bucket, the coherent jet injectors automatically sequence through various pre-programmed modes. During tapping or idle times, the injectors are held in a purge or hold fire mode to maintain the integrity of the nozzles. Once the operator is ready to charge, the sequencing begins as specifically programmed to Sidertuls operation and continues for each bucket, as follows: 3

Burner low fire Burner high fire up to 4 MW each, as designed for Sidertul Special burner-lance combination and slag foaming Lance mode Return to purge or hold fire

Table 2 shows the results achieved on the secondary set of objectives that were established prior to the start of the program.
Table 2 Results on Secondary Objectives Before After % Change CoJet CoJet from 11/98 93 7.59 18.5 75 5.74 16 -19.4 -24.4 -13.5

Item

During the entire operation of the CoJet injectors, post-combustion flow is continuously added and independently controlled at different flow rates during each sequence to derive maximum benefit from this chemical reaction. Furthermore, Sidertul has the option to modify the programmed sequence, when needed, and use only one injector in a lance mode for certain medium or high carbon heats. This allows Sidertul to operate with considerable flexibility, where high lancing rates can be used with both injectors, or lancing can be done with lower oxygen flow rates with only one injector while the other unit provides other functions. Once the CoJet system and program were initiated, the results observed were significant. With the efficient injection of chemical energy in the form of burners with about 8 MW total input and automated lancing with postcombustion in a consistent fashion heat after heat, the primary goals set at Sidertul were easily met as shown in Table 1. The results shown compare the operating parameters before and after the CoJet system was installed. The furnace operating data with the CoJet technology in operation covers a time period from November 1998 to August 1999.
Table 1 Results on Primary Objectives Before After % Change CoJet CoJet from 11/98 528 457 -13.4 32.2 4 pipes/heat 40 <1 pipe/heat +24.2 -90%

Tap-to-Tap Time (mins) Refractory & Gunning (kg/ton) Carbon (kg/ton)

Clearly, from Tables 1 and 2 it is evident that the CoJet coherent jet gas injection technology from Praxair has largely delivered on the results expected and projected to Sidertul before the start of the program. Figures 1 through 8 depict each operating variable before and after the CoJet installation. They also show the change or increase in oxygen and natural gas consumptions after the implementation of the CoJet technology and the increased use of chemical energy in the furnace.

550 500 450 k Wh/ton 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 Before CoJet

Reduced by 13.4%

528

457

Item

After CoJet

Power (kWh/ton) Productivity (tons/hr) Consumable Pipe

Figure 1: Power Savings (kWh/ton)

Increased Over 24%

45 40 35 tons/hrs 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Before CoJet After CoJet
kg/ton 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Before CoJet After CoJet

24.4% Reduction

32.2

40

7.59

5.74

Figure 2: Productivity Benefit (tons/hr)

Figure 5: Refractory and Gunning Savings (kg/ton)

20
5 4 3 2 1 0 Before CoJet After CoJet

13.5% Reduction

18 16

Over 90% Reduction

kg/ton

No. of Pipes/Heat

14 12 10 8 6 4

18.5

16

<1

2 0 Before CoJet After CoJet

Figure 3: Consumable Pipe Savings (pipes/heat)

Figure 6: Carbon Savings (kg/ton)

Oxygen Consumption Increased to 35.8 Nm3/ton

40 35
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Before CoJet After CoJet

19.4% Reduction

30

Nm3/ton

25 20 15 10 5 0 Before CoJet After CoJet

Time (mins)

93

75

21.3

35.8

Figure 7: Oxygen Consumption (Nm3/ton) Figure 4: Tap-to-Tap Time (minutes)

Natural Gas Consumption Increased to 6.1 Nm3/ton

6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0
3 2.5 2 kg/ton 1.5 1 0.5

Increased 0.14 kg/ton

Nm3/ton

2.68

2.82

2.7
Before CoJet

6.1
After CoJet

0 Before CoJet After CoJet

Figure 9: Electrode Consumption (kg/ton) Figure 8: Natural Gas Consumption (Nm /ton)
3

While it was projected that oxygen use in the melting operation would increase, it was essential to clearly demonstrate the benefits derived from this change. This was established and in good measure surpassed initial projections, mainly by using the oxygen to provide effective chemical energy input and derive associated benefits from high-efficiency lancing and post-combustion. The only variables that seemed to have some adverse effect after the conversion to CoJet gas injection were electrode consumption and the delta life. Results to date indicate a net increase in average electrode consumption by 0.14 kg/ton and a decrease in delta life by 11 percent, as shown in Figures 9 and 10. This could be attributed to the considerable change at Sidertul in adopting a higher oxygen and chemical energy use during melting. Since the change, oxygen and natural gas consumptions have increased by 68 percent and 125 percent, respectively. However, the net effect of all the benefits and savings listed above in Tables 1 and 2, taken together, result not only in considerable cost reductions at Sidertul but also in significant increase in productivity at the EAF. Records have been set on some days with production exceeding 900 metric tonnes over a 22-hour operating period.

70 60 No. of Heats 50 40 30 20 10 0 B efo re C o Je t

Reduced by 7

63

56

A fter C o J et

Figure 10: Delta Life

In 1998, Sidertul reached a record production of 240,000 metric tonnes to meet the demands of the growing steel market. Unfortunately, a slight slow down in third quarter of 1999, coupled with pressure to keep scrap costs in check, prompted Sidertul to revert to a fourbucket charge operation. This resulted in an increase in tap-to-tap time by approximately 5 minutes to a total of 80 minutes.

Conclusions
By implementing the CoJet gas injection technology from Praxair, Sidertul has achieved the following results and benefits: Power savings in excess of 70kWh/billet ton Productivity increased by over 24 percent from 32.2 to 40tons/hr Consumable pipe cost and use reduced by about 90 percent. Present use limited to 2-3 minutes at the end of the final bucket

Tap-to-tap time reduced by 18 minutes or over 19 percent, from 93 minutes to 75 minutes Power on time reduced by 9 minutes or 12.8 percent, from 70 minutes to 61 minutes A 3 MW oxy-fuel door burner eliminated Refractory and gunning consumption reduced by 24.4 percent Carbon additions reduced by 13.5 percent Electrode consumption slightly increased; delta life slightly reduced Oxygen consumption increased by 14.5 m3/ton from 21.3 m3/ton to 35.8 m3/ton Natural gas consumption increased by 3.4 m3/ton from 2.7 m3/ton to 6.1 m3/ton Furnace melting operation almost fully automated with far less delays, more consistent heats, and enhanced safety.

Future Plans In conjunction with the requirements of the market, plans are underway at Sidertful to further boost productivity at the EAF with a target to exceed 300,000 metric tonnes per year. Some of the options under consideration are: Changing to a larger diameter shell Reducing the number of charge buckets to two Addition of a third CoJet injector; an easy add-on to the existing system Increasing the burner capacity through each injector to 5 MW

Copyright 2008 Praxair Technology, Inc. All rights reserved Praxair, the Flowing Airstream design, Making our planet more productive, and (any other trademark name) are trademarks or registered trademarks of Praxair Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks used herein are the registered trademarks of their respective owners.

The information contained herein is offered for use by technically qualified personnel at their discretion and risk without warranty of any kind. P-10073

Praxair, Inc. 39 Old Ridgebury Road Danbury, CT 06810-5113 USA www.praxair.com info@praxair.com

Telephone: 1-800-PRAXAIR (1-800-772-9247) (716) 879-4077 Fax: 1-800-772-9985 (716) 879-2040