#181 - Alliance Formed for Ironmaking Technologies

Tenova HYL and Danieli & C have entered into an agreement with Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co. Ltd. (NSENGI) to combine and commercialize their Energiron Direct Reduction technology with an optimized blast-furnace and syngas technology (high-efficiency coal gasification and steelworks byproduct gas utilization technology) developed and owned by NSENGI.

The two key areas of combined know-how involve the integration of the Energiron Direct Reduction technology with the blast furnace as well as the areas of interface between existing and future syngas technologies with the Energiron process. This alliance will allow the three companies to combine research and development activities with the ultimate objective of developing a new ironmaking technology that will reduce CO2 emissions and operating costs while increasing productivity for integrated steelmaking facilities.

HYL actively develops projects for direct reduction plants worldwide under the Energiron brand name. They started up the world's first successful direct reduction plant in 1957. Over 40 DR modules have been supplied worldwide since then.

http://www.tenovagroup.com/companies_hyl.php?id_company=2

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#180 - Roads after Winter

A while back we posted a picture of a dangerous mountain road in Belize, South America. This year’s cold North American winter proved to be very damaging to asphalt road surfaces. Although the results are not as harrowing as the Belize example, the enormous post-winter potholes are really annoying. (In some places, it gives us a little idea of what the old corduroy roads must have been like.)

The winter/roads effects seem to be most pronounced in locales that see sustained temperatures below -20°C (-4°F). The weather around the Nova offices definitely fit this profile during this past winter. The folks at CBC put together a few pictures that explain the process of pothole development.

This poor chap has located a hidden pothole.
Picture credit Liu tao / Ananova

In a past life in the coatings industry, I was able to explore the effects of viscosity, rheology, and additive dispersion on stability and performance of film-forming substances. Even though I know very little about roadwork, I was thinking recently that asphalt seems to need an improved flexibility profile in cold climates. But not to the point where hot weather produces excessive softening.

One idea that might have some potential in this area is rubber. Using rubber waste in asphalt has probably been proposed many times before. But these folks here seem to be making progress in ironing out some of the bugs of using this additive. ‘Crumb rubber’ produced from shredding old car tires can be used to enhance the aging properties of asphalt. This approach also finds a better home for old tires than in landfills.

If it makes better roads, reduces potholes, and reduces waste, it is surely worth continued research.

pothole pic - http://www.bedfordma.gov/highway-division/pages/pothole-information

landfill tires - http://www.mymodernmet.com/photo/tires-1

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#179 - Battle Fought at Nova’s Canadian Site

Unknown to us, a battle was fought over the weekend at Nova’s Canadian Site. Not with cannons and muskets, but with brushes and easels.

The ART BATTLE DAY 2014! brings more than 250 artists together to compete in same-day events in 20 Canadian communities for the chance to advance to the 2014 Art Battle National Championship. Here’s the website - http://artbattle.ca/

Battle # AB126 was held in Hamilton, ON at the 270 Sherman Ave North facility.

Here’s a photo set of some of the action. Photo album pics by TV station Cable 14's Mike Cameron.

Never a dull moment here!

Pics from Art Battle website.

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#178 - Nova Analyzers from the Field – Episode 6

In the 'Analyzers from the Field' series, we normally post a couple of pictures and write a brief summary of an instrument that has turned up in our Service Department. The older instruments always seem to have some kind of story around them which can be informative and interesting.

In this episode, we feature some equipment that has just recently been installed into the field at a Direct Reduced Iron plant in the southern USA. The DRI process directly reduces iron ore to iron. The produced product is iron pellets that have flexible options for transport or direct use in steelmaking.

Mass spectroscopy is used by some steel makers to obtain analysis of the process gases in and around the DRI reactor. The main advantage of this technique is that it is versatile in terms of analytical capability. Numerous types of gases may be measured by a mass spectrometer. However, mass spec technology can be complex. The sample conditioning requirements are stringent. It is therefore sensible to have a back-up plan in case of unexpected interruptions in the gas analysis data.

These Nova analyzers were installed as a robust back-up to the mass spec for the key gases being analyzed in the DRI reaction. There were four points in the process considered important enough to have back-up analyzers on.

Continuous gas analysis on these units is as follows:

0-20.0 % CO2

0-40.0 % CH4

0-60.0 % H2

- Cabinet temperature management for installation out-doors in -5°C to 48°C.

- Hazardous Area Cabinet for installation in Class 1 Division 2 Group B rated area.

The sample gas contained metallic dust and was typically under pressure (6.2-10.8Barg / 90-160psig). This required filtration at the extraction point along with regulation down to usable pressures. A sample extraction assembly was provided at each sample point.

The plant is still under construction at this time. However, the analyzer installation was well-executed and we are confident that the systems will function as expected. Here is a link to these analyzers in our catalog.

Episode 1 - old portable flue gas with dual CO channel
Episode 2 - portable ppm H2 analyzer for university metallurgical lab
Episode 3 - ex-proof H2 analyzer in South Africa
Episode 4 - 14yr old continuous CO/H2 analyzer on heat treat furnace
Episode 5 - 3 channel CO2 analyzer for fire suppression apps

If a system like this is of interest to you, contact Nova for details.

1-800-295-3771

sales at nova-gas dot com

websales at nova-gas dot com

http://www.nova-gas.com/

https://twitter.com/NOVAGAS

http://www.linkedin.com/company/nova-analytical-systems-inc-

http://www.tenovagroup.com/

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