#207 - Tenova Goodfellow to optimize twin shell EAFs at Steel Dynamics Inc.

Mississauga, 17 February 2015: Tenova Goodfellow receives PO for two (2) EFSOP holistic optimization® systems including water detection for both twin shell EAFs at Steel Dynamics Inc. Butler, IN.

In Post #205, we discussed the basic operation of an electric arc furnace (EAF). One of type EAF is known as ‘twin shell’. From Wikipedia:

The scrap basket is then taken to the melt shop, the roof is swung off the furnace, and the furnace is charged with scrap from the basket. Charging is one of the more dangerous operations for the EAF operators…In some twin-shell furnaces, the scrap is charged into the second shell while the first is being melted down, and pre-heated with off-gas from the active shell…After charging, the roof is swung back over the furnace and meltdown commences. The electrodes are lowered onto the scrap, an arc is struck and the electrodes are then set to bore into the layer of shred at the top of the furnace. Lower voltages are selected for this first part of the operation to protect the roof and walls from excessive heat and damage from the arcs. Once the electrodes have reached the heavy melt at the base of the furnace and the arcs are shielded by the scrap, the voltage can be increased and the electrodes raised slightly, lengthening the arcs and increasing power to the melt. This enables a molten pool to form more rapidly, reducing tap-to-tap times.

Tenova Goodfellow has significant expertise in making this and other types of EAF operate more efficiently and effectively.

Steel Dynamics Inc., has confirmed an order with Tenova Goodfellow for the supply and purchase of two (2) EFSOP holistic optimization® systems for both EAF batteries at their SDI, Butler, IN steelmaking facility. Tenova’s innovative technology and value proposition will provide full spectrum evaluation via upstream and downstream offgas analysis and water detection technology for all 4 EAF shells. The scope of supply will also include newly developed optical sensors for the measuring of off-gas velocity and temperature.

The order which was received in December 2014, included project work that was scheduled to begin immediately with the manufacturing of hardware & sensors at TGI’s Hamilton, ON production facility, Nova Analytical Systems. Installation and commissioning of the systems is scheduled to take place by April 2015.

About SDI Steel Dynamics, Inc. - one of the largest domestic steel producers and metals recyclers in the United States based on estimated annual steelmaking and metals recycling capability, with annual sales of $7.4 billion in 2013, over 7,400 employees, and manufacturing facilities primarily located throughout the United States (including six steel mills, six steel processing facilities, two iron production facilities, over 90 metals recycling locations and six steel fabrication plants).

About Tenova Goodfellow - part of the Metals Division of Tenova and is a leader in the design and supply of process control technology for the EAF and BOF markets. Tenova is a worldwide supplier of advanced technologies, products and engineering services for the iron & steel and mining industries providing innovative, integrated solutions for complete process areas. Tenova's network companies operate in 26 countries on 5 continents with more than 4,900 people.

For more information on EAF optimization, please contact:

Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

6711 Mississauga Road, Suite 200

Mississauga, ON

L5N 2W3 - Canada

Phone +1 905 567 3030

Fax +1 905 567 3899

goodfellow@ca.tenovagroup.com

#205 - What is iEAF?

In Post #194, we asked the question - What is iBOF? In this post we will discuss iEAF.

To begin, it will be helpful to describe EAF. The acronym stands for Electric Arc Furnace and is used to describe a method of steelmaking that heats the charged material using a powerful electric arc originating from large graphite electrodes.

From Wikipedia: 

An electric arc furnace used for steelmaking consists of a refractory-lined vessel, usually water-cooled in larger sizes, covered with a retractable roof, and through which one or more graphite electrodes enter the furnace. The furnace is primarily split into three sections:

• the shell, which consists of the sidewalls and lower steel "bowl";
• the hearth, which consists of the refractory that lines the lower bowl;
• the roof, which may be refractory-lined or water-cooled, and can be shaped as a section of a sphere, or as a frustum (conical section). The roof also supports the refractory delta in its centre, through which one or more graphite electrodes enter.

The hearth may be hemispherical in shape, or in an eccentric bottom tapping furnace, the hearth has the shape of a halved egg. In modern meltshops, the furnace is often raised off the ground floor, so that ladles and slag pots can easily be maneuvered under either end of the furnace. Separate from the furnace structure is the electrode support and electrical system, and the tilting platform on which the furnace rests. Two configurations are possible: the electrode supports and the roof tilt with the furnace, or are fixed to the raised platform.

iEAF stands for “intelligent Electric Arc Furnace” and is a trademark of Tenova Goodfellow Inc. The iEAF system is a progressive, modular technology package designed to provide sustainable long-term cost savings to steelmakers. The system uses dynamic control and holistic optimization of the EAF process.

iEAF® enabling technology can be applied to all variations of the EAF process including: 

• top charge melting furnaces (bucket and/or shaft) using scrap, DRI and/or pig iron;
• the Consteel® process (iConsteel®) with or without hot metal;
• continuous DRI fed furnaces (iDRI®).

While the basic structure remains constant, the automation hardware, software and communication modules can be customized according to the individual customer’s existing automation system and network.

The iEAF technology package is comprised of well-defined modules which each focus on a specific aspect of the EAF process. 

• MODULE 1 - Dynamic Chemical Energy Control & Optimization (EFSOP)
• MODULE 2 - Dynamic Melting Control
• MODULE 3 - Dynamic End-Point Control

While the iEAF® can be easily integrated with any existing automation and process control system, the cornerstone and necessary first step in the iEAF® technology program is EFSOP® off-gas analysis; other off-gas analysis methods which cannot provide complete analysis of CO, CO2, H2 and O2 lack a necessary prerequisite for determining an online Mass & Energy Balance which is critical for efficient energy utilization and effective dynamic control of the melting and refining processes.

MAIN BENEFITS

• Dynamic Control & Optimization of the Melting & Refining Process

• Electrical Energy Savings

• Fuel Savings

• Reduced Power-On Time

• Increased Yield

• Reduced Tap Additions

• Electrode, Delta & Refractory Savings

• Reduced Tap-to-Tap Time

• Reduced Emissions

There are other add-on technologies that are available under the iEAF umbrella. We’ll elaborate on those in a future post.

For more information, contact:

Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

6711 Mississauga Road, Suite 200

Mississauga, ON

L5N 2W3 - Canada

Phone +1 905 567 3030

Fax +1 905 567 3899

goodfellow@ca.tenovagroup.com

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#194 - What is iBOF?

To begin, BOF is an acronym for Basic Oxygen Furnace. It is also a concept that is comprised of the furnace itself and an improved process for making steel from iron.

Excerpts from Wikipedia: 

"Basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS, BOP, BOF, and OSM), also known as Linz-Donawitz-Verfahren steelmaking or the oxygen converter process is a method of primary steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten pig iron is made into steel. Blowing oxygen through molten pig iron lowers the carbon content of the alloy and changes it into low-carbon steel. The process is known as basic because fluxes of burnt lime or dolomite, which are chemical bases, are added to promote the removal of impurities and protect the lining of the converter.

The process was developed in 1948 by Robert Durrer and commercialized in 1952–1953 by Austrian VOEST and ÖAMG. The LD converter, named after the Austrian towns Linz and Donawitz (a district of Leoben) is a refined version of the Bessemer converter where blowing of air is replaced with blowing oxygen. It reduced capital cost of the plants, time of smelting, and increased labor productivity. Between 1920 and 2000, labor requirements in the industry decreased by a factor of 1,000, from more than 3 worker-hours per tonne to just 0.003. The vast majority of steel manufactured in the world is produced using the basic oxygen furnace; in 2000, it accounted for 60% of global steel output. Modern furnaces will take a charge of iron of up to 350 tons and convert it into steel in less than 40 minutes, compared to 10–12 hours in an open hearth furnace."

There are ways to optimize this process to further improve yields and increase efficiency. This brings us to iBOF.

iBOF as a registered trademark is a modular technology developed and offered by Tenova Goodfellow Inc. It is available either as an integrated technology package or as independent standalone modules to meet each customer's specific needs. The acronym itself stands for Intelligent Basic Oxygen Furnace.

The iBOF concept consists of the following modules:

End-point Detection Technology: is based on the industry-proven EFSOP off-gas analysis, off-gas sensors to measure temperature, flow and pressure and BOF process control models designed to enable a "Blow & Tap" practice without additional cost and delays associated with Sub-Lance Technology.

Slop Detection Technology: uses lance vibration analysis with real-time alerts to give operators advance warning of the onset of a slop event (link & link) and a measurement of slop severity. The system is designed to provide direct feedback control of lance position and oxygen flow rate, for rapid mitigation of the effects of a slop.

Optimized Post-Combustion Technology: uses EFSOP off-gas analysis in combination with off-gas temperature, flow and pressure sensors and a dual-flow lance with independent control of primary and secondary oxygen to control oxygen flow-rate, penetration, and timing. The result is optimal post-combustion efficiency and increased scrap-melting capability with minimal refractory or lance wear.

Auto-tapping Technology: employs advanced image analysis together with process models to control tapping practice, in either an operator-assist mode or a fully automatic mode. The benefits of this technology are decreased tap time and variability, reduced slag carry-over, and improved operator safety.

For more information, contact:

Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

6711 Mississauga Road, Suite 200

Mississauga, ON

L5N 2W3 - Canada

Phone +1 905 567 3030

Fax +1 905 567 3899

goodfellow@ca.tenovagroup.com

EFSOP and iBOF are registered trademarks of Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

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#146 - Tenova Goodfellow Introduces Velocity Measurement for High Intensity Industrial Gas Streams

Tenova Goodfellow has developed a new gas velocity sensor that is able to continuously measure the velocity of a hot and dusty gas stream.

This system can accurately measure the velocity of gases that are in excess of 600 degrees C. Other methods of velocity measurement will not survive in such harsh environments.

We posted some additional information along with a brochure on the website. Check it out at: http://www.nova-gas.com/OVM%20-%20Landing%20page.html

#130 - Tenova Goodfellow launches breakthrough Water Detection Technology for the EAF

Mississauga, Canada – February 11, 2013

Tenova Goodfellow Inc. has developed breakthrough water detection technology that combines continuous and reliable EAF off-gas analysis for both H20 vapor and H2 together with proprietary software that provides EAF operators with three distinct real-time alerts indicating the likelihood of a water leak.

EFSOP® Water Detection Technology™ is the only commercially available extractive or in-situ system that is capable of continuously analyzing EAF off-gas for both H2 and H20 vapor. When liquid water enters the EAF, a portion will remain as H20 vapor and a portion will be reduced to H2. Since the relative proportions cannot be predicted in advance, effective water leak detection requires analysis of both H20 vapor and H2.

EFSOP Water Detection Technology interprets the H2 and H20 vapor off-gas analysis with proprietary software that is capable of differentiating between normal operations and situations when there are abnormally high water levels in the EAF. The software is self-training and dynamically adjusts for changing scrap conditions (wet/dry/oily) to minimize the number of false alarms according to the steel plant’s required set points. The System provides EAF operators with three alert levels; Green for normal, Amber for caution, Red for immediate action.

EFSOP Water Detection Technology represents a true industry breakthrough providing the most comprehensive, reliable and real-time water detection system possible for EAF steelmaking. EFSOP Water Detection Technology is available as a module that can be integrated into an existing EFSOP analyzer or as a standalone water detection system which can be upgraded in future to a full EFSOP Holistic Optimization System® for process control and optimization.

For more information, contact:

Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

6711 Mississauga Road, Suite 200

Mississauga, ON

L5N 2W3 - Canada

Phone +1 905 567 3030

Fax +1 905 567 3899

goodfellow@ca.tenovagroup.com

#115 - EAF Process Flow and the Tenova Group

The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) has released its Public Policy Statement for 2013-2014. The SMA is the primary trade association for scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers.

Tenova Core and Tenova Goodfellow are both associate member companies in the SMA. Tenova Core also has a representative on the 2013 Associate Member Executive Committee.

EAF steel producers are the largest recyclers in North America. Over 90 percent of the material input to EAFs is recycled ferrous scrap. EAFs also play a large role in conserving energy – steel produced from melted scrap consumes approximately one third the energy that steel produced from iron ore consumes.

The production share of EAF furnaces of total steel production has grown from approximately 35% in 1990 to 60% in 2012.

In the back of the print copy of the Public Policy Statement, there is a nice diagram of the EAF process flow. This simple graphic prompted me to compare the standard EAF process with the expertise and products that can be found within the Tenova Group. Many of the areas do have a match. My summary of the Tenova capability is no doubt incomplete, but this is a good start.

__________

Steel Scrap Handling

Scrap steel has a high weight per volume and requires energy to receive and move around. Scrap steel is usually not received in geometrically and compositionally homogenous states. Material handling is therefore an important part of the EAF input process. I wasn’t able to find a direct match in the Tenova Group to steel scrap materials handling. However, Tenova Takraf is a world leader in materials handling for ore and mining applications. They may have equipment in their product line that is suited for steel yard and scrap handling.

__________

Electric Arc Furnace

This is the heart of the EAF process where the input material is melted down by electric arc. There are several areas of the Tenova Group that have a high relevance to the EAF.

• Tenova Melt Shops manufactures electric arc furnaces. Tagliaferri is the historical brand of Tenova Melt Shops which has been designing and manufacturing EAFs since the very beginning of electrometallurgy.
• Consteel is a continuous metallic charge feeding and preheating system made by Tenova Melt Shops.
• EFSOP is an off-gas based process control technology produced by Tenova Goodfellow for energy optimization of electric arc furnaces.
• The KT Injection System is a wall-mounted, multi-point system for injecting oxygen and a wide range of fines of carbon, lime, DRI and other materials into the slag layer of an EAF.

__________

Ladle Metallurgy Station

After tapping the molten steel, the ladle metallurgy station fulfills several functions in preparing the melt to be processed in the continuous casting machine. Ladle furnaces also act as a buffer between the EAF and continuous casting line. Tenova Melt Shops offers complete ladle furnace packages.

Tenova Melt Shops offers complete ladle furnace packages including:

• Electric power supply
• Ladles
• Ladle transfer cars
• Additives charging and injections systems
• Dedusting
• Electrode make-up stations and other auxiliary equipment

__________

Caster

Continuous casting is the process by which the molten metal is cooled and solidified into heavy steel strips called billets, blooms, or slabs. The produced steel may be stored or immediately rolled into finished products. There does not appear to be a Tenova company that makes continuous casters.

__________

Rolling Mill

Rolling mills further process the slabs and strips into other semi-finished products such as bars, billets, beams, or wire. The Tenova Rolling & Finishing division manufactures all kinds of strip processing lines and cold rolling mills.

• Tenova Key Technologies - acid regeneration, iron oxide production, waste water treatment
• Tenova I2S - cold roll mills
• Tenova Presind Automation - integrated control systems and drives for processing lines and cold mills
• Tenova Multiform - strip processing line and cold rolling mills in the Indian and Asian markets including India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia.
• Tenova Pomini - worldwide leader in production of roll grinders, for rolls belonging to flat products mills (steel and non-ferrous metals such as copper, aluminum) as well as paper mills.

__________

Finishing and Shipping

Further processing into finished products may follow the rolling mill or be integrated in with it. Inventory systems are used to store and stage the finished products prior to delivery.

• Tenova Strip Processing – pickling, tinning, galvanizing, color-coating, silicon steel, stainless steel lines, and many others

__________

The Tenova Group is an intelligently diversified company that covers many areas of the steel-making process. The expertise accumulated among the Tenova companies is available to steel-makers around the globe.

NOVA Analytical Systems plays a small role in this value chain by manufacturing gas analysis equipment for a wide range of industries.

For information on gas analyzer systems, give Mike or Dave at Nova a call, or send us an e-mail.

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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