Paulo Hopperdizel, Lumar Metals, Brazil

Co-Author:
Paulo Hopperdizel, Lumar Metals
Atul Dubey, Jindal Steel & Power Limited
Raju Psjkk, Lumar Metals

Abstract:
JSPL Angul is a integrated steel plant with the capacity to produce 6,000,000 tonnes of steel per year, located in the city of Angul, Odisha, India. Its industrial complex consists of a one Midrex direct reduction plant, with the capacity to produce 2 MILLION MT of Hot DRI / tonnes year, one Blast Furnace whith the capacity to produce 4 million MT of HotMetal / tonnes year, two melt shops, one meltshop with 1 electric arc furnaces of 250 tonnes, 1 ladle furnaces, 1 continuous casting and one melt shop with 1 BOF of 250 tonne 2 continuous casting and rolling mills. JSPL Angul during the hot commissioning of EAF meltshop worked with high amount of Hot Metal charged (around 85%), completing the charge with DRI (around 15%), for this mix of charge only chemical energy is required, and the efficiency of oxygen injectors instaled at EAF were not able to reach the performance required by JSPL Angul in these cases. The injectors installed not allow the use of all injector in the early moments of process, due high FeO generation, high height of foaming slag and slopping of slag through slag door. Due this, JSPL Angul planned the revamp of the chemical power package of EAF with the aim of reducing oxygen blow time and have high metallic yield of the heat. This work will present the equipment used, the concepts used in the remodeling project of the chemical package, as well as some of the results obtained after the implementation of this new equipment.

Gerald Hohenbichler, Primetals Technologies Austria, Austria

Co-Author:
Manuel Sattler, Primetals Technologies Austria
Wolfgang Wichert, Lech-Stahlwerke GmbH

Abstract:
Electric Arc Furnaces have always been the core plant and core process of Minimills, all over the world, because an EAF is THE scrap-based process of steelmaking. And it has always been a rather cheap production step as being based on electricity and not too complex, since the base material is already steel. The challenge however is to optimize the melting process, irrespective of the input material mix - and this is the biggest pain for most steel producers - for any type of target steel grade, as well as irrespective of the shift team, of the furnace lining, of environmental prescriptions and so on. Primetals Technologies has developed the Heat Cloning App, a preferred cloud based digital system to assure such operational optimization, using the real Level2 and Level 1 data of the EAF, hence using the real historical data of an EAF plant. Optimization objectives are stable tap-to-tap times, charge temperatures adapted to the needed overheating for the ladle furnace or the VOD and for the casting operations, and last not least the minimum operating cost. More than ever minimizing electrical energy per ton of liquid steel and minimizing the total amount of required specific energy are typical optimization objectives as well. Real data are showing that 5 - 10% better operations, reduced cost, higher margins are achievable by using Primetals' Heat Cloning App.

Jaemin Lee, Hyundai Steel Co. , Korea, Republic of

Co-Author:
Joohyun Park, Hanyang University
Jongoh Jo, Hyundai Steel Co.
Daehoon Shin, Hyundai Steel Co.

Abstract:
In these day, Carbon Neutrality is important issue in the world. And iron&steelmaking industry is also undergoing process change to achieve carbon neutrality. The biggest change is process transitions from BF-BOF to DRI-EAF. In case of BF-BOF process, They can produce from normal grade of steel to AHSS grade steel. But this process need to generate a plenty of CO2 emission, 1.85tCO2/steel ton.[1,2]. On the other hands, DRI-EAF process is also possible to produce from normal to AHSS, But this process CO2 emission is just half of BF-BOF, 0.97tCO2/steel ton. In other words, producing steel using an EAF is more effective in terms of CO2 emission compared to BF-BOF process. And by using DRI in EAF, They are able to produce high grade steel. EAF technology is developing from 1968 to 2010 in the direction of saving EAF energy consumption. The use of industrial wastes in EAF technology is important part in terms of diversifying raw materials for EAF in the future, and this technology can meet another jump up in saving EAF energy consumption. And using industrial wastes also decrease CO2 emission. In this study, I share some case of using industrial wastes in EAF especially Al dross. In case of Al dross, we put the Al dross in EAF with Fe powder and Na2CO3. Fe powder aim to increase density of Al dross product and Na2CO3 is for stabilizing P2O5 activity coefficient in slag. In this paper, we share our experience of using industrial waste in EAF and we also share our future works related to use wastes.

Doug Zuliani, Tenova Goodfellow Inc., Canada

Co-Author:
Babak Babaei, Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

Abstract:
Water Leaks represent a serious concern in EAF steelmaking for both. This paper describes a comprehensive Water Leak Mitigation Technology package designed to solve the EAF water leak problem. This technology can be installed as a complete package or as separate independent parts in tune with individual steel plant priorities and includes cooling panel designs to minimize the impact of leaks; three technology options to rapidly detect and alarm when a water leak occurs; inspection technology to safely determine the location & severity of the leak; and finally, mitigation technology to safely turn-off water flow to the damaged panel. This paper will discuss each of the above technologies and make reference to actual plant confirmatory results.

Emmanuel Placier, AMI Automation, Czech Republic

Co-Author:
Emmanuel Placier, AMI Automation
Saul Gonzalez, AMI Automation
Jesus Andrade, AMI Automation

Abstract:
Since the introduction of Off Gas analysis instrumentation in the Electric Arc Furnace, different applications have been developed using this information to improve the process efficiency and safety. Using the CO, CO2, temperature, and flow of the gas, the AMI SmartFurnace modules for Chemical Energy optimization calculate the optimal setpoints of the EAF burners and lances. The chemical energy modules are complemented dynamic process models and algorithms for electrical energy providing an integral furnace control of the Oxygen, Natural Gas, and Carbon Injection, as well as continuous raw material feeding. Using artificial intelligence, the Abnormal Water Vapor Detection module uses the gas temperature, flow, and water vapor content to identify unexpected sources of water in the off-gas which could pose a potential safety hazard, distinguishing it from the normal amount of water present in the furnace environment. Finally, the efforts to reduce emissions in the steel industry require accurate and reliable measurements of CO2. Understanding the influence of different conditions such as raw materials, melting profiles and practices, plays a major role in defining strategies to lower the environmental impact of the production. The latest implementations of this technology in plants with a wide range of raw materials, EAF mechanical characteristics, and production needs are described in this paper, and the achieved results.

Thiago Wandekoken, Lumar Metals, Brazil

Co-Author:
Paulo Hopperdizel, Lumar Metals
Igor Rana, ArcelorMittal Barra Mansa
Gerson Morais, ArcelorMittal Barra Mansa
Fábio Moreira, ArcelorMittal Barra Mansa
Marco Almeida, ArcelorMittal Barra Mansa
Arthur Ramalho, ArcelorMittal Barra Mansa

Abstract:
After about two and a half years of interruption in production, encouraged by the growing global demand for steel consumption and the prospects for economic growth, the ArcelorMittal Group decided to resume operations at the AMSF Barra Mansa steel mill. The AMSF Barra Mansa plant is equipped with two Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF), each with a capacity to produce 50 tons of steel per heat and a Continuous Casting Machine (CCM). However, the ArcelorMittal Group's planning was to carry out the resumption of the plant operations gradually and according to market movements, so, at first, the plan was to restart only one of these two furnaces, the EAF #2. The first month operation showed that several KPIs were out of goals combined, like power on, tap to tap, electric energy consumption, oxygen consumption and others. This paper aims to present the teamwork carried out between Lumar Metals and ArcelorMittal after the commissioning of EAF #2, implementing the reengineering of the chemical package equipment and adjustments of the electrical and chemical program until the achievement of the results committed to the board of the ArcelorMittal.

Iraj Salehi Arashloo, BARSOO Engineering Company, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Co-Author:
Farnaz Niknam Moghaddam, BARSOO Engineering Company
Delaram Radmehr, BARSOO Engineering Company
Ali Mohammad Monfared, BARSOO engineering company
Iraj Salehi Arashloo, BARSOO Engineering Company
,

Abstract:
In Electrical Arc Furnace (EAF) melting process, foamy slag quality has a key role in green steel production. A good quality of foamy slag helps to save energy, decreases graphite electrode consumption and enhance the refectory service life. Foamy slag quality is defined by its chemical and physical properties such as basicity and viscosity. By control of additives injection rate, good quality foamy slag could be obtained. In our research, a neural network model is designed and trained to estimate the rate of additives injection for achieving good quality foamy slag in the DRI based steel making, results of the research is presented in this paper. Due to effect of multiple variables in making of fully foamy slag, the “Multi Task Learning Model” has been considered. The neural network has been designed and trained with a specific architecture using real historical data which are related to those heats that had good basicity of slag. The data are belong to a steel making plant in Iran. There are three key factors that indicate quality of the foamy slag, one is noise made during melting process, another is slag height and the last is the total harmonic distortion (THD) Therefore, the network is trained by: - Additive weights - THD of voltage and current - the 7th current harmonic. The foamy slag process has been simulated using this model. The result shows that the trained multi task neural network improved remarkable percent of additive injection rate compared with the operator decision.

Marcus Kirschen, RHI Magnesita, Germany

Co-Author:
Uxia Dieguez, RHI Magnesita
Jan Lueckhoff, RHI Magnesita
Verena Schmidt, RHI Magnesita
Markus Gruber, RHI Magnesita

Abstract:
The mandatory transformation of European steel production towards Green steel routes requires an increasing use of steel scrap and direct reduced iron. Consequently, new EAFs with large melt volumes are expected to meet the required production capacity at minimum CO2 intensity. With increasing melt volumes the impact of oxygen injectors to bath mixing decreases and additional stirring technologies are required for an optimum EAF process. Inert gas stirring is an established method to improve process control, energy efficiency, metal yield and melting time. In the following paper, the benefits of RHI Magnesita´s gas purging technology in EAFs are highlighted by means of transient CFD simulations; with special focus on the influence of the steel flow on refractory wear and hearth mix consumption. The observed process improvements are presented by industrial case studies covering EAFs fed by steel scrap, direct reduced iron and/or hot metal. The here shown process benefits are achieved at the same refractory consumption figures in contrast to competing EAF stirring technologies.

Thiago Wandekoken, Lumar Metals, Brazil

Co-Author:
Marssal Victorino, ArcelorMittal Resende
Hélio Oliveira, ArcelorMittal Resende
Iury Silva, ArcelorMittal Resende

Abstract:
The problem of electrode broken becomes frequent during the heats along 2020 during Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) operation, which had a very negative impact on the specific consumption of electrodes (kg/t) of the EAF. Given the strangeness of the events and the high cost of this raw material, a working group was formed to analyze the data and find the cause of the excessive amount of electrode breakage. This working group found a strong relationship between skull formation in some regions of the EAF and the electrode breakage. This paper aims to present the methodology used teamwork carried out between Lumar Metals and ArcelorMittal Resende in the characterization of the problem, planning and execution of actions to avoid the formation of skulls in the EAF and consequently to avoid electrode breakages. The gain was the reductions of 66% in the electrode consumption.

Joohyun Park, Hanyang University, Korea, Republic of

Abstract:
It has been known that approx. 7% emission of CO2 arises from the steel industry sector. Hence, many steel companies are trying to develop the electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking process instead of blast furnace (BF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) integrated routes by employing high amounts of direct-reduced iron (DRI) and/or hot briquetted iron (HBI) to reduce CO2 emission. The DRI/HBI as a substitute for virgin scrap in EAF has been used because DRI/HBI does not have tramp elements. Unfortunately, however, commercially available DRI contains the relatively high levels of phosphorus and gangue oxides, which adversely affects not only the steel properties but also the operation efficiency. There have been many reports of several metallurgical factors affecting the EAF operations with the use of high amounts of DRI/HBI. In the present paper, the challenging points should be carefully considered to achieve the improved EAF technology on the way to green steel will be reviewed, and the recent experimental and modeling research will be discussed. For example, we observed the morphology and distribution of elements with gangue oxides in HBI and investigated the phenomena occurred in EAF process using fully HBI as an alternative iron source using a high-frequency induction furnace. Main component of gangue oxides in HBI was SiO2, Al2O3, and CaO in conjunction with unreduced iron oxide. To increase the dephosphorization efficiency, the distribution ratio of phosphorus between metal and slag was calculated using FactSage thermochemical computing software and was compared to the measured results. The optimization of slag chemistry is required not only for maximum dephosphorization efficiency with good slag foamability but also for minimum slag volume with less refractory corrosion.

Breno Maia, Lumar Metals, Brazil

Co-Author:
Lucas Duarte, Lumar Metals
Alenisio Nogueira, Lumar Metals
Thiago Wandekoken, Lumar Metals
Paulo Hopperdizel, Lumar Metals

Abstract:
After years of announcements, environmental questions finally take destak place. Others side, more steel amounts are necessary to support human grow up population. EAF starts strong movements to reduce carbon emissions or find substitutes that promote carbon credits. This paper compare behaviors of carbon fines from main different sources: vegetal and mineral inject by Power Carbon technology from Lumar Metals. Results showed no difference in EAF process but huge difference of carbon impact over environmental questions.

Doug Zuliani, Tenova Goodfellow Inc., Canada

Co-Author:
Babak Babaei, Tenova Goodfellow Inc.

Abstract:
Electrification has been identified as an important step towards achieving a dramatic reduction in the steel industry’s GHG emissions. This transformation will greatly increase the percentage of steel produced with electric arc furnace technology. Hence, as proportionately more and more steel production shifts to EAF technology, incremental changes in EAF efficiency and control will have an increasing impact on the total volume of the steel industries GHG emissions. This paper describes the critically important role that improved EAF process optimization and control when using scrap and/or DRI will have in decreasing energy consumption, increasing yield & productivity and reducing process emissions. Results from several actual plant trials will be used to confirm the benefits and project the significant impact that increased EAF efficiency can play in reducing total steelmaking GHG emissions.

Stefan Griesser, qoncept technology GmbH, Austria

Co-Author:
Robert Pierer, qoncept dx GmbH
Sebastian Michelic, qoncept dx GmbH

Abstract:
Steelmakers across the globe are increasingly facing a decarbonization challenge. Recent developments in raw material and energy cost, supply chain volatility and CO2 regulations have put a lot of pressure on steelmakers which underlines the need for highly efficient and sustainable production processes. The switch to electric and hydrogen-based steelmaking in Europe brings additional challenges and requires the use of new raw materials (such as DRI), operation practices and adapted secondary metallurgical processes. This is partly a journey into the unknown and must be carefully navigated for successful implementation. The present paper presents a new digital solution for the optimization of existing electrical steelmaking processes and to answer the following questions: - How will new raw materials change my processes? - How can I predict the behaviour of new metallurgical processes? - How can I adapt to new equipment and technology? - How to define new operating practices? Metallurgical intelligence, cross-process optimization and sophisticated mathematical algorithms are at the core of this new application, which allows substantial cost savings, optimized production as well as reduced CO2 emissions. The influence of varying scrap composition, different types and amount of DRI, melting strategy, secondary metallurgical treatment and alloying strategies can be analysed and optimized in real-time. The presentation provides various practical examples, and the resulting cost and CO2 reduction is discussed.

Paulo Hopperdizel, Lumar Metals, Brazil

Co-Author:
Paulo Hopperdizel, Lumar Metals
Nerea Mendonza, ArcelorMittal Acindar

Abstract:
ArcelorMittal Acindar has a capacity of 1,500,000 TON and is an integrated steel production plant, consisting of MIDREX Direct Reduction, Electric Arc Furnaces, Ladle Furnaces, Continuous Casting and Rolling Mill Plants. It produces a wide variety of types of steels, low - medium - high carbon, free cutting, construction, aluminum quenched and low alloy. Leading steel company in the long steel market focused on to increase efficiency and cost reduction of the steelmaking process, planned to revamp the chemical energy package changing the equipment of oxygen and carbon injection on the two 110 ton EAF’s with the goal of decrease the consumption of injected carbon, oxygen and better slag foaming. The two EAF using scrap as charge and feeding DRI continuously with three ports of burner/oxygen and carbon injection. This project consisted in replacing the existing three ports of burner/oxygen and carbon injection for a new EAF chemical package, composed by copper blocks, burners and injectors of oxygen and carbon. Searching for the best technology currently available in the market, Acindar chose the chemical package developed by Lumar to EAF, composed by Protect Block, FlexOx and Power Carbon (to the needy carburization points). In this paper will be presenting the chemical package equipment implemented in these EAF’s revamp, as well the installation project, besides the operational results obtained during startup. The main results were the reduction of the consumption of the carbon, oxygen, improvement of the formation of foaming slag and reduction of power consumption of the furnaces.

June yong Eom, Hyundai Steel Co. , Korea, Republic of

Abstract:
As we already know, the Carbon Neutrality is the most essential global issue since 2010s. Many heavy industries, especially Iron & Steel producing industries, are being forcing to achieve extremely low emissions of carbon dioxide. There are lots of studies for the carbon neutrality of the steel making process, but the process transition from BF-BOF to DRI-EAF is considered to be one of the most certain methods. DRI makes it possible to manufacture the high-grade steels like AHSS by EAF process. It means, when we produce the same high-grade steel in the EAF process, carbon dioxide emission can be reduced as 40% to compare with BF-BOF process. However, DRI consists of 10~20% of gangue and FeO so it needs much more energy input in EAF process. Therefore, it is important to enhance the EAF’s energy efficiency for Securing economic feasibility. Oxygen injection from EAF’s side wall is one of the straight ways to improve the energy efficiency. High speed oxygen injection can generate the gas jet into the EAF, and this jet has two main functions. First, Oxygen jet mutilates the side wall scrap for accelerate the scrap melting speed. Second, after the plat bath formation, oxygen jet refines the impurity, enhances the slag foaming for higher arc stability, and improves molten steel agitation for heat transfer. In this study, a method for setting the advanced oxygen input pattern was presented through index data that can accurately predict dissolution behavior. Also, It was verified that the oxygen jet improvement by the certain reformation of nozzle design.

Hans Jörg Krassnig, Primetals Technologies Austria, Austria

Co-Author:
Ali Hegazy, Primetals Technologies Germany
Miao Peng Sheng, Primetals Technologies China Ltd.
Michel Hein, Primetals Technologies Germany
Jörg Schwörer, Primetals Technologies Germany
Hagen Fuchs, Primetals Technologies Germany

Abstract:
"Today’s steel producers face immense challenges when working with an EAF. These challenges may include anticipating tomorrow’s more stringent environmental targets for green steel, achieving optimal energy efficiency, dealing with the constraints of weak electrical infrastructure, and operating a closed-roof EAF while attempting to maintain the highest degree of productivity with modest OPEX and CAPEX. The EAF Quantum from Primetals Technologies is a proven solution for these complex challenges. The EAF Quantum is the latest energy-efficient EAF technology, yet quickly becoming well-established and growing fast. Since its first introduction, 11 references are now successfully in operation. This presentation will describe the EAF Quantum process and provide an overview of the technology and design concept. Features of the lmost recent 2x150-t EAF Quantum for Tosyali in Turkey (start-up in Y2023), currently under erection, will be highlighted. Moreover, the real-world operational results of the 11 EAF Quantums will be presented, including project execution, productivity, and consumption figures. An outlook of the next-generation EAF Quantum (200-300t) will be briefly shared."

Andrea Grasselli, Tenova S.p.A., Italy

Abstract:
C. Leoni1, A. Grasselli1, P. Stagnoli1, B.B. Cheng2, J. Chen2 1 Tenova S.p.A., Italy, 2 Tenova Beijing Branch, China Key Words: EAF, electric arc furnace, Consteel®, energy efficiency, productivity, cost reduction, performance improvement, productivity improvement, revamping. Abstract The ever-changing steel industry requires thinking of production plants that can guarantee the flexibility and sustainability needed to compete in the steel market. The success that the Tenova Consteel® EAF system has earned over the years is proof of a winning approach to the steelmakers' demands. Continuous technological development leads to design increasingly high-performance and productive furnaces, being able to choose smaller heat sizes even for significant annual steel throughput. This opportunity makes it possible to reduce the overall investment costs of a new production site, linked proportionally to heat size, or to think about revamping existing plants that need ambitious productivity increases. The paper presents the results of a Tenova's reference plant in China: two 70 tons heat size Consteel® EAFs for the production of more than 2 million tonnes of carbon steel per year, to which will be added the third production line with the same characteristics now under commissioning.

Yehia Abdullah, Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Co., Egypt

Co-Author:
Ashraf Khamis Ismail, Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Co.
Hossam Eldin Hamdy Abdelmeguid, Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Co.

Abstract:
EZDK Flat Steel Plant (FSP) installed in Y1999 consisting of steel making SMP (1 arc furnace EAF,1 Ladle furnace LMF) and compact strip plant CSP (thin slab caster TSC, hot strip mill HSM), plant design capacity 1.0 MTPY HRC producing low Carbon, different ranges of Mn steel grades, Aluminum killed clean steel, thickness 1.0~14 mm, widths 900~1600mm. Aiming reaching 1.150 MTPY HRC, defining such one FSP line production bottle neck is mandatory especially after CSP upgrading in Y2017 after increasing TSC casting speeds for different casting widths So, SMP(EAF) is identified as the bottle neck due to prolong tap-tap time TTT (56 min./heat), high EAF energy consumption (575 kWh/t MS) which limit productivity at higher casting speed (>4.5 m/min.) for 1500 mm casting width. Decreasing EAF power on time, energy consumption (productivity driven factors) are put as a target which can be achieved by introducing new chemical energy modules for C-O in EAF with low project budget keeping the rest of EAF configuration such as transformer as increasing transformer capacity ‘increasing input electrical power ‘will require consecutive additional changes in EAF upper& lower shell, fume extraction system with huge investment budget. An Italian company ‘MORE’ offered a new module of C-O in EAF called ‘M-One’ which has the feature of Carbon, Oxygen & natural gas injection in one coherent jet giving higher efficiency of reaction points between C-O with equal uniform distribution of slag foaming around EAF, giving better Oxygen penetration into molten steel giving higher slag foaming index moreover, burner mode of M-One enables faster scrap melting time. After successful installation & commissioning of M-One in Nov.Y2022, very promising results are obtained in productivity (+5%), power on time (-11%), turnaround time (-15%), Tap-Tap time (-12%), energy consumption (-11%), C injection consumption (-30%), EAF electrode consumption (-8%) and EAF refractory consumption (-12%).

Jaroslav Brhel, HTT Engineering spol. s r.o., Czech Republic

Co-Author:
Andrea De Vito, Rina Consulting – Centro Sviluppo Materiali S.p.A
Daniele Gaspardo, Pittini S.p.A.
Matteo Chini, Pittini S.p.A.

Abstract:
Pittini plant Ferriere Nord is one of the major Italian plants operating 150t EAF. Within European Retrofeed project https://retrofeed.eu/, some new developments were tested in 2022. These include new EAF burner and modified injection system for utilization of alternative materials such as fine polymers and granulated tires as source of chemical energy in EAF, partially replacing natural gas and carbon. The paper will describe equipment and process development made and introduce some initial obtained results and experience.

Andrea Grasselli, Tenova S.p.A., Italy

Co-Author:
Davide Masoero, Tenova S.p.A.
Naci Faydasıçok, Hasçelik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.

Abstract:
Key Words: EAF, electric arc furnace, Consteel®, Consteerrer®, ArcSave®, EMS, energy efficiency, productivity, cost reduction, performance improvement, quality steel, productivity improvement, revamping. Abstract The constant evolution of the steel industry emphasizes how sustainability and flexibility are strategic parameters of increasing importance in the production process of steel. Tenova, in cooperation with its partner ABB, has made available to the market the Consteerrer®, an innovative ArcSave®-based electromagnetic stirring technology jointly developed by ABB and Tenova for continuously charging EAF systems. The paper presents the main features of the technology that Hasçelik selected for its first electric furnace as the optimal solution to successfully meet the challenges of the Turkish market in which the plant will operate. Consteel® EAF combined with Consteerrer® helps producing high quality steel as well as significantly reducing the production cost, ensuring high flexibility in terms of both material charge and finished product. The solution chosen by Hasçelik will be the first continuously charged EAF in Turkey and will give the opportunity to leverage the inherent flexibility of the Consteel® EAF to tackle the declining scrap availability and quality as the continuous charge makes the process intrinsically robust to the variation of the scrap density, quality and content of volatile compounds. The combination with an optimized application of the Consteerrer® EMS reduces the thermal process losses, increases the melting speed, homogenizes the liquid steel and reduces the oxygen content of the bath.

Bernardo Sainz, AMI Automation, Mexico

Co-Author:
José Castillón, AMI Automation
Rommel Villarreal, AMI Automation
Jorge Haros, AMI Automation
Bernardo Sainz, AMI Automation

Abstract:
DC Electric Arc Furnaces have a higher complexity when compared to AC EAFs. The power rectifier and other electronic equipment require more maintenance and specialized skills from your personnel. The new DigiFCR X4 control platform is used to fully retrofit the Power Converter of a DC EAF, solving the obsolescence problems while eliminating downtime and high maintenance costs caused by outdated equipment. Incorporating smart products on Firing Circuit Replacements also expands the capability to monitor key performance indicators towards Industry 4.0. DigiFCR X4 native technology works with DigitARC® PX3 electrode regulator to stabilize the arc and work more efficiently. Furthermore, it integrates intelligence tools to get the most of your existing hardware by using real-time data to analyze, learn and predict the power converter performance, properly aligning your technology on the road to digitalization.

Jaroslav Brhel, HTT Engineering spol. s r.o., Czech Republic

Co-Author:
Pierre Guillaume, ArcelorMittal Industeel Belgium

Abstract:
Arcelor Mittal Industeel plant in Charleroi produce special high quality steels including stainless steel grades. Chemical energy package including burners and carbon injection lances on its 200t EAF has been revamped in 2022 resulting in improvement of energy efficiency and yield for all produced steel grades. The paper will discuss project execution, new equipment layout and performance as well as operating experience comparing results before and after revamping both for carbon and stainless steels.