The iron and steel industry is one of the largest industrial CO2 emitters and a transition to greener and more sustainable production routes is inevitable. The green transition will bring a number of new processes to our industry requiring optimization to ensure that the best production process is used for the targeted steel and product quality. Oxygen steelmaking will play a crucial role in...
voestalpine as the quality steel producer in Europe has developed a stepwise transition to a CO2-reduced steel production. Already now voestalpine is able to produce steel with lower CO2 emissions. In 2027 two EAF’s will start operation. With it’s stepwise transition and hybrid-steel production, voestalpine will keep the quality on the same level as now.
coming soon....
In the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) process, excessive foaming beyond the converter capacity is called “slopping”. Slopping reduces iron yield and equipment lifespan. Therefore, it is important to control slag foaming properly. In previous studies, the jet from top lance in BOF process effectively suppressed slag foaming. However, the mechanism that the jet from top lance suppresses slag foaming...
The major challenges facing steel production today are reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Part of the solution is an improved refractory lining concept. A mostly overlooked element for better energy efficiency is the permanent lining of the steel ladle. In this study, the influence of the composition of monolithic permanent linings on thermal conductivity is...
HIYIELD project addresses the need for sustainable and competitive steel production, essential to achieving a climate-neutral, circular, and digitized industrial framework. While steelmaking enables green technologies for providing relevant material for climate neutrality, the industry however contributes to 7% of global CO₂ emissions [1]. HIYIELD targets this challenge by promoting circular...
Achieving the highest productivity and cost-optimized production is essential for the long-term competitiveness and profitability of integrated BOF steelmaking. To meet these demands, steel plants, particularly in the Americas and Europe, are increasingly focusing on revamps, upgrades, and modernization to ensure maximum productivity, stable output quality, availability, minimized maintenance...
Even in our future, green industry, many steel producers will continue to rely on the BOF process for the liquid side of their production route. The steel plant of the future is a hybrid plant and with its small carbon footprint, large scale and capability for producing the most challenging steel qualities, the BOF converter shop will remain a major capacity hub in many future plant...
Molten steel temperature control is an important aspect of the steelmaking process, which influences product quality, energy efficiency, and the performance of continuous casting (CC). To include a safety margin, operators often set the endpoint temperature of steelmaking routes such as Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) or Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) higher than necessary. This ensures the appropriate...
Nitrogen is a critical element with regards to steel quality. Depending on the application, the maximum allowable N-concentration varies between 20 to 120 ppm. Over the years, the BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) route of steelmaking is known to be superior in N control, largely due to the stripping effect of CO gas bubbles generated during decarburisation reactions. However, in the future low-CO2...
In recent years, electrode costs have been increasing along with the rising unit price of needle coke. Furthermore, from the perspective of carbon neutrality, efforts to reduce electrode unit consumption have been becoming more active.
In order to suppress the side loss due to oxidation and the tip loss due to sublimation in Ladle Furnace (: LF) electrodes, we improved the LF operation...
The electric steelmaking route since its birth appeared to be a paradigmatic representation of the raising concept of circular economy, as it recycles steel components at the end-of-life products. Moreover, its importance is foreseen to increase according to the increasing demand of decarbonizing steel production to meet the ambitious goals of the European Green Deal.
However, being the...
To know the temperature and deformation of the vessel shell of steelmaking converters, is already years a wish for the maintenance team of steelmaking plants in order to predict remaining lifetime of top cone, detect damages in refractory, compare operation conditions, etc. However, the most interesting areas for this information are barrel section and top cone. But these areas are not visible...
Through summarizing and analysis of problemes and contradiction in the steelmaking process, reasonable highly efficiency and long life combined blowing mechanism and choice was proposed. Laboratory experiments and research of slagging and element oxidation mechanism were carried out with the aim of adapting the highly efficiency refining control technique, in which the salgging characteristics...
Catching up productivity gaps in BOF meltshops
The paper is covering the important topic how to identify and eliminate productivity and performance gaps in meltshops.
Comprehensive methodologies are applied taking benchmarking practises including data driven appoaches of operation and metallurgical results into consideration. Furthermore, assessments of installed equipment and applied...
For the purpose of obtaining further information on decarbulization blowing with oxygen jet in BOF, a course of study on cavity formation with water model was carried out using CO2 gas as a dissolving gas. Ar gas, CO2 gas, or a mixture of them was blown from a lance onto aqueous bath of various composition. The cavity formed under CO2 blowing was larger compared to that under Ar blowing of the...
In thermal power plants, heat recovery boilers, smelting plants, coking plants and metallurgical plants, efficient boiler cleaning is required to achieve long operating times with high efficiency levels despite the comparatively difficult fuels. Regular cleaning of the boiler surfaces prevents excessive deposits of flue dust from impairing heat transfer.
Various traditional technologies are...
In steelmaking, the phosphorus content of the hot metal is an important input parameter which can have a direct impact on the quality of the produced steel. Due to the diminishing quality of iron ore deposits, it can be assumed that the input of phosphorus into the blast furnace will increase in the future. For this reason, there is a need to develop effective phosphorus slagging strategies...
An optimal exploitation of energetic streams is of utmost importance for the sustainability of steel production not only in their current configuration but also in the perspective of the transition to new C-lean steel production routes. Process off-gases are among these energetic streams that are normally used for electrical and thermal energy production. The possibility of maximizing their...
Argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD) is the most common refining process in stainless steelmaking. The converter’s tuyere region has complex multiphase phenomena and extremely harsh environment, which makes direct experimental process measurements very difficult. However, valuable information can be obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This minireview targets to critically examine...
In this presentation we will show that even for already ‘optimized’ systems, significant opportunities exist to reduce emissions from integrated sites and associated energy costs.This is achieved by combining proven real-time optimization technology with artificial intelligence, based on deep process knowledge and data driven elements. 3-5% savings are achievable without significant capital...
Methane pyrolysis offers a cost-effective and CO2-free method for producing hydrogen, which is critical for transforming the steel industry towards climate neutrality.The newly inaugurated research center for hydrogen and carbon at Montanuniversität Leoben enables advanced exploration of methane pyrolysis using both metal bath reactors and thermal plasma technologies. INTECO, a renowned...
The transformation toward sustainable green production is focusing on hydrogen technologies and recycling of scrap.
The constraints of resources availability are known (green H2/electricity, high grade DRI, scrap volume and quality).
Therefore, the BOF process solution will remain for the next 25 years the prominent technology:
• Economic aspects on increasing P levels will...
European steel companies are endeavoring to switch to direct reduction plants and will do so in the coming years, although primary steel production in Europe is currently still conducted exclusively in integrated steelworks. The ferriferous feed material is mainly produced in sinter plants for the blast furnace, with waste gas recirculation representing the current state of the art. For...
Fluorspar (CaF2) is an industrial mineral which has been categorized as a critical raw material by the European Union. Fluorspar is commonly added in steelmaking processes (e.g. EAF, AOD, ladle..etc.) to lower the melting point of slags to promote the development of a liquid, fluid slag. This promotes more thorough reaction between the liquid slag and the steel, which enables lower impurity...
Electric steelmaking route is considered pivotal for the transition towards C-lean processes: it is expected that the share towards scrap-based electric route will increase in future and that the Electric Arc Furnace will be at the basis of novel routes exploiting direct reduction processes. Scrap-based steelmaking is already well integrated in a circular economy concept, as it exploits a...
The transition to green steel production presents significant challenges, particularly in the context of low nitrogen, low sulfur and ultra-low carbon (ULC) steelmaking. This paper explores the role of RH degassers in addressing these challenges, with a focus on reducing nitrogen and sulfur levels. The use of raw materials already present in the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and alternative...
Tata Steel is committed to reduce CO2 emissions in their steelmaking facilities. Tallman Technologies have developed a blowing technology to increase the Post Combustion Ratio (PCR) and the Heat Transfer Efficiency (HTE) in the BOF resulting in the ability to increase the scrap to hot metal ratio. Other than the reduction in CO2 due to the reduction in hot metal, other potential benefits...
The Paris Climate Agreement and the European Green Deal are two of various agreements and climate plans that all aim to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. With around 7% of total emissions from the energy sector, the steel industry plays a decisive role in the realisation of global climate targets. Reducing CO2 emissions is possible through innovation and the development of new...
During the past few years remarkable changes have occurred in the field of steelmaking, especially in ladle metallurgy. As a result, steelmakers are able to meet customers’ demands for higher quality with new process steps, mainly based on the electric arc furnace process. Nitrogen control, including different nitrogen removal techniques during degassing, is explained in detail in the article,...
Situation:
Today, established mini mill concepts applying scrap based EAF technologies are not viable, in serving the market for advanced high end grades like automotive sheets for exposed surface applications, tin plate or electrical grades. In BOF shops, with scrap rates of around 25%, scrap quality control is also if highest importance, especially when economics of steelmaking is improved...
The iron and steel industry is accountable for 7.2% of the total GHG emissions with a dominant BF-BOF route still covering today 70% of the total pig iron world production. Therefore, any quick solution to reduce the carbon footprint of this steelmaking route avoiding high investment costs is welcome.
The increase of the scrap ratio fed into the BOF vessel is one of such solution because the...
Reducing carbon emissions in the steel production process poses a significant challenge to the steel industry. Increasing the scrap ratio in converters and adopting the electric arc furnace (EAF) short-route steelmaking are recognized as viable solutions and emerging trends to address this issue. However, effective control of nitrogen content in molten steel resulting from these practices...
The green transition of the iron and steel industry is well underway, with new production routes—such as the use of Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF)—being implemented in numerous plants. This transition is also bringing new requirements for the existing oxygen steelmaking route – this route needs to focus in future even more on high quality steel and a further push to increase the scrap rate will...
The steel industry is at a critical turning point, driven by the urgent need to lower CO₂ emissions. The transformation includes the development and implementation of novel processes as well as a higher recycling rate to produce iron and steel efficiently and sustainably. However, the high demand for steel quality cannot be disregarded. One major point within this topic is steel cleanness,...
European steel companies are endeavouring to switch to the use of directly reduced ores for steel production. Therefore, in future the transport of iron pellets directly reduced with hydrogen by rail to various melting works will play an increasingly important role. Along with this change, the quality parameter of the metallization of the material is essential for further processing. In the...
ArcelorMittal Dunkerque is experimenting a new BOF oxygen lance equipped with secondary holes located above the lance tip and fed by a dedicated oxygen circuit. The aim is to promote post-combustion, developing additional energy inside the BOF, transferring it to the bath, fostering scrap melting and thus decreasing Hot Metal Ratio and thus global CO2 emissions.
A first step of this study was...
To investigate the impact of combined blowing parameters on mixing behavior and dephosphorization efficiency in a dephosphorization converter, laboratory water model experiments were conducted on a 300t duplex dephosphorization converter based on similarity principles. The study examined 21 different configurations of bottom-blowing elements (varying in quantity and arrangement patterns),...
Amid growing economic and ecological challenges within the ironmaking industry, there is a clear need to transition towards cleaner production methods. One approach is the partial replacement of costly coking coal—a critical raw material in coke production—with non-recyclable waste plastics recovered from solid waste sources—materials that would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated. In this...
An urgent challenge for the iron and steel industry is to reduce its CO2 emissions, which can be achieved through enhancing the energy efficiency and by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. Slag foaming is an important operation in the electric arc furnace (EAF) process which enhances energy efficiency and promotes more effective refining of the liquid steel. Conventional slag foaming is...
Abstract
The proposed study aims to reduce the analysis time for on-site liquid steel characterization, facilitating quicker adjustments in scrap use to enhance steel production efficiency. Reducing the overall analysis time enables steelmakers to better control the primary steelmaking process.
The direct analysis (DA) approach focuses on developing an optimized sampler geometry...
Although EAF-based steelworks produce steel from recycled ferrous scrap and inherently implement the concept of circularity, they are challenged to reduce their overall environmental impact and take actions to reduce CO2 emissions and maximize energy and resource efficiency. Advanced digital technologies, including artificial intelligence-based techniques, can significantly contribute to...
The Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) significantly reduces carbon emissions in steel production by utilizing electricity instead of traditional fuels, especially when powered by renewable energy sources. This reduction is further enhanced through the adoption of green hydrogen technology, which replaces carbon-based reduction processes with hydrogen, resulting in an almost carbon emission-free...
The steel industry is undergoing a transformative phase driven by digital and green transitions, known as the Twin Transition. Automation solutions are a core of the Twin Transition, seamlessly integrating digital innovations to enhance efficiency and precision while enabling sustainable practices that reduce emissions, optimize resource use, and drive decarbonization in industrial operations....
The supply of green H2 as a reducing agent, as well as electricity from renewable energy sources, is essential for transforming the steel industry towards greener production, making the efficient use of H2 and electricity crucial. The impact of gangue on the H2-based direct reduction (DR) process of iron ore remains less well-understood, yet it is important for optimizing the efficiency of the...
Hydrogen-rich ironmaking technology offers rapid reaction rates and substantial emission reductions, with the optimal hydrogen enrichment ratio being crucial for the reduction rate and degree of hematite. This study employed a thermogravimetric analyzer to explore the reduction characteristics and kinetic parameters of hematite particles in a hydrogen-rich environment across 650-900 °C. The...
The number of deformed steel bars is checked visually by human at the end of each product in each bundle. For this reason, in the case of thin-diameter product bundles in which the number of products in one bundle is large, not only is the burden on workers high, but the time required for the work also leads to a decline in shipping efficiency.
This time, by utilizing this technology and...
Continuous casting is often hindered by the clogging of submerged entry nozzles (SEN), caused due to the agglomeration of non-metallic inclusions (NMIs). SEN clogging is challenging to monitor and requires probabilistic models for online predictions of ‘castability’. In this context, data-driven models emerged as a promising tool to be used in the existing industrial settings. Despite the...
A fully comprehensive process transformation from a conventional integrated steel mill with blast furnace and converter to a modern electric steel mill with the aim of drastically reducing CO2 emissions involves many dangers and requires a precise weighing of all possible solution variants, including their effects on both productivity and the steel grades to be produced.
This article...
The steel industry is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. As the world transitions to a low-carbon economy, the steel sector faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact.
In this presentation, we will explore how process digital twins, powered by advanced modelling and simulation tools, can be leveraged throughout the steel manufacturing lifecycle to...
In electric smelting furnaces, a carbon source functions as both a reducing agent and a carburizer. Carbon bio-sources, namely biochar, offer an alternative to fossil carbon sources but differ in properties and reactivity. Reactivity is a complex characteristic and requires considering properties such as volatile matters (VM), ash and mineral matters, fixed carbon (FC), specific surface area...
The mold level fluctuation plays an important role in controlling the quality of the slab. Abnormal fluctuations can easily increase the frequency of entrainment slag, directly affecting the proportion of defects in hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheets. In addition, it will affect the uniform growth of the shell of hypo-peritectic steel and raise the incidence of center segregation and...
In a converter process, foaming slag has advantages in that it facilitates intermediate deslagging and protects refractory materials in the furnace. On the other hand, in an electric arc furnace process, foaming slag improves the arc heat transfer efficiency by acting as an insulator. In both steelmaking processes, slag foaming is important. In the slag, there are suspended particles of iron...
The transformation towards climate neutrality is one of the most urgent topics for steel producers and research facilities. One of the pillars to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions is increased recycling of steel scrap in EAFs. Unfortunately, various tramp elements are not removable from melts and accumulate over recycling cycles which often leads to scrap exports and downcycling to...
Process optimization in industries, particularly steel, is a fundamental priority for enhancing productivity and reducing costs. In this study, an advanced system for the identification and localization of molten material transfer ladles has been designed and implemented using image processing and deep learning technologies. By integrating into various levels of process control (Level 2 and...
TŘINECKÉ ŽELEZÁRNY, a.s. is on the threshold of strategic changes related to sustainable business. The new phase of operations will dramatically change the current form of steel production. The steelworks has already launched a transformation project that will lead to an environmentally friendly steel production process. The aim is to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the air. A key...
In the pursuit of a sustainable refractory and steel industry, the circular economy offers the most resilient answer. RHI Magnesita and MIRECO close the loop by engaging producer, user and recycler of refractories. In addition to the CERO Waste Concept, this approach also involves a slag engineering solution and circular metallurgical additives. The CERO (Continuous Economic Recycling...
Hydrogen-based direct reduction combined with a two-step process employing a Smelter and a BOF is the most promising green steel production route using low-grade iron ores. As the BOF is still operated in this new route, todays and future crude steel quality requirements can be fully met. The hot metal from the Smelter is similar to the blast furnace one, with slightly lower carbon and silicon...
The metal industries face huge challenges in terms of sustainability, diminishing resources and the need for higher recycling rates. As an example, the alumina production creates red mud as the by-product of the Bayer-Process for the conversion of bauxite to alumina. Due to its environmental impact, it is stored in residue storage areas like dammed ponds or landfills. On the other hand, it is...
The ongoing transformation of steel production to Green Steel making is a demanding and collaborative effort involving various stakeholders, including steel producers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and technology providers to overcome technical and economic challenges. For example, the upscaling of Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) with tapping weights exceeding 250 tonnes and more complex...
In the steel mill, additionally to the room dedusting after the converter there is also coarse and fine dust generated. These dusts have different chemical compositions. There are significant differences, particularly in the zinc-, quicklime- and metallic iron-content. Therefore, some of the dust is passed on to external recyclers and some is recycled internally. Internal recycling means that...
With the ongoing efforts to reduce the CO2 emissions of the iron and steel industry the importance of the electric arc furnace (EAF) significantly increased. While in 2020 only 36% of the announced steelmaking capacity used an EAF based route in 2023 it was already 92%. With the shift towards an EAF based steel industry, the question remains, how the typical product mixes from the blast...
In the transition to green steelmaking, hybrid steel plants incorporating both EAF and BOF technologies face several critical logistical challenges. Different tap-to-tap times, variations in steel chemistries and temperatures, the positioning of new equipment, and integration with existing plant infrastructure significantly impact ladle logistics. Inefficient ladle flow and overutilized cranes...
Monolithic linings for steel ladles have emerged as a economically and ecologically sustainable alternative to traditional bricked based linings.
This lining method offer several advantages, including enhanced durability, reduced material waste, improved thermal insulation, and reduced maintenance costs as well as an essential impact on heat management and CO2 greenhouse emission in the...
The transition to carbon-free steel production presents significant challenges for steel manufacturers, particularly in adapting to new process timelines, routes, and transport logistics. The shift from the conventional integrated plant based on Blast Furnace (BF) operation and Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) process to electric steel production entails substantial changes in secondary metallurgy...
The Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) has become a cornerstone of modern steel production, accounting for over 43% of Europe's output. Despite its widespread adoptionseveral aspects of the furnace are operated and optimized empirically due to the extreme conditions within the furnace. Numerical modelling provides a valuable approach to bridge this gap by simulating arc behaviour and its interactions,...
Electric arc furnace steelmaking is an important way to bring carbon neutrality to the steel industry by 2050 because the blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace processes release the higher CO2 emissions than the EAF process. However, as the heat generated by the arc affects the upper part of the molten steel locally, the stirring energy of the EAF molten steel is insufficient to achieve the...
In the most of steelmaking plant, the steelmaking operation in converter still depend on the artificial experience mode, the artificial experience are different from each other, so that the accurate of [C] and [T] hit rate are not high at the endpoint, and the reboiling rate is generally more than 30%, which cause the steel liquid peroxided, the consumption increasing and taping to taping time...
As the world transitions towards a low-carbon economy to combat climate change, the steel industry is facing increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint. Steel production is one of the largest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions due to its reliance on coal and other fossil fuels for energy. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, significant...
