Converter life enhancement through optimisation of operating practices

Abstract

Converter lining life is an important technical and economic concern of the steelmaking process. An increase in lining life decreases refractory consumption and reduces steelmaking costs. Increased availability of furnaces increases production rates and steel yield. Extended lining life was achieved by utilising the slag as a consumable refractory by splashing it over the lining. Slag splashing is a simple and effective technique followed worldwide to increase the converter life. This paper highlights the online study on various operating parameters and slag characteristics for consistent slag splashing in a 130 t converter. Parameters such as lance height, blow pattern, gas flowrate, bottom purging flowrates, tapping temperature, combination of gunniting with splashing, slag height and slag chemistry, were investigated. An optimised slag has been developed which served effectively to balance the lining erosion during blowing and maintain a uniform thickness throughout the campaign. Some innovative practices and design changes are also discussed. The developed slag regime and optimised parameters have helped in increasing the converter life to an international benchmark. JSW Steel has achieved the converter lining life of 13 771 heats, which is the highest ever recorded in India.

Stiffness of ramming mixes and refractory mortar joints – effects of temperature and installation practice

“…The ramming featuring magnesia grains (MR) has a wide application in steelmaking vessels, e.g. in the converters in the joints between the walls and the bottom [4]. The ramming with anthracite grains (AR) is used in the hearths of blast furnaces, e.g.…”

“…Their microstructure features grains that are bonded by a binder. Both materials may be located at different parts of the lining and therefore be exposed to temperatures varying between the relatively low shell temperatures and those of the liquid bath [3,4]. Under the conditions of the constrained thermal expansion, the behaviour of the ramming mix and the mortar filling the joints is critical for the performance of the lining [5,6].…”

Possibilities of an artificial neural network use to control oxygen consumption in a converter shop

“…With the current level of advanced information technology [2], using artificial neural networks (ANN) is the most effective method available now for analyzing and predicting parameters of different processes (including converter process) [3][4][5][6].…”

Influence of Magnesium Oxide Content on Kinetics of Lime Dissolution in Steelmaking Slags

“…Elizaveta CHEREMISINA, 1) * Johannes SCHENK, 1) Ludwig NOCKE, 2) Alexander PAUL 3) and Gerald WIMMER 4) 1) Department of Metallurgy, Montanuniversität Leoben, 8700 Austria.…”