Good Practices for Avoiding Fires in Steel Mill Oxygen Systems

Abstract

Over time, oxygen has been used with increasing frequency in the steel industry. Applications include basic oxygen furnaces, electric arc furnaces, scrap melting, lancing operations, and slab-cutting operations. Because of the inherently “dirty” environment of most steel mills, avoiding contaminants in the oxygen systems can be challenging and numerous fires have occurred due to contaminant-promoted ignition sources. This paper presents many good practices that can be practically implemented to reduce the risk of oxygen fires in typical steel mill oxygen system installations.