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By Jorge Madias

Los hornos eléctricos de arco han sido motivo de una aplicación dinámica de nuevas tecnologías en lo que va de este siglo. La preparación de la chatarra y el uso de materiales de carga alternativos han dado lugar a la concepción de nuevos equipamientos y experiencias en todo el mundo. Surgen nuevos conceptos para el precalentamiento de la chatarra, superando las limitaciones de mantenimiento y ambientales de los conceptos iniciales y mejorando su performance energética. El aporte de energía química para la fusión supera sus límites año a año, requiriendo el desarrollo de equipamiento capaz de una acción rápida y precisa con grandes caudales de gases y sólidos inyectados. Existen nuevas herramientas para eliminar los riesgos de seguridad en la plataforma del horno, haciendo uso de sistemas de enfriamiento más seguros y duraderos, robots, automación de la operación del agujero de colado, y puertas de escoria controladas desde el púlpito.

Aug 17, 2017

By Shibu John

Rising energy demand and steadily decreasing quality of raw materials due to the global resource depletion are great challenges to the steel production today. The FINEX® Process has been developed jointly by POSCO, Korea and PRIMETALS Technologies Austria, to provide the iron making sector with the capability to lower hot metal production costs, environmental pollutions and to increase the flexibility in terms of operation and the choice of raw materials. FINEX® is a new technology combining a gas-based reduction in a series of fluidized bed reactors and a reduction smelting in a melter gasifier. Commenced in April 2007, the first 1.5Mtpa commercial plant has demonstrated the competiveness as an alternative iron making route. Another 2.0 Mtpa, third generation FINEX® (3G) plant was recently installed at POSCO, Pohang Works and has been operating satisfactorily since its blow-in in January 2014. Based on the well-proven plant concept, new process features, the highly competitive production costs and environmental advantages, the FINEX® Process can be considered as a competitive alternative to the conventional blast furnace iron making route.

Aug 17, 2017

By Guilherme Corrêa Soares

The effects of temperature and strain rate on the mechanical behavior of a superelastic NiTi wire were investigated by uniaxial tensile testing. A universal testing machine with an attached heating chamber was used for the tensile tests. Temperature influence was studied through straining of samples until rupture at a fixed strain rate and temperatures of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 °C. Strain rate effects were investigated by straining samples until rupture at room temperature and strain rates of 10-2, 5 x10-3 , 10-3, 5 x 10-4 and 10-4 s-1. The effects of temperature and strain rate on NiTi mechanical behavior were discussed in terms of critical stress to induce martensite and austenite yield strength, when applicable; upper plateau stress, transformation plateau length and ultimate plateau stress. It was found that increasing test temperature and strain rate shifted the stress-strain curve upwards, albeit temperature displayed a greater influence. Plateau length increased with temperature, but no significant changes were detected as a result of different strain rates.

Aug 17, 2017

By Saul Garcia Hernandez

The research work objective is to study a new ladle shroud internal design to reduce the slag emulsification in the tundish during ladle transient periods. A 3D mathematical model of the tundish was created to solve the fundamental equations, a turbulence model, and a multiphase model. The results show that using a conventional ladle shroud, the fluid is delivered with an excessive amount of kinetic energy being dissipated inside the tundish bath, generating strong mixing flow patterns and entrapping a massive amount of slag. In the other hand, the proposed ladle shroud dissipates the kinetic energy before the fluid enters the tundish promoting less intense mixing patterns; thus, the amount of slag emulsification is reduced significantly. Consequently, if the internal design of the ladle shroud is able to dissipate the kinetic energy before the fluid enters the tundish, it shall be possible to reduce considerable the slag emulsification and the slag opening area.

Aug 17, 2017

By Kermit Reins

The most recent modernization phase of the wire rod mill at Sterling Steel involved installation of a pre-finishing mill, using a Morgan Vee Mini-Block, a new water box and shear with utility systems and automation. The new mill configuration adds more stands to the mill for better drafting and is designed to improve finished product quality by providing a more uniform entry temperature, better control of the feed section into the No-Twist® mill as well as enhanced surface quality. The new shear improves cut length accuracy as well as decreases the amount of trimming to reduce yield loss. This paper explains the changes made in the mill and the features of the new equipment and automation.

Aug 17, 2017

By Douglas Glenn Stalheim

Hot strip structural steel coil used in construction, engineering, transport, structural applications and other applications are widely used in yield strengths from 300 – 700 MPa. However, structural design engineers are now not only requiring various strength levels but also other mechanical properties, primarily good formability, toughness and weldability. To produce a balanced approach to a cost effective structural steel, hot strip coil requires an understanding of utilization of an optimized alloy composition designed for the layout/equipment capabilities of a given hot strip mill to produce the desired metallurgy for optimum mechanical property performance. The term “cost effective” does not just focus on alloy design, but also ease of overall processing from steelmaking, casting, rolling and cooling, stable mechanical properties with a statistically normal distribution, no downgrades/rejections and a product that the end user recognizes as being superior to others. The desired metallurgy is simply understanding what will be the optimum microstructure and cross sectional grain size/distribution needed to meet the mechanical property requirements. This paper is a follow up paper that previously described optimum base alloy designs along with steelmaking/casting processing considerations and will focus on proper reheating, rolling and cooling metallurgy/processing strategies to produce quality cost effective hot strip structural steel coil.

Aug 17, 2017

By Enif Gutiérrez Guerrero

Inclusion deposition is still a standing problem in the continuous casting of steel since the deposition of alumina inclusions inside the SEN affects the productivity and the product quality. The present work studies the factors involved in the inclusion deposition at the nozzle and the effects of inertial, gravitational, buoyant, pressure gradient, and Saffman forces on the inclusion trajectories. The results show that the inclusions reaching the nozzle, only 30% get deposited along its walls mainly at the Upper Tundish Nozzle (UTN). This area of higher deposition is identified close to a low static pressure and a high turbulent kinetic energy dissipation zones where the effects of the gravitational and buoyant forces do not promote a significant inclusion radial movement since these are aligned with the direction of the flow stream lines. In contrast, in this zone, the Saffman force shows an important effect on the deposited inclusions, slowing down the inclusions in the vertical axis and increasing their radial movement.

Aug 17, 2017

By Ronaldo Câmara Cozza

Iron aluminide alloy; Ball-cratering wear testing; Rolling abrasion; Wear volume; Coefficient of friction

Jul 31, 2018

By Marcelo Rebellato, Leonardo Silvestre, Zhang Yongqing, Felipe Bastos, Zhang Weiqiang

This work reviews the new version of GB1499.2-2018 Chinese national standard and specification, which governs the production of high-strength reinforcing hot rolled ribbed bars in China. In addition, it discusses the main concerns from Chinese rebar makers that might affect production and application of Nb-bearing rebars, like reheating temperature required to dissolve given niobium additions, the promotion of bainite microstructure and continuous yielding, as well as Nb strengthening effects. Through extensive investigation involving both thermomechanical laboratory simulations and industrial trial, the existing state and effects of Niobium along the reheating, rolling and cooling are illustrated. At the end, optimum processing conditions have been established to produce high strength rebars for the specified requirements. The adoption of new process conditions reflected in an amount of about 20.0 million tons of Nb-bearing rebar being produced in China in 2018 with required tensile properties and microstructure, and helped rebar makers to reduce production costs considerably. Based on production data, Niobium demonstrated positive strengthening effect for high strength rebars, in particular for small diameter rebars with earthquake resistant performance. What is more, the results of the research enrich the knowledge of the application of Niobium in steels when TMCP rolling is not used.

Oct 1, 2019

By Qingwen Dai

The Marangoni effect is an important phenomenon where a surface tension gradient drives liquid towards high surface tension regions. Temperature gradient, evaporation, disparity of viscosity, and surface roughness and topography are all significant factors that can affect this thermo-capillary migration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of micro-groove patterns on the migration of paraffin oil, and obtain a well-designed texture of micro-grooves to prevent the thermo-capillary migration. Patterns of micro-grooves with differing orientations and geometric parameters were fabricated on the surface of SUS 316 stainless steel substrates. Experiments on the migration behavior with different viscosities of paraffin oils were carried out various temperature gradients. The experimental phenomena indicated that the surface with the micro-grooves perpendicular or parallel to the temperature gradient have a strong impact on the migration performance of paraffin oil. Micro-grooves perpendicular to the temperature gradient exhibited extraordinary slower migration velocity than that of the parallel one. Width and depth of micro-grooves had an obvious influence on the behavior of temperature-driven migration and detail discussions on the effects of these geometric parameters were carried out.

Jul 31, 2018

By Dusan Ilic

Conveyor system wear of belts and transfers attribute to a significant proportion of the maintenance costs and lost productive hours when handling hard abrasive ores at high unit rates typical of the iron ore industry. The recent growth phase has seen a rapid increase in mine and export capacity, with many new and upgraded plants operating at high throughput and utilisation. Subsequently, the industry has progressed to an optimisation phase, seeking to maximise production capacity and reduce maintenance costs with minimal capital spend. To support this, a programme of modifying designs was executed to improve conveyor transfer chute and belt life, which identified a need to challenge the industry practice for specification of designs to improve the functionality of the installed equipment. While acknowledging the importance of selecting the highest wear resistant materials for the intended application, this paper investigates design criteria related to decreasing conveyor transfer and belt wear. Of focus is a shift in the manner in which designs are specified, from specifications primarily governing geometrical constraints, to those meeting technical and functional requirements aimed at producing optimum geometry for a given set of material handling parameters. An assessment of transfer design criteria is presented.

Aug 17, 2017

By Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional - CSN

Balanço Energético Global 2013

Jul 31, 2018

By Alberto Lainati

The Bar Reducing and Sizing Technology has a core function in the value-chain for the production of rolled SBQ (Special Bar Quality) products. The EVO 2+4-roll is based on the compact combination of a 2-roll high-reduction module followed by a 4- roll low-reduction module for precise sizing. The EVO 2+4-roll mill, allows to gain significant technical and economical advantages in the hot- and post-rolling process routes: dimensional and surface accuracy, quick adaptability to processing variances and to small lots requirements, superior technological features of as-rolled product, competitive capex and opex. The EVO 2+4 unit has a very compact design, which makes it suitable both for new mills and upgrade applications.

Aug 17, 2017

By Andrea Taurino

Innovation means implementing a new product or a product that has undergone significant improvement over time, in terms of method, form and performance. Innovation encompasses all the scientific, technological, organizational, financial and commercial steps that need to be taken to put it into operation. Innovation combined with research and development makes it possible to perfect the product with consistency over time. Taking inspiration from the bases developed by the Austrian economist Joseph A. Schumpeter back in 1911, Danieli came up with the concept of “Innovaction” – a combination of Innovation and Action, to refer to the development and advancement of various products for the steelmaking industry, including the loop laying head for wire rod.

Aug 17, 2017

By Luke A. Balzan

Access to information is a key component for making improvements to any process. This is particularly true for all aspects of the iron mining and steelmaking process. The ability to make rapid control decisions can significantly influence process outcomes, including ensuring product specification, mining quality, transportation limits, upgrade factors, waste bypass and direct shipping, among many others. While traditional laboratory methods provide feedback for such processes, having access to analysis results in real-time can lead to positive reactive and predictive control decisions to be made rapidly, leading to significant improvements throughout the process. Scantech has been designing, manufacturing and supplying technological products to the minerals industry since 2002 to enable the availability of such realtime information to a mine or plant, with the benefits being enjoyed by a wide range of operators. This paper provides a summary of the available technologies used in the iron ore and steel industries, as well as providing a case study of their use at an Australian site, and a description of the potential benefits of a range of analysis equipment.

Aug 17, 2017

By Jorge Madias

Se analizan las distintas alternativas para la producción de barras de refuerzo de hormigón: endurecimiento por solución sólida (“dureza natural”); endurecimiento por temple y autorevenido en línea (Tempcore, Thermex, etc.) y endurecimiento por precipitación (microaleación con niobio, vanadio o titanio) y su influencia sobre la performance de las barras, en lo que hace a la resistencia a la corrosión, al fuego y a los sismos.

Aug 17, 2017

By Gergö Rimaszéki

Due the fast growing of pig iron and steel in the last years associate with some mineral resources changes (Hematite?Itabirite), has been checking the sinter feed degradation. The typical sinter feed (0.15;-6.3 mm) has become limited and the rapid growing production resulted in more and more fine ore (< 150 µm) availability in the market. The sinter plant operators are facing several new challenges since the mixing and granulation- and the sintering behavior of the fines containing mixtures often differs from the traditional sinter feed´s behavior. The utilization of fines in the sinter plants might increase the process water consumption required for the mixing and granulation process or even the solid fuel consumption, which effects the operational cost of the plant significantly. The current study presents an overview about Outotec´s laboratory facilities and competence regarding the mixing and granulation of fines in different equipments. The usage of high intensity mixers (HIM) – vertical and horizontal as well – showed to be the most effective, based in cold agglomeration tests in small scale, in case of fine ore handling. Permeability and particle size distribution curves are used to evaluate and demonstrate the efficiency of the different equipments. Outotec´s ”Know-How” with the different type of mixer and the modern laboratory facilities provide an excellent opportunities to optimize the mixing and granulation procedure and utilize up to 100 % pellet feed

Aug 17, 2017

By Eddy Dierckx

Modernization of flat rolling plants is essential to sustainably fulfill increasing market demands and to improve competitiveness. Intelligent modernizations ensure getting maximum prime yield of existing mills, even if they have gone through half a century of operation. Existing mills were designed based on former production, consumption and quality targets. Ever increasing requirements such as increase of productivity, change of product mix (e.g. new steel grades), reduction of energy consumption and improvement of product quality lead to the necessity to adapt the existing equipment to the new target. SMS group provides, besides the reliable equipment and automation solutions to successful upgrades of existing mills, also a systematic approach to develop technical and economical solutions together with our customers (conceptual engineering). This paper describes the SMS group approach to modernizations / upgrades, introduces powerful performance modules and provides a number of successful examples that have been implemented recently.

Aug 17, 2017

By Andreas Rohrhofer

Reliable high end automation and process optimization systems are main factors for excellent product quality, safe operation and maximized plant performance in the steel industry and its designated environmental plants. Primetals Technologies introduces new automation packages for consequent safe and cost efficient production. Many areas within the steelplant interested to be monitored and measured automatically are not implemented in the automation system due to limited access or technical reasons. A wireless, self-organizing network facilitates wide ranging data transmission in previously inaccessible areas and opens up a wide range of new opportunities. With Fluid Guard a system to detect leakages with highest accuracy and reacts properly for all kind of water cooled circuits is available, improving the safety in steelmaking process. Lance Guard can be utilized for all fully automatic and semi-automatic lance appliances, but is especially suitable for the products of Primetals Sublance Standard/2.0 and LiquiRob applications, since these systems make seamless integration particularly simple. Manual lance appliances may also be tested and diagnosed. Environmental plants have become a main part in steelmaking plants. Highest performance in combination with optimized energy consumption is the main target in Primetals Technologies’ innovations in automation optimization packages for dedusting systems. A new approach for preventive maintenance and operator assistance is introduced with the Acoustic Expert System. In combination with the new Ask cloud based system, Primetals enables a 24/7 monitoring and a whole lifetime observation of any equipment within a steelplant. Furthermore it is now enabled to check the condition of the plant at a fingertip at any time.

Aug 17, 2017

By Kyle T. Chomyn

Multi-disciplinary engineering analysis and advanced modeling techniques were used to identify and develop low cost design modifications to improve a blast furnace hot blast air distribution main that experienced frequent refractory failures. Piping flexibility analysis helped identify the root causes of refractory damage and determine the need for new expansion joints. Finite element analysis was used to optimize a custom-designed elbow-to-elbow tie-rod system, which ensures thermal expansion loads are not placed on connecting piping. Heat transfer coefficients through the elbows were estimated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow modeling. The cast refractory design was changed to a more reliable brick refractory design. Excessive draft was occurring during furnace back-drafting, so the system was assessed using CFD, and a passive flow-reduction spool was designed. This firstprinciples engineering design approach allowed for optimization and verification, ensuring that the new design addressed the root cause of the previous deficiencies.

Aug 17, 2017