Development of a Submerged Combustion Steelmaking System. Annual Report, January-December 1989

摘要

The research from January to December 1989 focused on field experimentation. One set of experiments was conducted in a Universal Refining Vessel. The final test there showed that a swirling tuyere design did not control the natural gas leakage through the vessel refractory encountered during the previous tests in 1988. A second set of experiments in 1989 was conducted in a 2-ton basic oxygen furnace. A new 3-passage tuyere with a specially designed mounting arrangement effectively solved the leakage problem through the refractories. Concerns over the high rate of refractory erosion and other equipment problems resulted in early termination of the first test. Following replacement of the refractory with a more erosion-resistant lining, the initial experiment was repeated with considerably more success. During the next experiment, control of molten metal slopping became the primary challenge. Analysis of data collected during the second experiment appeared to indicate that submerged combustion was adding a significant amount of energy to the molten metal bath. But, further testing is required to remove the large uncertainties introduced by the rather limited experience together with the large number of assumptions required to make the analysis. Further testing is needed to obtain more definitive data and to develop an operating scheme to control molten metal slopping.