INDUSTRY NEWS
EMISSIONS REDUCTION
COMBUSTION CONTROL
FOUNDRY SAFETY
www.furnaces-international.com March 2018
FIC ads 2018_Layout 1 27/02/2018 12:22 Page 1
, Tomorrow s Technology Today
The formula for glass is as simple as the formula for success...
SiO2+ Na2O+ CaO+ FIC=
Electro-heat formula for glass l Innovative all-electric furnace design l Electric boost for extra tonnage l Versatile bubbler systems l All-electric forehearths l Mathematical modelling l Proven technical innovations
www.fic-uk.com +44 (0) 1736 366 962 , The World s Number One in Furnace Technology FIC (UK) Limited, Long Rock Industrial Estate, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8HX, United Kingdom
GLASS SERVICE
A Division of Glass Service
Contents
Editor: Nadine Bloxsome nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855115
INDUSTRY NEWS
EMISSIONS REDUCTION
COMBUSTION CONTROL
FOUNDRY SAFETY
Production Editor: Annie Baker www.furnaces-international.com March 2018
3 - News Aluminium furnace order 7 - Aludium Amorebieta orders multi chamber melting furnace from Hertwich Engineering
Sales/Advertisement
Combustion control 8 - Improved combustion control via advance CO laser sensor
production: Esme Horn esmehorn@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855136
Furnace rolls 12 - Improving furnace roll reliability
Sales Manager: Nathan Jupp nathanjupp@quartzltd.com
Emission reduction 16 - Optimelt set to reduce emissions at Libbey’s oxy-fuel fired furnace
+44 (0) 1737 8555027
Manuel Martin Quereda manuelm@quartzltd.com +44 (0) 1737 855023
Subscriptions:
Front cover: www.sms-group.com
Elizabeth Barford
Emissions reduction 20 - Reducing Nox emissions Aluminium forging 24 - Heat treatment systems for aluminium forging facilities
subscriptions@quartzltd.com
Managing Director: Steve Diprose Chief Executive Officer: Paul Michael
24
Furnaces 26 - Reducing installation time and the hurdles working against it Foundry safety 29 - Foundry’s Little Helper
Published by Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000. Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034. Email: furnaces@quartzltd.com www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International is
20
published quarterly and distributed worldwide digitally
29
© Quartz Business Media Ltd, 2018
Furnaces International March 2018
Untitled-2 1
22/03/2018 16:38:02
Comment and News
United States Steel to Restart Granite City Works Blast Furnace
United States Steel Corporation will restart one of two blast furnaces (“B” blast furnace) and the steelmaking facilities at its Granite City Works, an integrated steelmaking plant in Granite City, Ill. The additional capacity will support anticipated increased demand for
steel in the United States from the pending action announced by President Donald J. Trump on March 1, 2018, as a result of the U.S. Department of Commerce Section 232 national security investigation on steel imports. “Our Granite City Works facility and employees, as well as the surrounding community, have suffered too long from the unending waves of unfairly traded steel products that have flooded U.S. markets,” said U.S. Steel President and Chief Executive Officer David B. Burritt. “The Section 232 action announced by President Trump last week recognises the significant
threat steel imports pose to our national and economic security. The President’s strong leadership is needed to begin to level the playing field so companies like ours can compete, win and create jobs that support our employees and the communities in which we operate as well as strengthen our national and economic security. We will continue to support our customers with the high-quality products they have come to expect from U.S. Steel.” The company anticipates calling back approximately 500 employees beginning this month. The restart process could take up to four months.
Vitro Flat Glass receives funding for furnace project Vitro Flat Glass is working on a project to reduce industry cost and energy use by developing a neural network model for glass furnace operations. The goal is to enhance its reduced-order model for glass furnace operations with real-world production data. According to the project details of Vitro’s proposal, a machine learning approach will be used to identify the boundary in operating space between good and poor-quality products. Vitro is one of seven companies participating in the US Department of Energy’s (DOE)
Advanced Manufacturing Office’s (AMO) HPC4 Manufacturing programme. The DOE will provide $1.87 million in total funding for the initiative, which uses the DOE’s highperformance computing (HPC) resources and expertise to advance US manufacturing and clean energy technologies. Vitro Flat Glass will partner with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to ‘develop real-time glass furnace control using a neural net-based reduced order model of a CFD simulation of molten
glass flow in a follow-on project titled ‘Advanced Machine Learning for Glass Furnace Model Enhancement.’ The proposal states: “The enhanced model will enable fast and accurate control of furnace operations. “Similar models, if deployed across the glass industry, could improve operational efficiencies and reduce overall costs and energy usage by 3.5 trillion British thermal units per year. “These reductions will help maintain US global competitiveness in this industry.”
Comment
Welcome to the March 2018 issue of Furnaces International. It seems like there has been a lot of positive news recently, especially within the steel industry; with a number of furnaces being restarted and future investments being made. Hopefully this good news will continue across other industries, as the demand for metals and materials continues to increase... This issue includes a host of features, looking at everything from combustion control, to emissions reduction and installation optimisation. While we do rely on our sister magazines, Glass International, Aluminium International Today and Steel Times International for the majority of the content displayed in these issues, I am pleased to say there is now a more diverse look into the world of furnacce technology beginning to come through. I hope you enjoy the issue. Nadine Bloxsome Editor, Furnaces International nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com
3 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
News
NEWS IN BRIEF
Tata investment
Tata Steel will invest £75m to repair a blast furnace at Port Talbot steelworks, industry sources have claimed. The move would extend its life by seven years and ease concerns about Tata’s commitment to Europe’s steel sector, sources told Reuters news agency. Mechatherm signs Middle East contract Mechatherm International has created 20 jobs after securing a £25 million order from Bahrain, with support from the Department for International Trade (DIT). The new contract is to supply and maintain a series of furnaces with one of the largest aluminium producers in the Middle East. It also intends to open its first office in Dubai later in 2018 to bolster its presence in the Middle East. Iconic Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces at stake The iconic blast furnaces once used by the Bethlehem Steel Company are about to come under new ownership as part of a $1.3 billion deal that would turn the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem over to Wind Creek Hospitality of Alabama. FalorniTech secures Mexican and Iran contracts Italian furnace provider FalorniTech has concluded the engineering design process for Grupo Pavisa in Mexico and Azar Mehr Co of Iran.
Steel furnace reignited after two years His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, has formally restarted an idle furnace at a Liberty Steel plant in Rotherham, UK. The electric arc “N-furnace” was mothballed by Tata Steel during the steel crisis two and a half years ago. In May 2017, Liberty Steel bought the plant as part of a buyout of Tata Steel’s speciality steels division. Liberty House Group is investing £20m (US$28m) in the plant, which includes reopening the 800,000 t/y furnace. The 16 February restart marks a milestone in the revival of Britain’s steel industry, and is a culmination of five months of engineering work to repair and upgrade the equipment. Liberty’s investment will create 300
new jobs at Rotherham and its sister plant in Stocksbridge. The N-furnace turns scrap metal into specialised steels for use in vehicle gearboxes and aircraft landing gear. It is the larger of Rotherham’s two electric arc furnaces and with its reactivation, Rotherham’s capacity to melt scrap metal into liquid steel will be tripled to over 1.2m t/y. At the opening event, Prince Charles was briefed by founder and executive chairman of Liberty House Group, Sanjeev Gupta, on progress towards an industrial revival based on renewable energy and metal recycling. He met with Liberty apprentices and graduates who will form part of a new generation of steel workers, and also unveiled a plaque at the Aldwark General Office at
the plant, which has recently been refurbished as the new headquarters for Liberty Steel UK. Gupta said: “Switching this furnace back on today, after it had lain idle for more than two years, is a pivotal moment in the revival of UK steelmaking. The occasion makes a very powerful statement that steel does have a future in Britain and that is very good news for the whole of our manufacturing and engineering sector.” Prince Charles said: “It’s been a wonderful moment to fire up the furnace. It is so remarkable what Mr Gupta has achieved here in ensuring a future for this steel mill. I know just how many people depended on it and do depend on it.”
Japan’s Tosoh shuts naphtha cracker for maintenance Japanese chemical maker Tosoh Corp said it shut its 527,000 tonnes-per-year naphtha cracker in Yokkaichi, central Japan, on Friday for planned maintenance. The shutdown is set to last through April 19, a company spokesman said. The company said last year it would invest about 10 billion yen ($94 million) to upgrade the cracker by 2020, which will include
the installation of a new large-scale furnace to boost efficiency and cut costs to make the same amount of ethylene from smaller volumes of feedstock naphtha. The upgrade will be completed during the cracker’s next scheduled turnaround in spring 2020, the spokesman added. The cracker has 14 existing furnaces that process
naphtha. The new largescale furnace will replace two ageing small furnaces that will be held in reserve, while the remaining furnaces will be renovated to improve efficiency. Japanese naphtha cracker operators have been trying to adjust to a shrinking domestic demand market by closing some crackers and cutting costs. ($1 = 106.6400 yen)
4 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
News
Ardagh commissions Heye International technology in furnace project Ardagh’s plant in Neuenhagen, Germany plant has completed one of the company’s largest furnace repair projects. A 370 tonne furnace with its feeders has been rebuilt and hot end and cold end technology installed. The site now uses Industry 4.0 technology. As well as the furnace furnace repair the company now runs two Heye 12 Section 5 1/2’’ DG SpeedLines as well as Heye inspection equipment at the cold end. The two lines started production with 750ml Bordeaux bottles and 500ml wide neck jars. “This major furnace repair is an important step towards future and secures production success for the next two decades”, said Plant Manager, Hartmut Treichel.
The implemented closedloop technologies include latest Smart Plant features, such as the Heye Process Control, that monitors the pressing processes of all plunger mechanisms of the IS-Machine and enables the machine operator to recognise malfunctions at the earliest moment. Less critical defects are produced due to selfoptimising invert end position cushioning. This Ecomotion equipment automatically adapts to different containers, weights and pressure ratio. Reduced oil consumption is achieved by the implemented multi-zone central lubrication. This patented temperatureguided lubrication interval control considers temperature deviations at
the lubrication point and allows automatic adaption and optimisation of the lubrication demand. All the installations, merged into a smart closedloop strategy, ensure high yields for the plant. This is also thanks to the
good cooperation between the committed Ardagh people on site and the comprehensive installation service of the Heye team, that trained the production team to reliably operate the hot end and cold end equipment.
Furnace Solutions calls for papers The organising committee of the Furnace Solutions conference is calling for papers to be presented at this year’s event. The organiser has always looked for interesting and informative presenters to
help glassmakers to make incremental changes to improve the efficiency of glassmaking and the quality of glass. This year is no exception and the theme for this years’ Furnace Solutions is Furnace
Optimisation. To keep the conference fresh and relevant we are always keen to welcome new presenters. The committee is interested to receive offers to present on the 7th June at
Lucideon in Stoke-on-Trent, UK. A title and brief abstract of a paper should be forwarded to Christine Brown at christine@sgt.org
5 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Untitled-1 1
05/03/2018 14:12:02
Aluminium furnace order
Aludium Amorebieta orders multi chamber melting furnace from Hertwich Engineering The long-standing aluminium rolling mill in Amorebieta, Spain, which has been operating under the name Aludium since 2015, has ordered an Ecomelt-PS275 multi chamber melting furnace with preheating shaft for clean and contaminated scrap from Hertwich Engineering, an SMS group company. This investment sees the plant adapting to the growing amount of recycled material available. The new multi chamber melting furnace will go into operation in spring 2019. To be able to process the growing amount of return scrap effectively and economically in the casthouse, the melting capacity is increased by investing in a modern multi chamber melting furnace of the type Ecomelt-PS275. The throughput is 275 tons per day. Loose and packaged strip or foil scrap, coils, wire, etc. are melted – each contaminated by oils, lacquers, plastic residues, rubber or other coatings. Depending on the type and composition of the scrap, Hertwich offers different furnace types within the Ecomelt series. The PS type furnace ordered by Aludium Amorebieta is suitable for scrap with the highest contamination rates. It comes with a preheating shaft into which the scrap is fed from above through a material lock. The hot gases flow through the charged material in the shaft from the bottom upwards, and the pyrolysis gases produced thereby are combusted
in the main chamber. By using pyrolysis gases (but also due to the advanced furnace design) the gas consumption can be reduced to some 300 kWh/ton (depending on the scrap input). This reduces operating costs and the minimum emissions (CO2, CO, NOX, dioxins, VOC, no salt) contribute to an environmentally friendly furnace operation. External after-burning is not necessary as all emerging pyrolysis gases are combusted in the main chamber in a controlled manner. At the lower end of the shaft, the completely pre-heated and de-coated material is immersed in the melt bath moved by a liquid metal pump and is melted instantaneously with minimal melt loss. As a further special feature, the melting furnace has a separate feed for scalper chips, which are fed into the furnace immediately after machining of rolling slabs and are also melted using the
submersion melting process with the greatest possible yield. The rolling mill in Amorebieta started the production of rolled aluminium products in 1961. The plant has been continuously expanded and modernised, since 1985 initially as part of the INESPAL group and since 1998 under the direction of Alcoa. Since 2015, the plants in Amorebieta and Alicante, both Spain, as well as Castelsarrasin, France, along with the research site in Cindal, form the Aludium Group, a fully integrated network specialising in the cutting, rolling and refining of aluminium. The Amorebieta plant includes hot and cold rolling capacities as well as strip processing and a casthouse for rolling slabs. Contrary to the general market trend towards “Automotive” and “Aerospace”, the strategic focus here is on the sectors “Building and Construction”, “Distribution” and “Specialities”.
7 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Combustion control
Improved combustion control via Lieke de Cock, Marco van Kersbergen, Joost Laven and Sjon Brouwer discuss the achievement of improved combustion control in glass furnaces by the application of a CO and O2 laser sensor. Combustion control is of key importance to ensure stable and profitable operation of glass melting furnaces. Most furnaces are fired on >1% O2 excess to be safe and not find any CO in the regenerators. This results in higher NOx values and lower efficiencies, 1% higher oxygen excess ~1% more energy. Understoichiometric firing is not recommended, due to increased refractory corrosion, increased chance of clogged chambers (more evaporation) and higher SOx emissions. The thermic most efficient point can be found just above stoichiometric conditions (~0.5% oxygen excess). Close to stoichiometric conditions, the CO concentrations can vary significantly (+/- 500 ppm) while the oxygen level remains within the accuracy of the oxygen measurements. Small variations in air leakage, temperature or gas composition are not visible in the measured O2 levels, but can easily be detected by the measured
CO concentration. Therefore, control is only possible based on CO concentration measurements when operating at optimal near stoichiometric conditions.
Optimal combustion control There are a series of key factors to achieve optimal combustion control. Measurements of flue species in the flue gas should be taken as close to the combustion process as possible to avoid influences like air leakages (additional O2) and post combustion (decreasing CO). The reaction time of the measurements should be fast and sensitive, especially when operating near stoichiometric combustion. The measurements should also be representative for the real values in the furnace. Most glass producers currently choose to be on the safe side and control on higher O2 excess values to ensure low CO levels. That is why measuring CO is that important.
“Combustion control is changed from controlling O2 only to CO control. Target is to achieve a complete combustion with various settings for the individual burners to achieve an optimized setting for each zone in the furnace. – Sjon Brouwer, Batch and Furnace manager, Ardagh Moerdijk.� Some furnaces are still operating without any measurement of O2 or CO. Concentrations up to 8% of excess oxygen and 4% of CO are observed at these furnaces. Most furnaces are equipped with O2 sensors measuring only at one point (normally the top of the regenerator). In Figure 1 the O2 concentrations in the burner port are shown (range 0-2%). A point measurement does not give a representative value for the O2 values. In the top of the regenerator even larger differences can be seen due to the large flue gas circulations. The laser sensor gives you the average value for the whole width of the
Figure 1. Oxygen distribution in the burner port of an end-port fired furnace (range 0-2%).
8 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Combustion control
advanced CO laser sensor burner port which results in a value that is more representative for the real O2concentration. In this way you can go to lower O2 values in a safe way. Operating close to the stoichiometric point without a reliable and representative measurement of O22 is unwise. Adding a CO measurement makes it easier and safer to operate with lower oxygen consumption.
“There is no post-combustion anymore and we therefore prevent damage to the steam boiler of furnace 1 and the flue gas cooler of furnace 2. – Sjon Brouwer, Batch and Furnace manager, Ardagh Moerdijk.
Also, with aging furnaces, air leakage increases. This can be prevented with repairs, but the furnace will experience varying amounts of leakage air during its lifetime. When leakage air increases, and there is no burner control, the oxygen excess will also increase resulting in a decreased furnace efficiency (less performing regenerators due to additional cold air). If burner control is applied, the amount
of combustion air will vary to keep the oxygen excess constant. The primary combustion will therefore become more reducing which might lead to higher CO concentrations in the combustion chamber. Leakage air doesn’t mix well with the flue gases, and therefore CO can move into the regenerator while the measured O2 levels can still be good. The increased leakage air goes unnoticed and the thermic efficiency of the furnace will decrease while in the meanwhile refractory corrosion can take place. Both cases yield to less efficiency, and additional disadvantages like higher NOx levels and higher corrosion of refractory materials due to increased CO levels. When CO is measured, the combustion can be controlled on the CO signal with O2 as indicator for leakage air.
Sensor development CelSian started to develop and test the laser sensor many years ago. The proven technology is now being deployed globally on any type of furnace. This sensor is the first of its kind in the glass industry and has become an economically viable solution. The CelSian CO+ sensor is placed on
the side of the burner port or flue gas channel to be as close to the combustion process as possible. The CO+ sensor provides average, representative values for the CO and O2 concentration. It is reliable (no drift) and sustainable (non-invasive), because it is not subjected to the harsh flue gases. This leads to low maintenance and a long sensor lifetime. The typical sensor setup can be seen in Figure 2.
“Measurement works stable and is reliable. We now have a stable combustion process due to CO & O2 control. - Sjon Brouwer, Batch and Furnace manager, Ardagh Moerdijk.”
Sensor signals can easily be used as an input for the furnace control system. In this way the optimised combustion process can be controlled by varying the ratio between air/oxygen and fuel based on the CO levels. In this way the effect of a changing gas composition can also be controlled. Next to optimising the combustion process (resulting in improved energy efficiency), the CO+ sensor enables the glass plant to operate at the lowest possible
Flue gases Figure 2. Sketch and picture of the sensor setup.
Sensor
Retro reflector*
2 Lasers 2 Detectors
9 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Combustion control
1000
5000 4500
900 4000
3000 2500
700
2000 600
1500
CO in top regenerator [ppm]
3500
800 NOx [mg/smn3]
NOx concentration of the furnace. There is a furnace specific relationship between CO and NOx when operating conditions of the furnace are stable. Figure 3 shows such a relationship. By controlling the CO values in the flue gas, the NOx levels will be stabilised as well. Increasing CO to the highest allowed levels in the furnace will result in a decrease of the NOx levels to the lowest possible levels for this furnace. Reductions of 20% are observed in industry and this can be enough to avoid implementation of expensive secondary measures to decrease the NOx emissions or, if secondary NOx reduction is needed, to minimise the ammonia consumption of a de-NOx system. Also SOx can be optimised and controlled as this is affected by the CO levels just above the batch blanket.
1000
500
500 400
0 0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Set point CO control in burner port [ppm] NOx [mg/smn3]
Figure 3. Furnace specific relationship between CO and NOx.
“No CO values above set upper limits anymore, so no premature release of sulphates from batch blanket. – Sjon Brouwer, Batch and Furnace manager, Ardagh Moerdijk.”
It is expected that controlling the CO will also lead to a reduction of defects and has a stabilising effect on product quality due to a more stable combustion process.
glass on oxy-fuel furnaces. The results of these applications show that for their typical 280 tons/day oxyfuel container furnaces, NOx emissions drop by 20%, energy savings are 2% and the oxygen savings are 1100m3/day. Return on investments typically range from six months to two years.
Installations After a long industrial testing period, commercial sales of the CelSian CO+ sensor were started last year. One of the first customers was Ardagh Glass, who was already involved in the development of the sensor. Ardagh uses CO+ sensors in their production of soda-lime container
“Due to the direct savings of oxygen the application of the sensor is financially even more attractive, cryogenic oxygen is expensive.” – Sjon Brouwer, Batch and furnace manager, Ardagh Moerdijk.”
A leading global glass fibre producer has chosen to go exclusively with the CelSian CO+ sensor on any rebuild of its furnaces, while a furnace designer now delivers furnace designs including holes in the flue gas channel/burner port for application of the CelSian CO+ sensor. If you aim for the most efficient combustion and aim to have optimal knowledge and control of your process, you have to measure both CO & O2 and both in a representative way. Only measuring O2 has been the standard for years because there were no other (economically interesting) options. If we want to develop further then the laser sensor is the only solution.
About the authors: Lieke de Cock, Project leader, Marco van Kersbergen, Glass Technologist, Joost Laven, Furnace Support Team Leader all at CelSian Glass & Solar. Sjon Brouwer, Batch and furnace manager, Ardagh Moerdijk. Further information: CelSian Glass & Solar BV, Eindhoven, The Netherlands tel: +31 40 249 0100 email: lieke.decock@celsian.nl web: www.celsian.nl Ardagh Moerdijk, The Netherlands www.ardaghgroup.com 10 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Limited delegate spaces remaining – register for your pass now
8-9 MAY • HOTEL MICHELANGELO MILAN • ITALY
Applying Industry 4.0 to the aluminium industry Taking place on 8-9 May 2018 at the Hotel Michelangelo in Milan, Italy, this global aluminium technology conference will draw upon the unrivalled expertise of industry professionals, production technologists and academics to create an event designed specifically for those seeking a greater understanding of ‘smart manufacturing’.
Commercial packages to promote your brand, products and services
Subjects include: The Digital Revolution Plant Security and Safety Striking a Balance with Automation and Productivity The Innovation Hub: European Aluminium Panel Smarter Manufacturing for a Streamlined Supply Chain The Smelter of the Future Key Market Opportunities
There are very limited opportunities available and these will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Please note bespoke packages can also be created for you if you have something specific you want to achieve.
Register online to subscribe to the Future Aluminium Forum membership package which will include subscription to Aluminium International Today, the Aluminium International Today Directory, relevant news alerts and admission to the Future Aluminium Forum, 8-9 May, Hotel Michelangelo, Milan, Italy. Included in the delegate fee is the Networking Dinner which will take place on Tuesday 8 May. This intimate gathering provides a perfect opportunity to interact with all delegates, speakers and exhibitors attending the event.
If you are interested in promoting your services and products to an audience interested in increasing efficiencies within their aluminium manufacturing facilities, then this is a unique opportunity to position your brand alongside leading experts in this field.
Sponsorship opportunities include: Delegate Bags Badges & Lanyards Conference Programme Delegate Lunch Networking Dinner Coffee Breaks GET IN TOUCH TO FIND OUT MORE: Ken Clark International Sales Director +44 (0) 1737 855 117 kenclark@quartzltd.com John Lane Business Development Manager (Europe) +44 (0) 1737 855 014 johnlane@quartzltd.com
Standard Rate: £990 + VAT View the full conference programme and register for your pass here: www.FutureAluminiumForum.com Official Media Partner
Organised by:
www.FutureAluminiumForum.com FAF_1p_Ad_A4_sponsorship.indd 1
@alu_forum
14/03/2018 12:54
Furnace rolls
Improving furnace roll reliability Atlas Machine and Supply was approached by a major steel manufacturer and asked to develop methods to improve overall reliability of steel mill furnace rolls. To accomplish this, the company would need to develop methods to inspect new, used and failed furnace rolls to determine why they fail and how to avoid it. By Jeremy J Rydberg*
Figure 1. (Above)Phased Array UT Coupon and Scanner Figure 2. (Right) Failed HN Furnace Roll
Premature furnace roll failure cannot be reliably prevented with current manufacturing and inspection methods. Atlas Machine and Supply conducted a study of the furnace roll supply chain to evaluate current practices in order to increase reliability and reduce the risk of in-service failures. Furnace rolls, also known as hearth rolls, are used extensively in the steel making industry. They are a critical component for any continuous aluminising or galvanising line and responsible for safely handling the sheet through the heat-treating furnace. A plant’s ability to produce quality steel is directly related to the performance of these rolls. Poor roll designs, manufacturing flaws and the increased physical stress put on rolls by advanced high strength steels (AHSS) all contribute to the premature failure of furnace rolls and ultimately unplanned plant outages. It is reported that a single roll failure can cost a plant as much as $750,000 in lost production,
ruined product, and maintenance labour. Current methods of evaluating new and used rolls to predict and prevent failure in service are inadequate and rarely performed. In May 2015, Atlas Machine and Supply began working on more effective nondestructive examination (NDE) processes to discover what causes premature roll failure and develop solutions for these causes. Traditional NDE practices for furnace rolls frequently went unused by suppliers and end users, but included verifying roll material chemistry, a visual inspection, and fluorescent liquid dye penetrant (FLP) testing. Our initial focus was to begin utilising phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) in addition to traditional methods in order to see flaws below the surface of the roll. Traditionally PAUT does not perform well in materials with long grain structure materials like cast high temperature stainless steel, but recent developments in hardware and
PAUT technique for the nuclear industry had shown promise and it was believed we could apply these advancements to furnace rolls in the steel industry. In order to begin testing advanced PAUT methods a calibration block was constructed from a failed furnace roll provided by a major steel producer. Since all failure examples that had been seen up to this point were in the weld joint between the static cast end bell and the centrifugally cast body, the calibration block material was taken from this joint in the roll. Known defects where machined into the block per ASME guidelines and included two drilled holes, one in the body side weld fusion line and one at the end bell weld fusion line, and an ID notch. With the calibration block Atlas began working with a 3rd party NDE service provider and the PAUT equipment OEM to develop an effective procedure for detecting the known flaws in the block.
12 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Furnace rolls
Figure 3. Coupon from foundry without FEA design or Radiography
Figure 4. Coupon from foundry with FEA design or Radiography
Figure 5. Example of solidification cracking (Vertical)
Figure 6. Example of stop crack and HAZ cracking (Horizontal)
The methods developed by this team have proven effective with some minor limitations. Since the materials are cast and are of varying chemistry and grain structure the dimensional accuracy of the PAUT is reduced. The reduction in accuracy is not substantial enough to prevent a welder or machinist from finding and excavating a defect, but would prevent them from accurately reporting the wall thickness of the roll. The other limitation is that PAUT is not effective at seeing the first .100� of examined surface and can only see defects .100� or deeper. Because of this limitation, surface inspections with fluorescent dye penetrant (FDP) are still required. Once the PAUT inspection method was developed, a major American steel manufacturer began supplying Atlas with new and used rolls from a variety of manufacturers for inspection. There were several purposes for these inspections including learning how
effective the new PAUT process was at finding indications, determining if a technician could use the PAUT report to excavate the flaw, and if the roll was qualified to return to service. Of the first three rolls inspected, two had minor indications showing from the FLP and the third was clean. The PAUT also found the third roll to be free of defects, but found significant sub-surface defects in the other two rolls. One defect was severe enough that we believe the roll body was 60% detached from the end bell. These defects were later determined to be cracks forming from the inside out that propagated from lack of fusion and incomplete joint penetration at the weld root. Attempts to excavate the cracks from the outside ultimately separated the rolls in two. Continued testing of new and used furnace rolls proved that the combination of FLP and PAUT was an effective method for determining if a roll was qualified for service and could be used to determine a
repair procedure for the roll. Following the inspection of several furnace rolls, Atlas began auditing material suppliers and discussing issues with end users to identify what factors reduced furnace roll reliability. Several factors came into play but the most significant were poor welding craftsmanship, poor casting quality and a poor choice of filler metals. By design, furnace roll materials have high yield strengths at elevated temperatures but this also means they are not very ductile at room temperature. Materials with low ductility are inherently difficult to weld and prone to solidification cracks and heat affected zone cold cracking. To remedy the welding difficulty many roll manufactures choose filler materials that are over-alloyed with higher nickel content than the base metals. This improves weldability, but ultimately the inconsistency in chemistry in the weld joint reduces roll
13 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Furnace rolls
Figure 7. HAZ crack 2
Figure 8. Weld sample with more complete foundry controls
Figure 9. Weld sample with less foundry controls
Figure 10. HAZ crack 1
Figure 11. Root crack
Figure 12. Weld coupon being TIG
reliability. The variances in chemistry in the weld joint create differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the weld area and base materials. As rolls are thermally cycled in service, these variances create very high levels of stress in the weld joint causing minor defects to grow and eventually lead to premature roll failure. To improve roll reliability, rolls should be manufactured with as few defects as possible with filler metals of matching chemistry. In May 2015, Atlas Machine and Supply began developing weld procedures for furnace rolls that would allow for producing a roll with filler metal that had similar chemistry and CTE to the base material and that could be welded nearly defect-free. Atlas also identified material suppliers, audited several foundries and procured sample weld coupons for weld testing. During the audits a wide range of quality control procedures and methods where observed. Pricing also varied greatly, the same pair of end bells was quoted from $10,800-$38,700 between each of the audited foundries. The most common practices to verify casting quality was visual inspection and LP. The foundries that appeared to produce the most reliable castings also used FEA
pattern making and pouring software and radiography to insure parts are produced properly. The differences in the sample provided correlated with cost and improved processes. The cleanest sample and best weld joint came from a foundry that used FEA software and radiography but was also towards the higher end of the price scale. The cast weld coupons took several weeks to produce. During the down time Atlas developed approximate weld procedures by welding on readily available tubes of 304ss. Initial weld tests were performed using existing weld procedures for similar alloys in MIG and Sub Arc but with filler metal similar to HN and MO-RE1. The adopted weld procedures, as expected, had issues that needed to be solved. These included solidification cracks, cold cracking in the heat effected zone, and stop cracks at each weld termination. As weld development continued, the key to eliminating issues proved to be to keep the heat input as low as possible. Experiments were performed with low amperage spray transfer GMAW welding and short arc GMAW welding. Atlas was not able to produce a weld with consistent fusion utilising short arc processes and
decided on a spray transfer GMAW process for further testing. The spray transfer GMAW process was used to test weld the coupons provided by the foundries. The same weld procedure was used on each sample in order to demonstrate how the base metal effected weld quality. Figure 9 shows the weld in material from a lower cost foundry. This weld sample had cracks in the dilution zone between the sample casting and weld metal. The casting from a higher cost foundry (Figure 8) with more thorough foundry control methods did not have any surface indications, metallography examination was performed for further evaluation and three indications were found in the weld. They included a root crack and two HAZ cracks. The weld joint design was successfully changed to an open root design in order to eliminate the root crack. Testing continued with adjustments to a spray transfer GMAW welding process to remove the HAZ cracks. During testing it was determined that the process window for successful GMAW welding was very narrow and that when the HAZ cracks were eliminated other defects where created. The GMAW process was abandoned in favour of GTAW welding.
14 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Furnace rolls
GTAW welding development is ongoing and was selected because of lower heat inputs and the ability to separate arc control and wire feed. Weld coupons have been produced in HN and MO-RE1 without defects detectable by PAUT, LP or metallography. Developing methods for improving furnace roll reliability has proven challenging, but successful. The implementation of PAUT can reliably detect weld joint defects and can be used to determine if a roll should be put in to service. Improvements in raw material supply can help improve material weldability and defect-free welding with matching chemistry and can be accomplished on many furnace roll materials. Implementing these practices can provide visibility to the risk of premature roll failure and offer methods to reduce those risks. Through destructive and nondestructive examination methods it was determined that the leading causes of premature roll failure stemmed from poor weld filler metal choices, poor welding craftsmanship and low quality castings.
To improve furnace roll reliability Atlas has qualified materials and suppliers, developed qualified weld procedures, and developed NDE methods to qualify new and used rolls for service. It is expected that implementation of these methods will lead to improved furnace roll
reliability.
This article is based on a paper presented by Jeremy J Rydberg at ESTAD 2017 in Vienna.
Economical Vacuum Generation for Optimal Material Characteristics Vacuum heat treatment is often the most effective, reliable and reproducible way of modifying the surface and structure characteristics of materials. Busch offers a wide range of vacuum generators suitable for rough to high vacuum ranges, and our systems are designed to provide the optimal solution for any process or heat treatment combination. Rely on the trusted name for vacuum. Rely on Busch.
Busch (UK) Ltd. +44 (0)1952 677432 l sales@busch.co.uk www.busch.co.uk
15 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Emission reduction
Optimelt set to reduce emissions J. de Diego*, H. Kobayashi**, S. Laux , and M. van Valburg and G. Wijbenga*** discuss the implementation of Praxair’s Optimelt system at Libbey’s Leerdam plant in The Netherlands. The system was originally installed at Pavisa’s container glass site in Mexico with successful results, as published in a paper in Glass International May 2015 by U. Iyoha. Libbey Holland (Royal Leerdam) has been at the forefront of new technology implementation to ensure competitive and sustainable production, based on the Vereniging van Nederlandse Glasfabrikanten (Dutch Glass Maker Association) roadmap ‘Routekaart 2030’. By cooperating with technology providers, Libbey has pursued its goal of increased glass furnace efficiency and reduced emissions. Because of the strict emissions legislations on NOx, SOx, and particulates3-4, there is a need for CO2 emissions reduction to meet the Paris Climate Accord goal for a carbon neutral environment by 2050. Due to the unpredictable outcome of the ETS system development period after 2020, a pro-active approach is required. The conversion of air-fuel furnaces to oxy-fuel combustion is generally known to improve furnace energy efficiency and reduce natural gas consumption. Recovering waste energy from oxyfuel flue gas has the potential to further improve energy efficiency and to reduce the operating costs of oxy-fuel glass furnaces. Praxair’s Optimelt thermochemical regenerator (TCR) heat recovery system provides a compelling solution to maximise the heat recovery from oxyfuel fired glass furnaces, to improve energy efficiency of the furnaces, and to minimise furnace emissions. Its Optimelt TCR system is similar in the cyclic operation to conventional air-heating regenerators, but unique in its design to combine the conventional preheating step with a thermochemical reforming process without using a catalyst. An industrial scale Optimelt system
Hot syngas to furnace Endothermic reaction to syngas (CO and H2) Preheating of mixture Injection of natural gas into flue gas recirculation
Figure 1. Optimelt reforming process.
Figure 2. Optimelt oxy-syngas flame at Pavisa, Mexico.
First glass production startup Boost the regional economy with 5.0 millions
Improvement of the knowledge and skills of Libbey’s team
Oxy-fuel furnace rebuild
2017
Most energy efficient large scale glass furnace of its kind worldwide
45-60% less CO2/year 25-35% less Nox/year
First reductions in energy consumption and air emissions Optimelt implementation
2018
45-60% energy less used for the process
2019
Figure 3.Optimelt project timeline at Libbey Leerdam.
has been installed at the Libbey Royal Leerdam plant in The Netherlands to reduce energy costs in the glass melting process and to address future stricter environmental reduction requirements. The project is partly funded by the European Union under a Life grant.
Optimelt recovery process1-2 The heart of the technology is to recover waste heat by the well known endothermic reforming reactions of methane with steam and carbon dioxide in regenerators, Figure 1. Hot flue gas from the oxy-fuel furnace is directed to a regenerator chamber to heat and store heat in the checker pack and is
cooled to about 650°C before exiting the regenerator. A portion of the cooled flue gas is then recycled, mixed with natural gas and introduced at the bottom of a second regenerator. This mixture absorbs energy stored in the refractory checkers. When the gas mixture is heated above a certain temperature, various endothermic chemical reactions occur at atmospheric pressure to form ‘syngas’ containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, soot and other hydrocarbons without the need of a catalyst. The reformed gas or syngas leaves the regenerator at the top and is combusted with oxygen in the furnace.
16 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Emission reduction
at Libbey’s oxy-fuel fired furnace operating condition will be optimised first. The TCR operation will start about three months later and the performance evaluated over one year.
Natural gas savings and CO2 reduction
The Optimelt system fuel savings are, in general, about 20% relative to the oxyfuel baseline without heat recovery, but vary +/- 3% depending on the glass type, cullet ratio, furnace type, furnace age and furnace size. At Leerdam, the projected energy reduction and associated CO2 emissions reductions are about 45-60% compared to the existing recuperative air combustion furnaces. Compared with air fired regenerative furnaces about 28% fuel savings are expected for furnaces less than 150 tpd and about 30% for furnaces greater than 300 tpd at the mid furnace campaign.
NOx Emissions NOx emissions depend on burner type selection (staged versus unstaged), air leakage control (sidewall cooling, batch charger openings, peepholes openings and furnace maintenance), fuel and/or oxidant nitrogen content and niter used in the batch. Projected NOx reductions will be in the range of 25 - 35% lower than currently and well below the target value of 0.9kg/ ton. The Optimelt TCR burner system uses the deeply staged combustion process
and has demonstrated low NOx emissions at Pavisa’s1 50 TPD furnace in Mexico, even with high N2 concentration in the furnace atmosphere. Figure 4 shows NOx emissions from oxy-fuel fired container glass furnaces. Green data points show measured NOx emissions at different N2 partial pressures(*) in the furnace and the light green band shows the projected NOx emissions as a function of % N2 concentration in the furnace at sea level. (*Note: Due to the high elevation of Mexico City the atmospheric pressure is only about 0.76 atmosphere. The N2 concentration of 30% wet corresponds to 23kPa at Pavisa.) Dutch natural gas contains a high nitrogen concentration of about 13% and the projected furnace N2 concentration ranges from 10 to 16% wet depending on the amount of air leakage into the furnace at Leerdam. In spite of the relatively high N2 concentration in the furnace NOx emissions below 0.6 kg/t are projected.
Particulates emissions Alkali vapour volatilisation is the main cause for particulates emissions and silica crown corrosion. Typically 80 to 90% of particulates emissions are sub-micron particles of Na2SO4. Furnace and burner designs are known to make large differences on the alkali volatilisation rate and particulates emissions. .6
0.8
NOx emission (kg/t or 1/2lb/ston)
JL Burner TCR
0.9 kg/t
0.8 Nox range OPTIMELT TCR and Praxair JL Burner
0.6 0.4 0.2 Projected range for L1 (air leak max 268Nm3/h)
0.0 0
5
10
15
20
All sulfates (Oxy)
30
N2 in the furnace (% wet or 1 kPa partial pressure)
Figure 4. Projected NOx emissions at the Leerdam site.
35
40
y Ox
Particulate (Oxy) (Europe)
0.5
e
ac
rn
fu
1.2
(EPA Method 5)
0.4
0.8
0.3 0.2 0.1
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
nge
ected ra
gas proj
TCR-syn
0.0 25
na
0.6
ur
Particulate (Oxy) (EPA) Na2SO4 (Oxy)
rf
0.7
Ai
1.0
Particulate emissions, g/kg-glass
A Burner
ce
Particulate (Air) (EPA)
1.2
lg/short ton-glass
The ability to upgrade the energy content of the natural gas fuel into higher energy-content hot syngas results in fuel savings of about 20% to 30% compared to conventional oxy-fuel and regenerative air-fuel furnaces, respectively. TCR-Syngas burner design The oxy-syngas burner produces a bright and luminous flame due to a high concentration of soot in the syngas. The burner is designed to provide an adjustable temperature profile in the combustion space by using separate injection of oxygen jets. By using the deeply staged combustion concept, NOx emissions are reduced and a long flame can be obtained to avoid hot spots over the glass/batch surface near the burner. The direction and the velocity of each oxygen jet are carefully designed to avoid flame impingement in the batch area and to keep a low gas velocity over glass melt to minimise batch carry over and alkali vapour volatilisation. Figure 2 shows a picture of the syngas flame in the 50tpd furnace at Pavisa, Mexico. Reduced energy and emissions at Leerdam The project timeline for the industrial scale Optimelt system being installed at Libbey Royal Leerdam is in Figure 3. The new oxy-fuel furnace is designed to operate either as the standard oxy-fuel fired furnace or as the oxy-syngas fired furnace with the Optimelt TCR. The furnace will start as the oxy-fuel fired furnace in mid-2017 and this furnace
0.0 3.0
3.5
4.0
Specific pull, ton /(day m2)* (* corrected for tpd by electric boost)
Figure 5. Projected particulates emissions at Leerdam.
17 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Emission reduction
Furnace Oxy-fuel
Pull (stpd) 210
Cullet
Colour
(%) 40
flint
SO2 SO2 Notes (lb/ston) (kg/t) 0.41
0.21
after filter
1.60
0.80
filter bypassed
Oxy-fuel 366
60 green 1.63 0.82
Oxy-fuel
158
50
flint
0.76
0.38
flue port sampling
Oxy-fuel
279
50
flint
0.65
0.33
flue port sampling*
Oxy-fuel
342
25
flint
0.97
0.49
Air-regen
342
25
flint
0.92
0.46
Air-regen
419
20
flint
3.54
1.77
*0.65, 0.88lb/t in separate stack measurements
Preventing high local glass surface temperature and high gas velocity over the glassmelt by proper furnace and burner designs are key factors controlling alkali vapour volatilisation and particulate emissions. In early furnace conversion projects from air fired regenerative furnaces (red data points) to oxy-fuel furnaces (yellow data points) about a 30% reduction in particulates emissions was measured. Oxy-fuel furnace and burner designs have been improved since then with taller crown height and low gas velocity burners. A 50% reduction on particulates emissions (data points in other colours) has been achieved in comparison with the emissions from earlier oxy-fuel fired furnaces. The light green highlighted area in Figure 5 shows projected particulate emissions at the furnace exit under Optimelt operation based on CFD simulations. The particulate emissions at the stack are controlled with a bag house at Leerdam.
SOx emissions Most sulphur emissions from the glass furnace are gaseous SOx emissions and approximately equal to the difference between the sulphate input into the furnace as the fining agent and the sulphur retention in the glass melt. In a typical air-fired flint container glass furnace about one third of the sulphur input to the furnace comes out
as SOx emissions. Sulphur retention in the glassmelt depends on glass redox (i.e glass colour) and the amount of sulphate required for good fining reactions depends on the operation of the glass furnace. Thus, many factors influence the ultimate emission of gaseous SOx5. In oxy-fuel fired furnaces the higher water vapour pressure in the furnace atmosphere increases the water dissolution in the glassmelt, which in turn lowers the sulphate dissociation temperature and leads to a start of the fining reactions at a lower glassmelt temperature6. Since dissolved water acts as a fining gas and enhances the fining reactions of sulphate in the glassmelt, it allows a reduction of the amount of other fining gases (mostly SO3 and O2) required for fining. Thus, the fining agent (Na2SO4) input amount is typically reduced by 20 to 30% under oxy-fuel firing to achieve the same level of fining. By reducing the sulphate input under oxy-fuel firing sulphur emissions can be reduced. Combustion conditions in the furnace also affect SOx emissions. Reducing atmosphere over glassmelt and flame impingement on the batch are known to cause dissociation of batch sulphate and to increase SOx emissions. Table 1 shows measured SOx emissions from several glass furnaces. SOx emissions of 0.4 to 0.8 kg/ton are typically achieved without using sulphur scrubber/filter for flint glass under oxy-fuel firing.
Conclusion Praxair’s Optimelt thermochemical regenerator heat recovery system provides a compelling solution to minimise furnace emissions and maximise heat recovery from glass furnaces, and to improve furnace energy efficiency. The system combines preheating and endothermic chemical reactions to recover waste energy from the flue gas and to produce a hot syngas stream which has about 1.2 to 1.3 times the heating value of the natural gas fed into the bottom of the regenerator. This technology has been in operation on a commercial 50 tpd container glass furnace in Mexico since late 2014 and is now being implemented on a larger tableware furnace at Libbey Leerdam in The Netherlands. A 45 to 60% reduction of CO2 emissions compared to the existing recuperative furnaces is projected. NOx, CO, SOx and particulates emissions are also expect to be reduced.
References 1. A Gonzalez, E Solorzano et al , ‘Optimelt Regenerative Thermo-Chemical Heat Recovery for Oxy-Fuel Glass Furnaces’, 75th Conference on Glass Problems, November 2014. 2. U. Iyoha et al, ‘Thermochemical Regenerator System Proves Itself at Pavisa’, Glass International May 2015, pp 29-30. 3. SJVUAPCD (2011), ‘Glass Melting Furnaces’, Rule 4354, Amended, May 19, pp 4354-5 to 4354-6. 4. ISSN 1977-0677 (2012), ‘Official Journal of the European Union’, L 70, English Edition, Volume 55, 8 March, p 19. 5. H. Mulller-Simon, K. Gitzhifer, “Sulphur massflow balances in industrial glass melting furnaces”, Glass Technol.: Eur.J.Glass Sci. Technol. A, April 2008, 49 (2), 83-90. 6. H.Kobayashi, R.G.C. Berkens, Fifth conference on advances in the fusion and processing of gas, 1997, Toronto, Canada.
*Corporate Fellow at Praxair Euroholding, Madrid, Spain. **European Manager Combustion Market Applications, Praxair, Danbury, CT, USA. ***S. Laux, M. van Valburg and G. Wijbenga of Praxair and of Libbey Holland, Leerdam, The Netherlands also contributed to this article. sho_kobayashi@praxair.com joaquin_de_diego@praxair.com Praxair Inc. Danbury, CT, USA, Web: www.praxair.com/ Royal Leerdam,Libbey Holland, Leerdam, The Netherlands, www.libbey.com 18 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
FIC ads 2018_Layout 1 27/02/2018 12:23 Page 4
, Tomorrow s Technology Today
The structure for glass is as simple as the structure for success...
FIC
...the only electric glass melting company which can supply all of your needs l All-electric furnaces l Electric boosting
l Electrode holders
- High ‘Q’ - Maxi ‘Q’
l Bubbler systems
www.fic-uk.com +44 (0) 1736 366 962
, The World s Number One in Furnace Technology
FIC (UK) Limited Long Rock Industrial Estate Penzance Cornwall TR20 8HX United Kingdom
GLASS SERVICE
A Division of Glass Service
Emissions reduction
Reducing N0x emissions
REBOX high level lancing (HLL) and flameless oxyfuel technology is claimed to offer flexible environment-friendly and fuel-efficient steel heating. By RĂźdiger Eichler MSc EUR Ing*
20 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Emissions reduction
Oxyfuel Technologies have been used in steel heating furnaces since the late 1980s. The main targets then were increased production, fuel efficiency and reduced NOx-emissions. During the period 1988 to 1991, it was realised that special efforts were needed to achieve reduced NOx-emissions under certain conditions. It was then
when the concept of Flameless Oxyfuel Combustion was shown to be very efficient in suppressing NOx-formation. Between 1991 and 1995 several pit-furnaces in Avesta Degerfors (Outokumpu) and Ovako Hofors were revamped from air/fuel combustion to 100% Oxyfuel combustion. Great results were achieved both in productivity
increase, fuel savings and NOx-emissions reduction. In 1995 the journey towards larger furnaces started when the first catenary furnace was equipped with REBOX Oxyfuel Technology. In 1997 it was followed by the first car bottom furnace and the first rotary hearth furnace. In 1998 the first green field rotary hearth
21 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Emissions reduction
and green field roller hearth furnaces were built for 100% Oxyfuel combustion. The first already 100% Oxyfuel-fired furnace was revamped to 100% REBOX Flameless Oxyfuel Technology in 2003. The results were not only NOx-reductions, but also further reduced energy consumption mainly due to increased overall temperature homogeneity. In 2010, when the first REBOX High Level Lancing (HLL) installation was made in a 130MW walking beam furnace at SSAB in Borlänge, Sweden, 125 steel heating furnaces had been equipped with REBOX Oxyfuel Technology. Seven years later it is 170 steel heating furnaces spread from China in the east to the USA in the west. Recently (2016-2017) Linde realised two new green field projects, among others, one in Sweden and one in China, where one roller hearth furnace and four pit furnaces where built for 100% flameless oxyfuel combustion. Both turn-key projects included furnaces, combustion system, dampers, flow trains as well as other equipment for material handling.
Oxyfuel combustion Oxyfuel combustion is the combustion of a fuel using industrial grade oxygen as oxidant, normally containing over 90% oxygen. Combustion air contains 21% oxygen and the rest is essentially inert gases where about 78% is nitrogen.
By excluding the inert gases from air, the volume of oxidant needed and the exhaust gas volume created is substantially reduced. This is not only due to the reduction of inert gases, but also fuel savings resulting from a more efficient heating process. The reduced exhaust gas volume also makes it possible to introduce a higher power into a given furnace volume and/or extend the length of fired zones. This makes it often possible to increase the specific rate of production from a given furnace and/or use low calorific fuels instead of high calorific fuels and still reach the same heating results in the same furnace. The increased efficiency depends on the base for the comparison i.e. how much energy has been recovered from the exhaust gases in the air/fuel combustion scenario. Fuel savings normally are between 20% and 70% when converting a heating furnace to 100% Oxyfuel combustion. Alternatively, a low calorific fuel can be used instead and still the same results can be achieved. When nitrogen is removed from the process the increased partial pressure of the three-atomic gases CO2 and H2O in the furnace atmosphere will increase the heat transfer by radiation from hot gases to the product. At the same time the smaller volume of product gases potentially increase the flame temperature. This would result in higher thermal NOx from
Oxyfuel combustion if required nitrogen is available, unless measures were taken to reduce the actual flame temperature.
Reducing thermal NOx A reduction of thermal NOx is achieved by reducing peak flame temperatures. REBOX flameless oxyfuel combustion is especially designed to transform the combustion from a small volume into a much larger volume. This is made by furnace-internal recirculation to a point when dilution has reduced the speed of reactions until there is no longer a visible flame attached to the burner. REBOX flameless oxyfuel combustion is only used above a furnace temperature at which the combustion will self-ignite. Normally about 800°C. That is why the REBOX flameless oxyfuel burners have a flame-mode and a flameless mode unless they are accompanied by other burners capable of heating up the furnace to above 800°C. The NOx emissions from steel reheat furnaces equipped with REBOX flameless oxyfuel typically present NOx-emissions well below Swedish legislation in mgNO2/ MJ of energy added. At the same time the energy efficiency and the furnace flexibility is very high. Heating of steel from ambient temperature to rolling temperature can be made by using under 1 GJ/ton of steel which translates into a process efficiency of 70%-80% or more
22 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Emissions reduction
depending on the fuel, the steel and the rolling temperature.
Schematic of a REBOX Turn-Key 4 pit furnace system
A semi-flameless technology
Conclusions REBOX Flameless Oxyfuel and REBOX HLL can be used for process optimisation and emissions reduction.
180 160
REBOX furnace installations
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Number of REBOX installations in steel reheat furnaces
350 300 250
mg NO2/MJ
REBOX high level lancing (HLL) is a flexible, semi-flameless technology for capacity increase, fuel savings and emissions reduction where the existing burners are equipped with additional lances for oxygen injection. The advantages are several. The old existing system can be kept and operated as it is and at the same time the capacity can be increased when required. The fuel consumption as well as the NOx and CO2 emissions are reduced. The diagram below shows NOx measurements from a walking beam furnace during operation with and without REBOX HLL operation. The NOx emissions are reduced by about 40% in this case. While REBOX HLL can be used in any type of combustion, however, it has found its place mostly in large continuous side-fired furnaces with large doors for charging and discharging where a certain amount of exhaust gas volume is needed to keep a positive furnace pressure. REBOX HLL can also be used to reduce furnace pressure and exhaust gas temperature in situations when the furnace is put to its limits due to a very high load. Since the reduction of exhaust gases and the injection of oxygen change the gas circulation in the furnace in different ways, the REBOX HLL technology is separated into several sub-technologies where the angle of injection in relation to fuel and air flow differs. This means that, for special cases, oxygen might not always be injected next to a fuel injection point. However, in all cases the target is to increase the efficiency of the heating operation and reduce emissions. As an example, REBOX HLL lancing technology is used today to control temperature distribution along the length of 12m long slabs to optimise heating and rolling operations.
200 150 100 50
Without HLL
0 2
For further information, log on to www.linde-gas.com/rebox *Senior specialist, combustion and steel, Linde Gas
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
With HLL
%O2 dry NOx reductions with REBOX HLL in a walking beam furnace. NOx emissions in mgNO2/MJ vs %O2 in exhaust with and without REBOX HLL
23 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Aluminium forging
Heat treatment systems for Since the foundation of schwartz GmbH in 1984, heat treatment systems for aluminium have featured prominently in the company’s product portfolio. Renowned aluminium processors in Germany, Europe and Asia rely on schwartz GmbH’s heat treatment solutions for their annealing, solution annealing with water quenching, and artificial ageing operations.
Figure 1. This photo shows the load / unload end; note the lightweight product carriers, the hydraulic pusher device and the conveying systems.
Figure 2. Opposite page: The complete artificial ageing system with air cooling zone and electrical equipment, shown fully assembled at the site of the subsidiary, schwartz Heat Treatment Systems Asia, in Kunshan/PR China. The main components for building the system were supplied to the subsidiary company from Germany.
24 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Aluminium forging
aluminium forging facilities Global demand for structural aluminium parts, especially from the automotive industry, calls for highly efficient and economically advantageous solutions adapted to these applications. Aside from contracts received earlier this year for equipment intended to anneal aluminium billets and structural parts, which are still in the production pipeline, an artificial ageing system delivered in September had to meet stringent requirements related to quality, throughput and, not least significantly, space-saving design. Artificial ageing, which is necessary after the solution annealing and quench stages, can be performed either continuously, e.g., on conveyor belts, or batchwise in racks. Continuous-type systems, while achieving fast and uniform heating through an airflow directed straight onto the load, must then include a temperature holding cycle to suit the alloy and part geometry, thereby imposing a substantial equipment width and length. If the artificial ageing treatment is carried out on parts stacked in racks that are heated in chamber furnaces by a circulating airflow, the heating, soaking and holding times are much longer, involving furnace cycles of many hours’ duration. The space requirement of the necessary chamber furnaces including
charging devices is likewise considerable. The customer’s system specification required fast and uniform heating of each part, a speedy return of parts into the production process and, above all, a very compact furnace design due to limited space availability. The key technical data for projecting the equipment were as follows: � part weight: approx. 3 kg � cycle time per part: 11 seconds � preheat temperature: 190°C ± 3°C In a first operating stage the system was to be loaded and unloaded manually. It is intended to be upgraded to automatic operation later. To resolve this challenge, an electrically heated system with horizontal airflow and indexing movement of lightweight load racks carrying the parts was projected, proceeding from a system for annealing aluminium castings built by schwartz GmbH as early as in 2003. A load rack measuring only 200mm in length can accommodate 25 parts weighing approx. 3 kg each. The racks are advanced through the heating chamber on guide tracks by a hydraulically actuated pusher device fitted to the front end of the furnace. The loaded racks are introduced into the furnace and removed at the exit end in a vertical direction using
electric motor-powered elevators. The air cooling zone is fitted underneath the furnace system in a space-saving design. The return of the racks through the cooling zone, back to the load / unload end, is ensured by chain conveyors. The project management and equipment design, in addition to installation and commissioning support, was provided by Hütte GmbH, a schwartz GmbH subsidiary based in AachenSchleckheim, Germany. The gas-heated furnace chamber measures 7.5 m in length and can accommodate 37 load racks with 25 parts each, i.e., a total of 925 parts. All parts are uniformly heated by the hot airflow. The air circulation is controlled in 3 zones. The parts are cooled just as uniformly in the cooling chamber arranged under the furnace, from where the air is discharged to the outdoor environment. The furnace system is scheduled to be commissioned at the customer’s facility in the PR China in early October. The overall output of 1,000 kg/h was achieved, to the customer’s satisfaction, despite its ultra-small footprint of only 2 m (useful width) by 7.5 m (useful length). Exacting specifications regarding product temperature uniformity and a quick return of parts into the production process were fulfilled, as expected.
25
Furnaces
Reducing installation time and the Fred Aker* and Torsten Neudeck** of Nikolaus Sorg discuss how glass manufacturers can optimise the furnace installation process. Adopted from the November 9th GMIC Symposium in Columbus, Ohio; ‘Reducing Construction, Rebuild, and Hot Repair Times for Glass Manufacturing Furnaces.’ While glass manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to make productivity gains which include output/employee, output per capital utilised, more glass pulled and packed over a furnace campaign, they are subject to extreme market inefficiencies every time a furnace is down for a repair. While new methods are being employed to reduce rebuild times including in mechanical and electrical installation, we are fighting an uphill battle. A few statistics from the August 17th, 2017 Economist highlight the challenges. While global manufacturing productivity measured as output per worker across all industries has doubled since 1995, the following has happened in the construction fields as highlighted in some quotes from ‘Can we fix it? The construction industry’s productivity problem.’ “In France and Italy productivity per hour has fallen by about a sixth.” “Germany and Japan have seen almost no growth.” “America is even worse: there, productivity in construction has plunged by half since the late 1960s.” (emphasis added) (Figure 1 – Economist) While better safety plays a role in this development, there are other barriers to faster and cheaper construction. The Economist notes that most construction companies are small without economies of scale. They tend to avoid capital investments as they can fire workers during the next economic downturn but tend to get stuck with expensive assets. Over regulation plays a part as well. One area where over regulation impacts Sorg daily is protectionism. Even within the EU, it is onerous to send workers from one member country to another. Expensive worker and company registrations are common. EU members require you to have local representation or at least a lawyer
in the country where you want to send supervisors and construction workers. It is not uncommon to have to send police background checks and payroll records of all site employees. A recent job site in France limited shift times to eight hours per day. In addition to the increased mobilisation costs through registrations, the job sites last longer and lead to more travel related expenses. We even need to take into account different retirement systems when sending German employees to neighbouring countries. This would be like having different pension plans in Ohio and Indiana. We have made social security contributions as low as 12 cents. While that may not sound expensive, there is the cost of translating invoices from languages such as Danish into German and then the process costs associated with making any international payment. And all of the above needs to be submitted in the local language of the member country. English is not an option. Compliance checks at the job site are prevalent. For a job site that lasts 60 days, this offers a form of protectionism for local contractors. While construction productivity is falling, it is our job as furnace contractors to install equipment as quickly as possible to reduce downtime at a price that cost sensitive customers are willing and able to pay. We do this by working smarter. Working smarter means embracing digitialisation.
First approach digitialisation Quoting from a February 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report, ‘Reinventing construction through a productivity revolution’; “Take one example: construction is among the least digitized sectors in the world, according to MGI’s digitization index. In the US, construction comes second to last, and in Europe it is on last position on the index”.
This provides opportunities that Sorg and others are taking advantage of depending on the furnace rebuild scenario. For the curious, only agriculture and hunting is less digitized in the United States.
Scenarios When talking about mechanical and electrical installations on a furnace, there are different types of jobs with different solutions. � 1. Greenfield. The easiest type of job. Represents less than 5% of our work. � 2. As-is rebuild. Assuming there is clean documentation and records from the past rebuild, this is the next easiest type of project. � 3. Increase in tonnage or changes in emissions requirements. This can involve the addition of boosting or additional boosting plus upscaled equipment. � 4. Change in technology. The most common example is converting a side port furnace into a modern end port design with as little downtime as possible. This is the most challenging job type and requires the most planning. For greenfield sites, we are developing highly parametric 3D models to give us the basis for generating bid documents quickly (Figure 2). End port container furnaces form the bulk of Sorg’s business so this model was developed first. Oxyfuel and side port models are being developed as well. For an as-is rebuild, we try to collect as much documentation as possible from the past rebuild. If the owner was satisfied, we will try to hire the mechanical and electrical contractors from the last rebuild. They have local knowledge and experience. In this scenario, it is possible to execute the job quickly without generating extensive 3D data. For an increase in tonnage or technology conversion, generation of 3D
26 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces
hurdles working against it
Figure 1. Construction productivity has fallen in some major western enonomies (Source The Economist)
2a
data is essential. For this, we start with a 3D laser scan (Figures 3/4/5). Sorg has this capability in-house and we strongly prefer to mobilise our glass experienced staff and equipment before hiring local surveyors. Our personnel know what is important to capture and our equipment is built to withstand the high ambient temperatures of a glass environment. Quite often once our people are on site, we are asked to scan additional factory areas as well. The laser scan sometimes leads to surprises. In one example, where we used laser scanning to verify gob point locations, it turned out the existing CAD drawings were off by 500mm on one drop point! When doing a 3D scan, Sorg does not place a high value in converting the entire point cloud into a 3D CAD model. If the steel is bent, we want to see this and not have an algorithm identify a beam and to model it the way it originally was. Knowing how the steel is helps us prepare our mechanical and electrical installation. In another instance, we scanned a 200-year-old facility where only hand drawings existed which nobody trusted. With an emphasis on engineering, we avoid questions and delays on site. Our highest priority to save money and time is to avoid field changes.
Experienced glass contractors
2b
Figure 2 a and b. 3D Model with features turned off to see piping and cable trays.
Figure 3. Laser scan and a 2D cut to determine gob point positions.
The density of glass plants in Germany has produced a network of electrical and mechanical contractors who work exclusively on glass installations (Figure 6). Besides using these contractors in Germany, we find it cost effective to use them throughout the EU and in under developed countries as well. Where German standards and labour are not accepted such as in the United States, we utilise a different approach. In the United States, we work together with local engineering partners such as JHI, SSOE and Borton Lawson. We have them generate engineering to local codes in formats that local bidders are familiar with. We then let them generate bid documents and field initial questions. Sorg then makes the final determination based on the entirety of the impression and never on price alone.
27 www.furnaces-international.com
Furnaces International March 2018
Furnaces
Figure 4. Combining laser scan and new 3D geometry.
Figure 5. Technology conversion. Temporary support for day bin.
Ideal installation: We start mechanical and electrical installation at the same time as refractory construction. This means that the steel-including platforms are finished. We use small teams of experienced glass contractors. One team will work on the furnace. Another one on the forehearths. If all platforms are finished timely, installation time is three to three-and-a-half weeks. The goal being to finish two days before light off to cold check everything. Less than ideal conditions: Platforms are finished late. We start the mechanical and electrical installation piecemeal where possible. We are forced to use ladders and scissor lifts in place of missing platforms. We are supervising inexperienced contractors that the customer has chosen. And then the customer throws more inexperienced bodies at the problem as milestones slip. Under these conditions, work is most certainly not finished before light off. When Sorg is unable to finish mechanical and electrical installation before light off, we have the following minimum requirements: � The customer assumes responsibility in writing for proceeding. � Reversal on a regenerative furnace needs to be in place and functioning. � Skids need to be tested. � Water cooling in place and tested. Should it not be possible to complete works in parallel with heatup, a hot hold
Figure 6. There is a density of glass plants in Germany. Pic source glassglobal. com
condition will result to allow us to catch up.
Conclusions Additional engineering with an emphasis on digitalisation is less expensive than field changes. � Sorg strongly prefers specialised glass contractors over locally available. � Mobilisation costs including
international travel can be compensated through higher productivity. � Sorg typically only needs half the installation hours when working with speciality glass contractors.
* Sales Director, ** Services and Installation Department Manager, Sorg, Lohr-Am-Main, Germany www.sorg.de
28 Furnaces International March 2018
www.furnaces-international.com
Foundry safety
Foundry’s Little Helper Goodbye, ladles: The closed transport system Schnorkle 2.0 makes foundries safer
The handling of liquid metal requires protective measures for people and equipment. This prompted StrikoWestofen, the manufacturer of industrial furnaces, to design Schnorkle 2.0. This closed transport system keeps the melt under control as it travels to the dosing furnace, making accidental overflow or unsafe tilting a thing of the past. Molten aluminium with its temperature of around 720 degrees Celsius is a potential risk to life and limb. That’s why foundry suppliers strive to minimise the dangers associated with the handling of liquid metals. The safe transport of the melt poses a particular challenge. Equipment manufacturer StrikoWestofen, part of Norican Group, has come up with the answer: the optimized Schnorkle 2.0. This innovative transport system not only provides improved safety for employees and equipment – it also makes business sense. Its closed construction reduces temperature loss of the melt during transport, meaning it no longer has to be overheated beforehand. This has a positive impact on energy consumption.
Simplified processes User friendliness was a key factor in designing Schnorkle 2.0. To ensure a constant material flow while filling the dosing system, operators can select between two speeds at the push of a button. Schnorkle 2.0’s compact form makes it easier to manoeuvre in the foundry. “The reduced overall height makes our new transport system about 20 percent lighter than it was in the first generation. In contrast, the filling opening for the melt has become larger – in fact, it’s about 50 percent larger,” explains Florian Kulawik, Development Engineer at StrikoWestofen. The impeller can be positioned at the centre, allowing for salt or other popular melt treatments to be added. For a safe and easy heating process the burner is attached to the main
User friendliness was one of the key factors in designing Schnorkle 2.0. Furthermore, its closed geometry reduces the danger of liquid metal handling.
cover, making a separate heating cover unnecessary. Schnorkle 2.0 can be used with all commonly used melting and dosing furnaces. When combined with the Westomat dosing furnace, however, additional benefits are unlocked for the user: “The supply station, available as an option, allows for transport and dosing processes to be synchronized. This also completely prevents overfilling,” Kulawik adds.
Contact StrikoWestofen www.strikowestofen.com
Safe journeys through the foundry A conventional forklift truck is all that’s needed to move Schnorkle 2.0 safely to the dosing furnace. In contrast to conventional transport ladles, the closed transport system does not need to be tilted at height, instead dispensing its contents via a riser pipe with the help of pneumatics. This means that a relatively low lifting height is sufficient during melt transfer, allowing Schnorkle to be used in halls with extremely low ceilings. In addition to this, its control system prevents liquid metal from splashing around uncontrollably. In the event of problems or irregularities, the transport system automatically sounds an alarm, displaying error messages to allow the operator to intervene and remedy the issue.
Schnorkle 2.0: Occupational safety and process reliability combined.
29 www.furnaces-international.com
20% DISCOUNT FOR GROUP BOOKINGS
panels and plenty of networking opportunities.
and admission to the Future Steel Forum, 6-7 June, Sheraton Warsaw Hotel, Warsaw, Poland. www.FutureSteelForum.com/register
STANDARD RATE
£990
Don’t miss out on the discount for Group Bookings
For more information: Sophie Wright, Delegate Sales, sophiewright@quartzltd.com T: +44 (0) 1737 855 022
Future Steel Forum 2018 – what to expect… Topics covered: The ‘Learning Steel Mill’ of Big River Steel How Technology Catalyses Disruptive Change in the Steel Industry Steel 4.0 – Industry 4.0 and the Big Data Challenge: Development of a fully integrated system for the real time predictions of microstructure evolution during hot rolling The Digital Dilemma Facing Steel Simulation, Visualisation & Data analytics for Smart Steel Manufacturing How the Internet of Things in the steel industry improves safety Holistic Data Analysis
A16 A15 A13 A12
Coffee
A20
Coffee
A18
A19
A7
A21
Foyer 1 A1
Cloak Room
A2
Safes Office
A3
A4
A5
Amsterdam Refreshment Area
Official Media Partner
or more. A block booking will receive a 20% discount for each pass. Speakers include: Franck Adjogble, Chief Engineer & Business Development Manager, SMS Group
Industry 4.0 and the Workforce of Near Tomorrow
Dr Rizwan Janjua, Head of Technology, World Steel
Cloud manufacturing as a New Product-Service-System
Kirill Sukovykh, Co-innovation Lab Lead, NLMK-SAF
Smart Factories require Smart Planning
Mick Steeper, Chair, Iron & Steel Society, IOM3
Engineering Education and Qualifying the Industry 4.0 Workforce
Dr Nils Naujok, Partner, Consulting Leader Metals Industry Europe, PWC Strategy
Through Process Optimisation
Foyer C
A24
We are also offering a group block booking discount rate for five delegates
Open Innovation and Social Product Development
Industry 4.0: Future Growth and Productivity in Steel
A10
BLOCK BOOKING RATES:
Industry 4.0 for the steel industry – from a research perspective Steel 4.0 – current activities and expectations for Europe
Find out more by contacting Paul Rossage +44 1737 855 116 paulrossage@quartzltd.com
A9
A8
Times International Directory, relevant news alerts
Buffet
A22
Expect lively conversation, animated discussion
subscription to Steel Times International, the Steel
Foyer 2
A23
Delegates can expect ground-breaking papers on Industry 4.0 and associated ‘disruptive’ technologies that are affecting industry generally and steel production in particular.
Forum membership package which will include a
Lisbon (Speakers Room)
Brussels
Register online to subscribe to the Future Steel
A11
Sheraton Warsaw Hotel, Poland on 6-7 June 2018. This global steel technology conference will draw upon unrivalled expertise of steel industry professionals who want to unravel the mysteries and get to grips with the complexities of Industry 4.0.
Conference Room
A6
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN:
LAP GmbH Laser Applikationen TMEIC CMI Groupe OM Partner Fives Group Primetals Technologies PSI Metals GmbH Materials Processing Institute Zumbach Electronic AG Endress+Hauser GmbH Quinlogic GmbH UVB Technik s.r.o. IBA AG BM SpA / Polytec SMS Group GmbH Paul Wurth S.A. Spraying Systems Co. A.L.B.A. Srl Cutting Technology SAP Novatech ApS
A14
Future Steel Forum is returning to the
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A15 A16 A17 A18 A19 A20
Registration
the continuing story
LIMITED SPACE REMAINING
EXHIBITOR LIST
A17
Industry 4.0 –
Book your table-top exhibition space
Please contact Sophie Wright if you would like to take advantage of this offer.
@Future_Steel
Join our Future Steel Forum Group
Kurt Herzog, Head of Department, Primetals Technologies Industrie 4.0
Register now at www.FutureSteelForum.com FSF_2018_1p_Ad_A4.indd 6-7
15/03/2018 10:55
20% DISCOUNT FOR GROUP BOOKINGS
panels and plenty of networking opportunities.
and admission to the Future Steel Forum, 6-7 June, Sheraton Warsaw Hotel, Warsaw, Poland. www.FutureSteelForum.com/register
STANDARD RATE
£990
Don’t miss out on the discount for Group Bookings
For more information: Sophie Wright, Delegate Sales, sophiewright@quartzltd.com T: +44 (0) 1737 855 022
Future Steel Forum 2018 – what to expect… Topics covered: The ‘Learning Steel Mill’ of Big River Steel How Technology Catalyses Disruptive Change in the Steel Industry Steel 4.0 – Industry 4.0 and the Big Data Challenge: Development of a fully integrated system for the real time predictions of microstructure evolution during hot rolling The Digital Dilemma Facing Steel Simulation, Visualisation & Data analytics for Smart Steel Manufacturing How the Internet of Things in the steel industry improves safety Holistic Data Analysis
A16 A15 A13 A12
Coffee
A20
Coffee
A18
A19
A7
A21
Foyer 1 A1
Cloak Room
A2
Safes Office
A3
A4
A5
Amsterdam Refreshment Area
Official Media Partner
or more. A block booking will receive a 20% discount for each pass. Speakers include: Franck Adjogble, Chief Engineer & Business Development Manager, SMS Group
Industry 4.0 and the Workforce of Near Tomorrow
Dr Rizwan Janjua, Head of Technology, World Steel
Cloud manufacturing as a New Product-Service-System
Kirill Sukovykh, Co-innovation Lab Lead, NLMK-SAF
Smart Factories require Smart Planning
Mick Steeper, Chair, Iron & Steel Society, IOM3
Engineering Education and Qualifying the Industry 4.0 Workforce
Dr Nils Naujok, Partner, Consulting Leader Metals Industry Europe, PWC Strategy
Through Process Optimisation
Foyer C
A24
We are also offering a group block booking discount rate for five delegates
Open Innovation and Social Product Development
Industry 4.0: Future Growth and Productivity in Steel
A10
BLOCK BOOKING RATES:
Industry 4.0 for the steel industry – from a research perspective Steel 4.0 – current activities and expectations for Europe
Find out more by contacting Paul Rossage +44 1737 855 116 paulrossage@quartzltd.com
A9
A8
Times International Directory, relevant news alerts
Buffet
A22
Expect lively conversation, animated discussion
subscription to Steel Times International, the Steel
Foyer 2
A23
Delegates can expect ground-breaking papers on Industry 4.0 and associated ‘disruptive’ technologies that are affecting industry generally and steel production in particular.
Forum membership package which will include a
Lisbon (Speakers Room)
Brussels
Register online to subscribe to the Future Steel
A11
Sheraton Warsaw Hotel, Poland on 6-7 June 2018. This global steel technology conference will draw upon unrivalled expertise of steel industry professionals who want to unravel the mysteries and get to grips with the complexities of Industry 4.0.
Conference Room
A6
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN:
LAP GmbH Laser Applikationen TMEIC CMI Groupe OM Partner Fives Group Primetals Technologies PSI Metals GmbH Materials Processing Institute Zumbach Electronic AG Endress+Hauser GmbH Quinlogic GmbH UVB Technik s.r.o. IBA AG BM SpA / Polytec SMS Group GmbH Paul Wurth S.A. Spraying Systems Co. A.L.B.A. Srl Cutting Technology SAP Novatech ApS
A14
Future Steel Forum is returning to the
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A15 A16 A17 A18 A19 A20
Registration
the continuing story
LIMITED SPACE REMAINING
EXHIBITOR LIST
A17
Industry 4.0 –
Book your table-top exhibition space
Please contact Sophie Wright if you would like to take advantage of this offer.
@Future_Steel
Join our Future Steel Forum Group
Kurt Herzog, Head of Department, Primetals Technologies Industrie 4.0
Register now at www.FutureSteelForum.com FSF_2018_1p_Ad_A4.indd 6-7
15/03/2018 10:55