Furnaces International September 2021

INDUSTRY NEWS

FUTURE OF FURNACES REVIEW

SMART CAST HOUSES

www.furnaces-international.com SEPTEMBER 2021

DESIGNING YOUR FURNACE

DESIGNING, BUILDING AND MODERNISING YOUR FURNACES, FOREHEARTHS AND FURNACE EQUIPMENT ®

www.teco.com TOLEDO ENGINEERING / TECOGLAS / ZEDTEC / KTG ENGINEERING / KTG SYSTEMS / EAE TECH

✓SINGLE CHAMBER / MULTI CHAMBER FURNACES ✓SCRAP DECOATING SYSTEMS ✓TILTING ROTARY MELTING FURNACES ✓SCRAP CHARGING MACHINES ✓LAUNDER SYSTEMS ✓CASTING / HOLDING FURNACES ✓HOMOGENIZING OVENS ✓COOLERS ✓SOW PRE-HEATERS ✓REPAIR & ALTERATIONS

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Contents

tc478_TECO_FurnacesIntl_Ad_Sep2021_v09.qxp_Layout 1 22/09/2021 14:43 Page 1

FRONT COVER IMAGE: TECO

PRODUCTS & PROJECTS

MAINTENANCE

INDUSTRY 4.0

www.furnaces-international.com SEPTEMBER 2021

DESIGNING YOUR FURNACE

DESIGNING, BUILDING AND MODERNISING YOUR FURNACES, FOREHEARTHS AND FURNACE EQUIPMENT ®

www.teco.com TOLEDO ENGINEERING / TECOGLAS / ZEDTEC / KTG ENGINEERING / KTG SYSTEMS / EAE TECH

Editor: Nadine Bloxsome

3

Comment

4

Highlights from the Future of Furnaces event

nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855115

Editorial Assistant: Zahra Awan Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855038 zahraawan@quartltd.com

Production Editor: Annie Baker

GLOBAL FURNACES 8

News

18 Applying ‘through-process’ optical profiling to fully understand, what is happening in your aluminium CAB furnace

Sales Manager/Advertisement production: Esme Horn esmehorn@quartzltd.com

22 Autonomous furnace charging for smart cast houses is already a reality

Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855136

LIFE OF A FURNACE Nathan Jupp nathanjupp@quartzltd.com

26

News

30

Conquering Aluminum Furnace Corundum

34

Sibirskoe Steklo completes €20 million furnace expansion

38

Intelligent BOF steelmaking

+44 (0) 1737 8555027

Manuel Martin Quereda manuelm@quartzltd.com +44 (0) 1737 855023

Subscriptions: Elizabeth Barford subscriptions@quartzltd.com

GREENER FURNACES

Managing Director: Tony Crinnion

44

News

50

The untapped potential of oxyfuel in the aluminium industry

CEO: Steve Diprose

Published by: Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000.

Email: furnaces@quartzltd.com www.furnaces-international.com Furnaces International is published quarterly and distributed worldwide digitally

© Quartz Business Media Ltd, 2021

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Furnaces International September 2021

LIGHTENING THE IMPACT OF HEAVY INDUSTRY CALL FOR SPEAKERS NOW OPEN

Application deadline:

15 OCTOBER 2021 We’re looking for people at the frontier of cleaner industrial manufacturing who can ignite a discussion about the path to net zero on a game-changing scale. If you have ideas on, solutions for, or experience of how manufacturers in hard-to-abate sectors can embrace sustainable technologies, we want to hear from you.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR: Presentations that will engage the audience in a highly creative or interactive way Content that is applicable to a broad range of hard-to-abate sectors

Real-world implementations Practical takeaways that attendees can implement, or that drive robust discussions about new ways to improve operations

INTRODUCING THE SIM STEERING COMMITTEE

Nadine Bloxsome Aluminium International Today

Matthew Moggridge Steel Times International

Greg Morris Glass International

Fiacre O’Donnell Vidrala Ltd

Melanie Williams Melanie Williams Consulting

Geoff Matthews EnergyFlex Pty Ltd

Pernelle Nunez International Aluminium Institute

Oscar Verheijen GlassTrend Board

PART OF:

Chris Bayliss Aluminium Stewardship Initiative ORGANISED BY:

APPLY TO SPEAK AT

www.SustainableIndustrialManufacturing.com/Europe

SIM_Europe_CallforPaper_1p_Ad.indd 1

14/09/2021 09:33

Comment

Welcome to the September issue of Furnaces International. This month has been especially exciting for us at Quartz Business Media because we launched the first Future of Furnaces virtual event.

The event took place online on 14th - 15th September and hosted more than 140 experts and industry representatives from across the glass, steel and aluminium sectors. We were really encouraged to see so many delegates online and the amount of engagement across the paltform was one of the highest we have seen on any of our other virtual events.

There is a full review of this event in this issue, but if you did miss the opportunity to join us, you can find out more about the event on the website and we’d be happy to hear from you if you’d like to be involved in the future: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/future-of-furnaces Coming back to this issue and you will hopefully notice a slight change to the structure of the magazine. Our new Editorial Assistant, Zahra, has been busy creating dedicated features that focus on the main furnace projects and updates from across the globe, the life of a furnace and new technologies and projects, and decarbonisation efforts working to create ‘greener furnaces’.

With her help, we’ve also recently launched the monthly Furnaces International Newsletter and the website is now updated daily with news stories, so keep an eye out for these!

Nadine Bloxsome, Editor, Furnaces International, nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

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REVIEW: FUTURE OF FURNACES

The key highlights from the Future o

The first Future of Furnaces event saw more than 140 industry experts join for two days of online discussions, conference sessions and networking opportunities.

Zahra Awan* outlines the highlights from the event including: Exclusive coverage, speaker quotes, company insights and more. There was a general consensus from attendees the key to a successful future of furnaces is the community, which must be kept alive.

The Future of Furnaces event, which took place between 14th - 15th September 2021, marked the first of a chain of conferences whereby companies and industry specialists came together from the glass, steel and aluminium industry, to form a collaborative approach towards a successful future for furnaces. The event discussed the latest technical developments, with regards to Industry 4.0 and sustainability-climate targets.

Held in association with Furnaces International, the event ran brilliantly with more than 140 delegates attending and speakers from across the globe joining discussions on the hopeful future of furnaces, the effects of Brexit and safety standards.

Opening the event was Fabrice Rivet, Environment, Health and Safety Director, FEVE who spoke on ‘Securing our Industry’s Future: Towards ClimateNeutral Container Glass’. The keynote

speaker presented on the glass industry’s goal towards carbon neutrality with regards to container glass.

Mr Rivet detailed the use of electricity and the intention of FEVE’s members to convert towards technology, which will deliver a greener future. The Furnace for the Future (F4F) concept was explained during his presentation with its objectives outlined; the concept aims to melt glass with 80% electricity. Concluding his presentation, it was clear that Mr Rivet relied on the “cooperation of all members and companies” for the transition to a lower carbon using industry.

A focus on the importance of Industry 4.0 changes was emphasised throughout the event, starting with Ametek Land’s speaker, Neil Simpson, Independent Consultant - Simpson Combustion and Energy Ltd. In his presentation ‘Use of In-Furnace Thermal Imaging for 4.0 and Decarbonisation in Steel, Non-Ferrous

and Glass’, the importance of a digital industry, regarding Ametek Land Industry 4.0 new thermal imaging technology, was presented as a key element in enabling a successful efficient sustainable production. Mr Simpson explained how with recording and tracking of a furnace, the health, progress, efficiency, and sustainability of production can be enhanced. Explaining and evaluating images provided by the thermal camera, Mr Simpson demonstrated what could be monitored to enable improvements.

René Meuleman, Director of Business Development, CelSian, elaborated on the importance of maintaining the health of furnaces in his presentation, ‘Tools that Reduce Energy Demanded

by Furnaces While Keeping Quality and Furnace Lifetime Intact’. Mr Meuleman emphasised the importance of data, reiterating the statement “Data is very important… it is key for the development

*Editorial Assistant, Furnaces International

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of Furnaces event of industries.” Providing multiple examples of where data can be used to enhance a process, the importance of data became a point often repeated across all presentations on the first day.

This concept was also supported by Mark Allen, Sales Director, Mechatherm.

His presentation was introduced by Business Development Representative, Terri-Ann Bethell who began with the question: “What does the future of furnaces look like?” The company conducted a study, which researched the possibility of ‘furnaces being intelligent enough to improve its own performance’ using data to produce AI software. The company collected “millions of records” from their furnaces which fed their study.

Their intention was to develop software which would be able to “slowly predict what the furnace will do … the system will purely learn from the furnaces behaviour, how to adapt its performance.” Taking Industry 4.0 to a level similar to that of Dr Frankenstein’s freak creation, Mr Allen himself commented, “It’s alive!”

The conference took a turn to a family business which was formed in 1937, GHI Hornos. CEO, Inigo Guinea, whose focus was on the importance of recycling aluminium, represented the third-generation company. He began his presentation with a series of questions: “Do you know how you will be melting aluminium in the next year, or three years? Do you know what source of energy you will be using in the next five years? Do you know if there is any technology that enables this? Do you know what is available today to help reduce emissions etc?” His points clearly focus on the technology that is needed to enforce the plans and wishes of the manufacturing industry and their customers’ demands. The company, Mr Guinea explained, has broken its goals down into three steps, 1. Digitalisation 2. Decarbonisation 3. Recycling. Here, digitalisation leads. To reach the goal of a greener manufacturing industry, one must, in Mr Guinea’s words, be “[tech] smart to be profitable,” concluding that the key to progression is the development of technology throughout the chain of manufacturing. This is a concept which he similarly preached for with regards to recycling, “recycling has to take place

across the entire plant.”

Next, speaking on behalf of Inspired Energy, was Dan Hulme, Business Development Manager, who introduced the audience to the “Industrial Fuel Switching Competition” in his presentation ‘Net Zero - Future Challenged for Furnace Operators’. The competition is designed to encourage companies to switch to a more sustainable source of energy to replace the traditional fossil fuels to successfully reach the goal of Net Zero. Expected to launch in October 2021, the competition asks for emissions of companies to fall by around two thirds by 2025 and at least 90% by 2050.

As well as AI intelligence and data collection, re-evaluating the format of the furnace was also a theme touched upon. David D’Aoust, Sales Manager – Drosrite™, PyroGenesis Canada Inc, introduced the audience to plasma furnaces in his presentation ‘Plasma Torches: Electric/Zero CO2 Conversion for Fossil Fuel Burners’. Mr D’Aoust stated the commitment PyroGenesis feels towards its responsibility of taking a “huge proportion of the global carbon emission … is a part of their duty.” Taking the 4th state of matter, plasma, PyroGenesis has developed a method of sustainable emission free heating, designed to replace fossil fuel burners. The torches offer 0% combustion as opposed to the hugely polluting traditional fuels.

Following the theme of fuels, Stuart Hakes, Chief Executive, F.I.C. (UK) Limited evaluated the realistic abilities of Hydrogen Fuel, taking its pros and cons into account when considering a longterm solution. Starting off by defining the key differences between multiple sources of Hydrogen, many of which are not sustainable, Mr Hakes delivered a reality check on the supposed ‘universal supply’ of Hydrogen. “Although it may seem unlimited… it isn’t,” reminding the audience that nothing in this world is of infinite supply. Mr Hakes also evaluated the safety of Hydrogen concluding it is in fact incredibly dangerous when handled alongside oxygen. Giving explosive examples of Hydrogen and Oxygen – rocket fuel and the Fukishima explosion which was partially a Hydrogen/Oxygen accident, the usability of Hydrogen, the apparent saviour of the industry,

becomes much less heroic. Mr Hakes does appreciate that although Hydrogen is not a long-term solution, it does provide us with time to develop alternatives, Hybrid Energy.

The concept of hybrid energy was extended by Dirk Schnurpfeil; Research and Development, Nikolaus SORG GmBh & Co. KG. SORG completed a hybrid concept study to compare alongside their ‘Vertical Super Melter’ a full electric furnace, limited at 200 mt/d, the hybrid furnace became the apparent solution to the issue of energy sources and reaching the ever-extending manufacturing demands. Mr Schnurpfeil evaluated the benefits and realistic goals of a Hybrid horizontal furnace similarly to Mr Hakes, falling in line with his conclusion.

Delegates were provided with an additional on demand presentation held

by Claudio Goldbach Chief Executive Officer, Perfil Group. In his presentation, ‘Reducing Emissions and Increasing Output in a Continuous Thermal Process using AI’, Mr Goldbach discussed the possibilities available when using AI, but highlighted the often-overlooked importance of human intelligence in this matter. During the “CO2 Carbon Credit Programme,” where electricity was created from recycling the gasses produced in production, the project used AI to simulate the possibilities available without wasting time on physical models. Using AI, an “equation was used to represent the product.” This provided data on real time production. To conclude, Mr Goldbach appreciated the challenges that are overcome when using AI, but he turned towards the importance of human intelligence stating: “Regardless of the technology used, it is mandatory to involve the human being at the centre of the solution from day one… human intelligence before applying AI.” Mr Goldbach, perhaps unwittingly, stepped forward against a potential Terminator situation.

The Standards Seminar The event returned for a second day on the 15th September, which was in collaboration with the British Industrial Furnace Constructors Association (BIFCA). The event hosted The Standards Seminar, which was adapted following

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REVIEW: FUTURE OF FURNACES

Fabrice Rivet, Environment, Health and

GHI Hornos. CEO, Inigo Guinea, whose

Safety Director, FEVE who spoke on

focus was on the importance of recycling

‘Securing our Industry’s Future: Towards

aluminium, represented the third-generation

Climate-Neutral Container Glass’.

company.

Rene Branders followed, CECOF

Richard Heath, Health, Safety and

President, with his presentation ‘European

Environment Specialist, the Cast Metals

and International Furnace Standards’, raising

Federation. Mr Heath delivered his

the changes presented by Brexit; a theme

presentation on ‘Furnace Operations Safety –

repeated across the BIFCA seminar.

A User’s Perspective’.

the current climate of COVID-19.

Day Two started off with an introduction from the BFICA Chairman Arthur Watson, who kindly thanked Quartz Business Media for providing a platform for industry leaders and companies to hold a discussion that would otherwise have been held in person.

The event proceeded with its first presentation, which was held by Danny Brennan, Director, DB Gas Associates, who delved into the key discussion of safety regulations ‘DSEAR from a Gas Engineers Perspective’. Mr Brennan highlighted the importance of understanding the documents businesses and workers

work against, concluding that with an understanding, the industry can be better in its performance. However, it became apparent that Mr Brennan saw an issue in the regulations and putting them into practice, beginning his presentation with “a lot of this equipment [that had been fitted to pass regulations] was totally unnecessary.” He recalled an anecdote of on installation that was “considerably more hazardous after the reviewed fillings were added.” Mr Brennan presented the audience with a common issue found across all industries, where paper plans are not necessarily the same as physical practice.

Rene Branders followed, CECOF President, with his presentation ‘European and International Furnace Standards’, raising the changes presented

by Brexit; a theme repeated across the BIFCA seminar. Detailing the changes that often take place across safety measures (whether this is EU regulations or UK), however, a generic trend came to attention. Once again, Industry 4.0 made its appearance at the event as Mr Branders noted that the safety regulations that are written are often driven by the most upto-date features and technology (Industry 4.0).

Mr Brennan returned to introduce the audience to the regulations of the CE Mark and its replacement UKCA Mark.

These were then discussed further in depth by Adrian Goodbrand, Director of Sales, Vacuum Furnace Engineering Ltd in his presentation, ‘The Importance of Safety Standards’. Put frankly, Mr Goodbrand explained “safety sells… safety is also the law…. safety is nonnegotiable.” Covering the updated regulations regarding furnaces, furnaces must, as of January 2021 hold a UKCA Mark if they are manufactured for the UK. Mr Goodbrand noted that to fulfil all the regulations that must be met, use of Industry 4.0 technology can be used to identify it. However, for this to work “safety must begin at the design phase” and must consider human error, which was covered by Richard Heath.

Reiterating Claudio Goldbach’s point, for AI to be effective, human intelligence is still required to provide the key data needed for it to be effective, as the biggest safety hazard is human error.

Moving on, Jonathan Farmer Sales Director at Duomo, delivered his presentation on ‘An Overview of Gas Standards in the UK’. Covering the Institute of Gas Engineers and Managers

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(IGEM), an institute “here to support individuals and organisation within the gas industry”, Mr Farmer explained the institute covers eight series of technical standards. A key standard being safety. In 1960 the IGEM provided companies and specialists with guidance and standards.

Mr Farmer moved onto the new EN746UP 12, which is being reviewed for implementation in UK standards.

However, he concluded that “the path forward is still very uncertain”, as it is still very unclear where technology will take safety measures in the future.

Following on from the potential changes to the technology, a reality check was put in place. Human mistake was not overlooked by Richard Heath, Health, Safety and Environment Specialist, the Cast Metals Federation. Mr Heath delivered his presentation on ‘Furnace Operations Safety – A User’s Perspective’, bringing the audience back to mortality.

Beginning his presentation - “I am taking on a different area, one where there is plenty of legislation and plenty of product standards, but one where there are lots of gaps. Some of the gaps are often people based and relate to how workers interact with plans and processes. But also, how management interacts with their workers who operate the furnaces.” Mr Heath discussed the issues with training, whether it is sufficient and whether it accounts for human error. The most important factor. Disclosing an anecdote on workers who “do the wrong things for the right reason.” PPE is presented as a saving grace whilst company standards often lack in understanding the worker.

Often workers do what is “right for the company” but in turn, sacrifice their safety.

Danny Brennan returned for his second presentation on ‘UK Gas Regulations and the Gas Quality Debate’. Explaining how the UK wishes to expand its gas sources in comparison to European standards

following the proposed levels suggested

by CEN/TC: Existing UK 47.20 MJ/m3 to 51.41 MJ/m3 Proposed- CEN/TC 46.44 MJ/m3 to 54.00 MJ/m3 Following a trial conducted testing the proposed limits, the new UK limit was proposed to be: 47.20 MJ/m3 to 53.27 MJ/m3 Following a study testing the CEN/TC limits, although theoretically possible, the effect of increasing limits on gas equipment was taken into consideration as well as usability. “There is a shortage of knowledge on process heating amongst the people who are actually doing the tests.” This therefore relates to the usability and safety of increasing limits to a theoretical level, which was proven not possible. As presented by the data above, put in theory, reality is not the same as theoretical. Mr Brennan concluded that the future must be in cooperation with end users, theories should include the human mind as Mr Goldbach mentioned.

Without realistic safety limits, Mr Heath would have the opportunity to choose from several other safety accident anecdotes.

The two-day event was closed with a presentation delivered by Mark Lindsay, Director of Product Approvals UK. The final presentation, ‘Market Access of the UK’ discussed the effects of Brexit on the safety standards mentioned by Mr Brennan and Mr Farmer. Mr Lindsay outlined the steps that need to be taken following EU changes, detailing the move from the CU Mark to the UKCA Mark. He outlined the differences between the two Marks, which were subtle yet important.

The main changes “when Brexit happened [was] the changes to terminology.” Small

changes, for example: EU Official Body was changed to UK Designed Standards, despite the main body of text being the same, the key terminology changed. The seemingly harmless changes of Brexit became more apparent key elements of unwanted surprises; to understand the documents of safety standards is key to successful safety regulations.

What does the future look like?

The overall message of the event was the emphasis on the community of the manufacturing industry. Despite the current climate of COVID-19 limiting the interaction between companies and individuals on both a professional and personal level, there are still methods of communication available. It is up to us to make use of these and provide a platform which will deliver a better future. As concluded by Mr Branders: “We are together sharing the challenges… together we are stronger, together we are richer with ideas…”

For more information on the Future of Furnaces event and detailed listings of the speakers & exhibitors who attended the virtual conference, visit via: h t t p s : / / a l u m i n i u m t o d a y. c o m / furnaces/conference-programme �

For more on the event and updates on the industry, come back to the December issue where exclusive articles will be published from the Future of Furnaces virtual.

With thanks We would like to thank all of the speakers, exhibitors and delegates who joined us at the Future of Furnaces event. Please let us know any feedback and we hope to be able to host a live version of this event in 2022.

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BLUESCOPE ANNOUNCES GOALS FOR NET ZERO AND THE ROLE OF BLAST FURNACE IN LATEST PLANS Following the announcement of BlueScope’s net profit, the company announced its plans for future funded projects, including projects focusing on furnaces.

BlueScope announced its goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, covering operational scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions across its global operations.

Mark Vassella, Managing Director and CEO of BlueScope said the Company would allocate up to $150 million over the next five years on near-term action on climate change. He elaborated: “This immediate capital allocation will fund our technology plan that seeks to optimise current operating assets and prepare for emerging and breakthrough technologies... We are actively investigating the use of biochar as a replacement for a proportion of pulverised coal injection into the blast furnace, and are seeking government co-funding for this and other pilot projects, including a hydrogen electrolyser to trial hydrogen in-

jection in the blast furnace… We are serious about playing our role in meeting the decarbonisation challenge.”

Mr Vassella announced that the Company would reveal details of its climate action plan when it releases its Climate Action Report in early September.

The company also released an update on the Port Kembla Steelworks Blast Furnace, first announced in February. BlueScope stated that its Blast Furnace No.5 is approaching the end of its current operating campaign, which is expected to occur sometime between 2026 and 2030.

The company also announced that the initial focus is on the option to reline the currently mothballed No.6 Blast Furnace. The pre-feasibility assessment is well progressed as part of a rigorous multi-stage capital investment evaluation process, with further updates to be provided during 1H FY2022. The highly indicative capital cost is around $700$800M, likely to be spent over FY2023 to FY2025.

This pre-feasibility work aligns with BlueScope’s climate strategy and technology pathway. As part of the reline assessment, latest technologies available to reduce GHG emissions intensity will be evaluated as an integral part of the project.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/bluescope-announces-goals-for-net-zero-and-the-role-of-blast-furnace-in-latest-plans

KENTUCKY MACHINE & ENGINEERING CONVERTS TO A LUCIFER FURNACE Kentucky Machine & Engineering took steps towards improving their production process by installing new Lucifer Furnaces’ Dual Chamber furnace-over-oven, to replace gas-fired furnace.

The machine repair business’ new furnace, located in Cadiz Kentucky, features an upper chamber that is programmed to heat to 2200°F while the

lower oven reaches 1200°F. The Dual Chamber furnaces allow its user to harden metals in the upper chamber before being placed in the lower convection oven for temper/drawing.

Both chambers are lined with 4.5” multilayer lightweight firebrick insulation and mineral wool backup precision dry fit to allow for thermal expansion while minimizing heat loss.

Kentucky Machine & Engineering’s investment will shorten their lead times on parts fabricated for their customers. CFO Amy Kuberski said: ”By not having to outsource this piece of the process, the increased size capability and the addition of the draw oven feature saves us a lot of extra time without having to be at the mercy of someone else’s schedule.”

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/kentucky-machine-engineering-converts-to-a-lucifer-furnace

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GILLESPIE & POWERS INC. SUPPLIES NEW BATCH HOMOGENIZING FURNACE TO ELLWOOD ALUMINIUM Gillespie & Powers Inc. has announced an agreement with Ellwood Aluminum for the supply of one 200,000 Lb. Batch Homogenizing Furnace, which will assists with Ellwood Aluminium’s phase 2 expansion in Hubbard OH.

The new furnace, which the company claim will be operational in 2022, marks Gillespie & Powers Inc. fourth addition to Ellwood Aluminium’s expansion. Gillespie & Powers Inc. has previously supplied a Tilting Melter,

Tilting Holder and SOW Drying Oven during their initial plant construction and is excited to be partnering with Ellwood Aluminum in their continued development of their business.

For more information visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/gillespie-powers-inc-supplies-new-batch-homogenizing-furnace-to-ellwood-aluminium

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SECO/WARWICK COOPERATE WITH ANOTHER FORTUNE GLOBAL 500 COMPANY One of the leading Chinese aviation companies has announced a cooperation with SECO/WARWICK and placed an order for a Vector® vacuum furnace for carburizing (LPC) and gas quenching. The furnace will be used for the manufacture of hydraulic pump components and other machinery.

The vacuum furnace ordered by the aviation company will be used mostly for gas quenching parts sensitive to hardening deformations made from such types of steel as tool steel, stainless steel, structural steel, bearing steel or high-speed steel. The device designed

by SECO/WARWICK plans to feature

the LPC option, which will be used for vacuum carburizing.

FineCarb and PreNitLPC are modern and economical methods for low pressure carburizing (LPC). By dosing a nitrogen medium during the controlled heating stage, the carburizing process can be performed under higher temperatures (1000°C and more) while ensuring the small-grain structure of the processed layer. This technology enables savings of process costs by shortening the carburizing cycle and reducing the consumption of process gases.

Maciej Korecki, VP, Vacuum Business Segment at the SECO/WARWICK

Group commented on this development, “We are pleased that a Fortune Global 500 company has placed trust in us and commissioned the manufacturing of this technology,… Our furnace is a guarantee of the perfect quality of workpieces and of a highly repeatable and uniform carburizing process. We understand that the aviation industry is certainly very demanding. Meeting the strictest standards allows us to successfully cooperate with the largest companies in the aviation and automotive industries”

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/seco-warwick-cooperate-with-another-fortune-global-500-company Busch Vacuum Solutions acquires Vacuum Furnace Engineering

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RE-BUILDING YOUR FURNACE

A TECO fact...

Did you know that a high proportion of the equipment we specify for our re-builds can be re-used for subsequent campaigns?

DESIGNING, BUILDING AND MODERNISING YOUR FURNACES, FOREHEARTHS AND FURNACE EQUIPMENT ®

www.teco.com TOLEDO ENGINEERING / TECOGLAS / ZEDTEC / KTG ENGINEERING / KTG SYSTEMS / EAE TECH

NEWS: GLOBAL FURNACES

BUSCH LTD, HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAS ACQUIRED VACUUM FURNACE ENGINEERING (VFE) VFE has provided to material manufacturers since 1985, whilst Busch has 50 years of experience. Busch has claimed that the VFE will remain on the market and will be available to customers that benefit from the team’s expertise in vacuum metallurgy and composites Together, Busch and VFE claim they will share their vacuum expertise, solutions, and service capabilities, to enable an even more comprehensive range of vacuum solutions to the benefit of all our customers.

David Byrne, CEO of VFE, commented: “The advanced manufacturing industry needs to ensure quality in every process. For much of the industry,

that’s synonymous with the product.

But our commitment to helping our customers achieve perfect production and keep their businesses running hinges on more than the quality of parts produced. In order for us to deliver these promises, the integrity of our services is paramount. Under Busch’s ownership, we look forward to serving our customers with extended product offerings, best practices and Busch’s global service network. This will maximise the value that we offer and will help more Customers improve their operations.“ Tim Hulbert, Managing Director of Busch (UK), added: “This is an exciting time for the new

Busch UK team. 2021 is our 50th anniversary in the UK and the acquisition of VFE marks a significant commitment by the Busch group to the UK market, ensuring we are well positioned for further long-term service and growth. I’m delighted to welcome our new VFE colleagues and look forward to delivering the combined benefits of our vacuum solutions for metallurgy and advanced materials to the UK market and further afield… We are stronger together and uniquely positioned to help UK manufacturers become more productive and sustainable through the application of our Busch vacuum solutions.“

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/busch-vacuum-solutions-acquires-vacuum-furnace-engineering Gerresheimer invests furnace expansions for glass manufacturing

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NEWS: GLOBAL FURNACES

GERRESHEIMER HAS INVESTED €50.1 MILLION IN FURNACE EXPANSIONS AT TWO OF ITS PRODUCTION FACILITIES The group has invested the €50.1 million in six months (December 2020 and May 2021) into its Primary Packaging Glass division, which were related to the investments at its Kosamba, India and Lohr, and German facilities.

Gerresheimer has also invested in its production capacity for injection vials and plans to expand its production in

its plants in North America and Europe.

In half year, the financial results of the company reported revenue increase of 3.6% to €320.1 million in its glass division.

It reported that the demand of its cosmetics business recovered in the second quarter of the financial year of

2021 and was higher overall- year on year. The company did experience a sharp drop as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also reported ‘significant revenue increases for high-value solutions in particular, such as Elite Glass products’.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/gerresheimer-invests-furnace-expansions-for-glass-maufacturing

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NEWS: GLOBAL FURNACES

CARBOLITE GERO LAUNCHES A NEW TUBE FURNACE Carbolite Gero’s announced a new range of tube furnaces, developed over 18 months by specialists, industrial designers and skilled engineers.

The new design of new tube furnaces claims to boast the high-quality heating elements and an innovative thermal insulation design in comparison to a classic furnace. With rapid heating & cooling as well as temperature uniform-

ity, the company has also focused on the sustainability of the new furnace, significantly reducing power consumption over previous models.

Optional work tube packages are also available to enable users to equip their tube furnace for operation under vacuum or with a modified gas atmosphere, providing a furnace for individual costumers. The gas packages available op-

timise the inert atmosphere inside the work tube. Gasses available are: nitrogen, argon or carbon dioxide.

Carbolite Gero also featured at the Future of Furnaces event Virtual as an exhibitor, supplying delegates with networking oppotunities and access to resources.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/carbolite-gero-launches-new-tube-furnace

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VISIT US!

HTK High Temperature Chamber Furnaces GPCMA Modified Atmosphere Chamber Furnace

DEBINDING, SINTERING & HEAT TREATMENT

LABORATORY & INDUSTRIAL FURNACES UP TO 3000 °C CARBOLITE GERO manufactures laboratory and industrial furnaces and ovens from 30 °C to 3000 °C. The company has considerable experience in the heat treatment of MIM parts and is a well-known furnace supplier for additive manufacturing (AM) in the field of powder metallurgy.

www.carbolite-gero.com

Carbolite-Gero-TCT-GB-210x297.indd 1

26.08.2021 08:43:20

NEWS: GLOBAL FURNACES

TENOVA CONTRACTED BY METALLOINVEST TO REVAMP OEMK HEATING FURNACE Tenova Italimpianti, announced it received a contract from Metalloinvest for the reconstruction of the Heating Furnace nr. 2 in the second rolling unit of Alexey Ugarov OEMK, in Russia.

As part of the reconstruction, the new design of the walking hearth furnace includes the modification of the combustion system using the new technology burners with the aim to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.

The project aims also to eliminate the formation of a range of defects in

the products, allowing the client to reduce costs and increase volumes of high quality long products (Special Bar Quality, SBQ).

Marcello Tomolillo, service area manager at tenova Italimpianti commented on the task: “Metalloinvest chose Tenova to manage this complex project because of our technical expertise and reliability in terms of time scheduling; we are very pleased to co-operate once again with this important Russian player. In a very

competitive market with a continuous evolution of quality requirements, our clients can keep on top of this fast innovation pace thanks to our technological solutions. Together with our qualified personnel they are able to find the right optimizations for their equipment, so to obtain better performances and reduce operating costs.”

The heating furnace is planned to be commissioned in December 2022.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/tenova-contracted-by-metalloinvest-to-revamp-oemk-heating-furnace

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FIC ads 2019_Layout 1 15/11/2019 10:02 Page 3

, Tomorrow s Technology Today

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GLASS SERVICE

A Division of Glass Service

GLOBAL FURNACES

Applying ‘through-process’ optical p what is happening in your aluminium A products eye view!

Introduction – Do you know what truly happens in your furnace?

In the global Industrial heat-treating market tens of thousands of products are sent through conveyorized ovens or furnaces each and every day. The thermal processing of these products whether heat treating the core material or even curing a surface coating is often critical to the quality or performance of the finished product. Whether aluminium brazing a radiator or curing paint on a car body, achieving the correct process times and temperatures is essential.

Learning what is truly happening to the product inside the black box, that is your furnace, is important and shapes the success of your operation and customer satisfaction.

To fully understand the operational characteristics of the heat-treat process an essential technique is that of thruprocess temperature profiling where the environment and product temperature is continuously measured as the product travels through the process. Such technique provides what is referred to as a ‘temperature profile’ which is basically a thermal finger print for that product in that particular process. This thermal finger print will be unique and allow understanding, control, optimization and validation of the heat treat process. As shown in Figure 2, a temperature profile of a continuous aluminium brazing (CAB) furnace process shows the detailed critical

phases of the heat treatment process each contributing to the quality of the final product.

Root Cause Analysis – Process Profiling Help The temperature profile of any thermal process is invaluable to get a better understanding how the furnace is working and is a critical tool in fault finding when things go wrong, because they do, and they will!

Root cause analysis is a standard tool used in industry to identify the root cause of product or process problems without jumping to conclusions or making knee jerk reactions. In root cause analysis it is important to distinguish between symptoms and problems and drive to find, in the mist of many potential causes, the true root cause.

Taking an example of the Aluminium CAB brazing process, the temperature profile trace may show that the cause of

Fig 1.Thru-process temperature profiling system entering a conveyorized CAB brazing furnace measuring radiator and or air temperatures

Root Cause Analysis – Continuous Aluminium Brazing (CAB) Example – Automotive Radiator Line Symptom Problem Cause Root Cause

High number of radiator rejects identified in QA Poor product quality due to weak braze joints From temperature profiles product braze temperature identified to be too low in Zone 4 Recirculating fan fault in zone 4 resulting in poor non uniform heat transfer to radiators

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GLOBAL FURNACES

profiling to fully understand, m CAB furnace

Fig 2. Typical temperature profile of continuous aluminum brazing furnace (CAB) showing the critical Dr Steve Offley, Product Marketing Manager

a quality issue is due to the product braze temperature in a particular zone of the furnace being too low. This, although identifying a cause does not necessarily explain the root cause. A low product temperature in a particular furnace zone may be due to many possible different root causes – faulty control thermocouple, burner, recirculating fan or even damage to furnace structure / insulation. The low product temperature may in some circumstances not be detected by onboard furnace controls and will require a deeper dive investigation. Identifying the root cause will require inspection at the source of the problem. This action is referred to commonly as “Going to Gemba” a Japanese word which means ‘the real place’. In this situation going to Gemba means investigating what is actually happening in the furnace in a particular zone, at the point of occurrence.

Going to Gemba is not always the easiest of tasks especially when considering identifying the root cause of furnace problems. Any task involving the internal inspection of a furnace generally requires that the furnace is switched off, allowed to cool and then dismantled to allow access by operatives.

Taking our aluminium brazing (CAB) example, internal inspection of the furnace is not a quick and easy task.

temperature transitions

Operating at 550 °C the cool down period is significant to allow engineers safe access for inspection and corrective action and then further delay to get the furnace back up to a stable operating temperature.

Such maintenance action may mean one or two days lost production, from that line, which is obviously detrimental to productivity, meeting production schedules, satisfying key customers and your bottom line.

In addition to process temperature problems there are many other production issues that can be faced relating to the furnace operation and safe reliable transfer of the product through the furnace or oven itself. In the CAB process a day to day hazard of the process is the build up of flux debris. Flux materials used to remove oxides from the metal surface and allow successful brazing can accumulate within the internal void of the furnace. These materials are most problematic at the back end of the muffle section of the furnace where due to the drop in temperature, entering the cooling zone, materials condense out. Flux build up can create many different process issues including; � Physical damage to the conveyor belt or support structure requiring expensive replacement

� Reduction in belt lubricity creating jerky movement and causing unwanted product vibration � Lifting of the belt mesh creating an uneven transfer of products causing possible excessive product movement, clumping or clashing. � Reduction in inner furnace clearance creating possible product impingement issues and blockages

To prevent such problems, regular scheduled inspection and clean out of the furnace is necessary. This is not a pleasant, quick operation, and requires chipping away flux debris with pneumatic tools.

Often requiring a furnace down time of 1 to 2 days, this task is only performed when essential. Leaving the clean-up operation too long though can be catastrophic causing dramatic deterioration in product quality or risk of mid production run stoppages.

Until now there has been no easy way to see how your product travels through the furnace under normal operation conditions or means by which the need for furnace repair or clean down can be confirmed. A new technology called Optical Profiling changes all this and for the first time gives you the means to see what your product sees in production; a true products eye view!

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GLOBAL FURNACES

Fig 3. PhoenixTM Optical profiling ‘Optic’ System - Optical Profile View

Optical Profiling Optical profiling is a new complementary technique to that of ‘thru-process’ temperature profiling.

The new technology allows for the first-time process engineers to view the inner workings of the furnace under normal production conditions.

Travelling through the furnace, with the products being processed, the Optic system gives a product’s eye view of the entire heat treatment journey. Employing similar thermal protection technology ‘thermal barrier’ used in temperature profiling, in place of the temperature data logger a compact video camera and torch are used to record a video of what a product would see travelling through the furnace.

The principle is just like your car’s dash cam, the only difference being that your journey is being performed in a furnace at up to 550°C. The resulting video “Optical Furnace Profile” shows process engineers so much about how their process is operating without any need to

stop, cool and dismantle the furnace. This allows safe routine furnace inspection without any of the problems of costly lost production and days of furnace down time.

Benefits of applying the Optical Profiling principle in conveyorized furnace processes: Furnace Condition Check the condition of the internal walls of the furnace to ensure they are fit for purpose; � Damaged or Distorted panels / Sealing gaps / Corrosion � Build-up of dirt/flux/condensate or general processing debris – Contamination risk – identify need for critical cleaning action � Correct alignment adjustment of ducting to allow correct air flow / convective heat transfer � Identify ignition events or other safety related issues within the furnace

Product Transfer Check that the product travels safely and smoothly through the process without conflict or obstruction; � Conveyor belts run flat and product orientation is kept constant – No belt damage or distortion � No product vibration of excessive movement which may cause damage to product or affect processing step eg: brazing � Check that product is able to pass through without clashing with furnace furniture or product clumping

Condition & Operation of Key Furnace Features Check that key furnace features are working correctly and not damaged; � Fans, Ducting, Control thermocouples, Gas Feed pipes, Zone separation curtains/brushes

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GLOBAL FURNACES

OPTICAL PROFILING “GOING TO GEMBA” NEW TECHNOLOGY BENEFITS � Instant - View the inner workings of your furnace without need to dismantle the furnace or stop production. � New Understandings – See actual heat treat process if visual changes to product possibly for first time. � Production Conditions - See the operation of the furnace under actual production conditions fully loaded. � Time Saving - No delay to Cool, Disassemble, Reassemble as with normal inspection procedures etc. � Complementary Run video profile simultaneously with temperature profile to combine Thermal and Visual information. The complete Picture of your Heat Treat Process.

4.1

4.2

4.3

Fig 4. PhoenixTM Optical profiling system being used in a conveyorized aluminum brazing furnace; 4.1. Optical profiling system entering brazing furnace 4.2. Video profile screen shot – exit of muffle furnace showing heavy flux build up 4.3. Video profile screen shot – vacuum brazing furnace showing faulty IR heating element

Thermal Process Observation Check that the process is being performed correctly where heat treatment action is physically visible; � Brazing – Melt and Flow of filler metal

Summary ‘Thru-process’ optical profiling is a new revolutionary technique for visually inspecting the condition of and also transfer of product through a

continuous furnace. Combining such information with a product temperature profile, process engineers can work with maintenance teams to not only Understand, Control, Optimize and Validate the heat treat process but also Maintain the furnace to protect productivity and quality. Employing the optical profile information preventative maintenance or furnace clean down can be scheduled with confidence, and when problems occur, rapid fault finding

is possible. Furnace inspection as part of the production flow at temperature eliminates, days of furnace downtime, lost production and an interrupted product supply chain. PhoenixTM your CAB process to Find, Fix and Forget your furnace problems! � For more information: Contact Dr Steve Offley, Product Marketing Manager, PhoenixTM Ltd UK; tel: +44(0)1353223100; e-mail: Steve.Offley@phoenixtm.com

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GLOBAL FURNACES

Autonomous furnace charging for sm

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GLOBAL FURNACES

mart cast houses is already a reality The vision of a smart cast house with operator safety is a high priority for any plant operator. This article looks at how this is now becoming a reality thanks to RiA.

RiA 15-tonne Furnace Charging Machine in Europe

The company was originally founded by Gerald Rockstroh, under the banner of Rackwitz Industrieanlagen in the 1990s.

Gerald was the former Technical Director of an Aluminium Plant that is today part of the Hydro Group. Consequently, all RiA Machines have been Engineered with minimal and ease of Maintenance in mind. RiA equipment is recognised as Sturdy, Durable and Reliable and today capable of Manual, Automatic and now even Autonomous Modes of Operation.

Gerald retired in 2018 and his son Michael took over the business and took the decision to develop technology incorporating Machine Vision Smart Cameras, to make intelligent decisions, optimising Performance and increasing Operator Safety. Since that time, all RiA Charging Machines have been supplied without an Operator Cabin on-board. Instead, the Machines have been supplied with a camera on-board and from a remote location the operator could control all of the movements of the Machine based on the images he saw on a monitor from a safe distance, in a Control Room, away from the Furnace. The next step was to introduce air-cooled cameras into the Furnace, capable of operating at high temperatures, to allow the status of the melt to be observed without

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GLOBAL FURNACES

RiA In-Furnace Smart Camera image

needing to open the Furnace door. Once the environmental issues had been tackled, the Machine Vision Intelligence was added, enabling the cameras to automatically identify when the melt was ready for the next load, or would benefit from levelling to open the scrap pile increasing melt rates and finally to determine when the cycle was complete and ready for skimming.

This fully Intelligent capability is already implemented in several Cast Houses Worldwide. The cameras can indicate as the melt approaches readiness and the optimum time when to charge.

If the Charging Machine has been loaded and released, the Machine will move in front of the required Furnace,

open the door, charge the furnace, close the door and then move back to the loading position without any operator interaction. The door opening times are often less than 90 seconds and up to 30 tonnes can be distributed evenly across the hearth during this time. All RiA Machines incorporate accurate Laser position sensors and Laser safety scanners.

As they are rail mounted, all Cast House personnel are aware of the possibilities and direction of movements. Even then if a person or an object is in the path of movement, the Machine will slow down and stop without contacting the object in its path.

The benefits of implementation of such technology in your Cast House include:

� Increased Melt Rates from even distribution of solids in the Furnace � Increased Productivity and reduced Energy Consumption from shorter Furnace Cycles � Reduced Refractory damage ensuring longer Refractory life and more Furnace uptime � Reduced vehicle movements in the Cast House leading to increased Operator Safety and reduced vehicle maintenance � Removal of Cast House Operators, increasing Operator Safety

The vision of a Smart Cast House with Operator Safety a high priority is no longer just a vision for RiA, but already a reality. �

RiA 11-tonne rotating Furnace Charging Machine in Canada

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Glass experts Furnace support Process optimization Training and R&D Celsian’s aim is to minimize the cost of making glass for end users and the environment. We have an agile team of glass experts using proven methods like furnace modelling, laboratory measurements and practical furnace health checks to optimize glass melting processes. We also train operators and glass technologists through our standard course, dedicated programs and various e-learning modules. We strive to be the best partner for optimization of glass production worldwide.

www.celsian.nl . rofiling.. rnace!

Optical Peye thru your fu ….the

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GLASS INTERNATIONAL COMMEMORATIVE BOOK

PhoenixTM Optic System ´Thru-process` Optical Profiling Capture a video

of what your product sees through the entire furnace during a live production run

This commemorative book is a celebration of the International Year of Glass which will highlight the important role that glass plays in the 21st century and beyond.

PUBLISHING MARCH 2022

Ideal for your CAB and Vacuum Brazing line!

Discover so much more

FIND OUT MORE KEN CLARK Sales Director +44 (0)1737 855117 kenclark@quartzltd.com

MANUEL MARTIN QUEREDA International Sales Executive +44 (0)1737 855023 manuelm@quartzltd.com

GLASS-INTERNATIONAL.COM

Combine our Optical and Temperature Profiling Systems.

New Innovative Technology from PhoenixTM www.phoenixtm.com PhoenixTM Ltd UK PhoenixTM GmbH PhoenixTM LLC USA sales@phoenixtm.com info@phoenixtm.de info@phoenixtm.com

NEWS: LIFE OF A FURNACE

YAOYI INVESTS IN THE BRIGHT ANNEALING FURNACE LINE TO IMPROVE STEEL PRODUCTION Yaoyi Stainless Steel has announced the investment of over $150,000 to renovate the Bright Annealing Furnace Line.

Specialists in the research and development, production and sales of

high-precision stainless steel strips for over two decades, the general manager of Yaoyi has announced the investment of over $150,000 to renovate the Bright Annealing Furnace line, which claims it will greatly improve the elongation,

surface and mechanical properties of cold-rolled stainless steel coils.

Yaoyi produces cold-rolled stainless steel strips such as 201, 301, 304, 304L, and 316.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/yaoyi-invests-in-the-bright-annealing-furnace-line-to-improve-steel-production

AVB RECEIVES CARBON-NEUTRAL CERTIFICATE SUPPORTING THE COMPANY’S DEVELOPMENTS OF A CHARCOAL CARBONIZATION FURNACE Brazilian steel producer, Aço Verde do Brasil (AVB) has achieved carbon-neutral steel production, certified by Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).

The company has also invested in the development of a patented charcoal carbonization furnace, set to enter the testing phase later this year.

Located in Brazil’s northern Maranhão state, the company has relied on renewable power and has invested in circular use of raw materials, along with its hot metal production based on eucalyptus charcoal, replacing traditional coking coal. The company has 50,000 hectares of planted eucalyptus for sustainable charcoal and captive pig iron production.

For such a feat, AVB also adopted a series of actions and implemented several technologies such as renewable electricity from hydroelectric plants, reuse of its process gases (BOF and BF), to eliminate the use of fossil fuels, reuse of BF slag in its cement plant and reuse of BOF slag as BF and BOF raw materials.

In a statement answering the concerns of charcoal fuel and its effectiveness against decarbonisation, Ricardo Carvalho, AVB CEO, said: “When we consider the CO2 mass balance of the forest system and calculate the quantities removed/captured by photosynthesis of the forest, during its growth, we understood that the quantities removed/captured are im-

mensely greater than the emissions. It is estimated that 1 hectare of eucalyptus forests can capture about 37 mt of CO2 per year,” The concept has been approved by the GHG Protocol and by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Commenting on the research and development of the new charcoal carbonization furnace,Ricardo Carvalho said, “It is a pilot project but, if successful, it will be the technology used to produce 100% of AVB’s charcoal needs,” Ricardo said. With such a furnace, AVB will be able to further reduce CO2 emissions and the production costs of charcoal.”

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/avb-receives-carbon-neutral-certificate-supporting-the-companys-developments-of-a-charcoal-carbonization-furnace

26 Furnaces International September 2021

As the glass industry looks forward to more sustainable melting, SORG is looking back.

Half a century ago to be precise, when we patented the first all-electric VSM® furnace. While everyone else catches up, we’re still leading the way with bright ideas. And with the need to reduce emissions more important than ever, the time to get switched on is now.

Find out more at sorg.de

NEWS: LIFE OF A FURNACE

AMETEK LAND IMPROVES FURNACE PRODUCTION AT SGD PHARMA GLASS FACILITY Ametek Land has announced that in-furnace thermal imaging has been improved to optimise the borosilicate glass production at a SGD Pharma’s manufacturing facility in France.

SGD Pharma chose Ametek Land’s Near Infrared Borescope (NIR-B-656Glass) in-furnace thermal imaging system to optimise the production and quality of borosilicate glass from its new 50tpd oxy-gas furnace at its St Quentin Lamotte, France, facility.

The new system replaces the company’s existing CCTV system.

Obtaining clear images from the furnace using the CCTV system proved challenging due to the aggressive furnace atmosphere, which often resulted in blurry images and inconsistent, inaccurate measurements.

The NIR-B-656- Glass solution pro-

vides SGD Pharma with a true-temperature radiometric image, so live continuous temperature values can be obtained.

The high quality of the purge applied on the lens delivers a clear image, providing the same views as the previous CCTV system managed at its best.

The most important benefit is the capability to obtain a furnace thermal profile continuously in the oxy-gas furnace, confirming the hot spot locations are well aligned with the furnace design and batch line. This supports the optimisation of the production and quality of the borescope glass while also helping extend the furnace’s campaign life.

Francois Deblock, Glass Melting Director at SGD Pharma, said: “We are very pleased with the results we have achieved so far from Ametek Land’s Near Infrared Borescope, as it has allowed

us to improve response times, identify and troubleshoot furnace operations to achieve improved yield and higher pull, as well as lower specific energy usage.

“We expect this will mean high cost and efficiency savings over the lifetime of the furnace.”

Ametek Land was also represented at the Future of Furnace event virtual by Neil Simpson, Independent Consultant - Simpson Combustion and Energy Ltd. In his presentation ‘Use of In-Furnace Thermal Imaging for 4.0 and Decarbonisation in Steel, Non-Ferrous and Glass’, the importance of a digital industry regarding Ametek Land Industry 4.0 new thermal imaging technology was presented a key element in enabling a successful efficient sustainable production.

For more information visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/ametek-land-improves-furnace-production-at-sgd-pharma-glass-facility Image taken by Ametek Land

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FIC ads 2019_Layout 1 15/11/2019 10:03 Page 4

, Tomorrow s Technology Today

Are you interested in CO2 reduction?

Come to FIC for superboosting and large all-electric furnaces – we have the answers to reduce carbon footprint

l Innovative all-electric furnace designs l Electric boost for extra tonnage and reduced emissions l Versatile bubbler systems to eliminate floor wear l All-electric forehearths reducing energy consumption by up to 80% 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

LIFE OF A FURNACE

Conquering Aluminium Furnace Co Effective controls for corundum growth that improve quality and cut costs.

Aluminium processors face constant challenges to their aluminium melt operations. Due to robust demand, processors often operate these furnaces at higher temperatures to maximize production rates. As a result, one of the costliest operational challenges is the aggressive formation of corundum deposits in their furnaces.

Excessive, damaging, and costly corundum growth can be mitigated with the right refractory materials, coupled with the correct maintenance and watchful operation.

Root causes of corundum growth Corundum growth in a refractory lining of an aluminium furnace occurs due to a reaction between the alumina-silicate refractory and molten aluminium.

Corundum formation can occur both externally and internally in the refractory lining.

There are four identifiable root causes that promote corundum growth: 1.

High temperature 2.

Presence of oxygen 3.

Alloy composition 4.

Use of fluxes and fluoride salts High temperatures accelerate the reduction of oxides in the refractory.

The higher the temperatures, the more quickly non-wetting agents lose their effectiveness. Aluminium begins to penetrate the refractory matrix because of decreases in aluminium viscosity and surface tension. Excessive furnace temperature can be the result of several causes: overfiring, improper furnace control, or inaccurate thermocouple placement. For example, a thermocouple that is recessed into the refractory lining by two inches may underreport temperatures by several hundred degrees.

Oxygen drives the reaction process in two ways: as an atmospheric gas, and as a reducible oxide in the refractory.

Minimizing oxygen by controlling negative pressure sources such as doors,

windows, and well openings reduces the potential for reaction. Proper flue sizing and burner stoichiometry also reduce excess oxygen and improve furnace energy efficiency.

Alloy composition can be a factor. Some aluminium alloys contain elements that reduce the silica as well as iron oxide, zinc oxide and other oxides in refractories.

Careful attention is necessary in choosing an appropriate refractory for more aggressive aluminium alloys to reduce the potential for reaction.

Use of fluxes and fluoride salts like cryolite Na3AlF6 in aluminium melting accelerate the reduction of oxides in the refractory. Their alkaline properties also reduce the local melt temperature of the refractory at the bellyband and then infiltrate the furnace lining. Over time, with lack of regular maintenance, the corundum buildup will reduce furnace performance and increase aluminium loss.

Trouble spots The spread of corundum growth occurs most commonly in areas where its formation mechanisms of heat and oxygen are present. Typical problem areas include doors, openings, flue areas, and burner cones due to the potential for excess oxygen. Negative furnace pressure can also lead to leakage from the outside.

Other common areas of formation include rear walls and bellyband areas where regular cleaning and maintenance are more difficult.

Control and avoidance The key to fighting corundum starts with choosing the proper refractory material for molten aluminium contact.

Plibrico pioneered the development of effective refractory additives that combat corundum, including non-wetting additives, dense oxide barrier formers, and pore-size reducers. These additives can be found in Plibrico products, including the following: � The Plicast Al-Tuff® system, which increases wetting resistance and reduces

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LIFE OF A FURNACE

orundum

Corundum under heat expansion cracks the refractory lining

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the potential for oxidation-reduction of the refractory � Plibrico’s Al-Shield™ refractories, which form a reactive layer to resist molten aluminium penetration up to 2000°F � Phos-bonded castables like Plibrico’s Exo-set Uno™, which offer good resistance to metal slag penetration, especially in higher temperatures, and adhere well to the existing refractory for repairs In general, PliPartner refractory contractors tell us that they find phos-bonded plastic refractories to be excellent repair materials for aluminium processors. They are usually low in free silica and nonwetting. The material bonds chemically to existing refractory, making them easier to install, and phos-bonded plastic refractories are an excellent solution for corundum growth at the bellyband.

Best practices that will help A regular maintenance plan can go a long way to increasing refractory life; a schedule is essential. A knowledgeable refractory expert with genuine experience in aluminium heat processes can help with ideal schedules and checklists.

Corundum buildup is a common concern among aluminium furnace end users. Optimally, longevity of a

Corundum (Al2O3) forms when molten aluminum is in contact with refractory, accelerated by oxygen

furnace lining depends on best practices in refractory materials and installation methods, knowing the past refractory performance history to evaluate future performance, managing expectations of furnace production output, and monitoring regular maintenance and operation of the furnace.

These factors are measurable key performance indicators that will help

decision makers design and build good refractory linings for the demanding needs of aluminium producers today.

Considering these factors and balancing them according to the producers’ needs can deliver a higher-quality product for longer life. �

www.plibrico.com/resources/

Corundum growth in the same furnace after 13 months. Heat and atmospheric oxygen continue to feed the corundum reaction in the furnace chamber

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SAVE THE DATE

ALUMINIUM FORUM DIGITAL

1-2 DECEMBER 2021 DIGITAL EVENT

WHAT’S NEXT FOR INDUSTRY 4.0?

Join us for another virtual conference on 1-2 December 2021, to address the challenges behind implementing Industry 4.0 technologies and find out why building digital culture across an organisation is key to a fully digital transformation.

While we may not be able to meet physically yet, the aim of this event is to bring key stakeholders from the industry together to talk and discuss the most relevant topics of the day.

Alongside the two-day conference and virtual networking areas, participants will also be invited to join live discussions and will have the opportunity to meet with new contacts, arrange video meetings and exchange resources and information.

REGISTER NOW FROM AS LITTLE AS £49 (Early bird rate expires 17th September)

To find out more and be part of the future, contact: Nadine Bloxsome Conference Director nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com +44 1737 855115 Nathan Jupp Sales Manager nathanjupp@quartzltd.com +44 1737 855027

www.FutureAluminiumForum.com

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LIFE OF A FURNACE

Sibirskoe Steklo completes €20 mi Siberian container glass manufacturer Sibirskoe Steklo recently completed the expansion of Furnace No1 at its Novosibirsk, Russian facility. Its CEO, Pavel Bobosik, discusses the investment as well as market conditions in the region.

Why did you decide to make this investment?

There were two main reasons. The furnace was already working for 11 years (construction started in 2007) and another reason was to increase overall efficiency by extending the furnace, modernising it and adding another feeder with two new forming machines.

This way we will get an energy efficient glass melting furnace with a daily pull between 375 tonnes up to 410 tonnes (compared to the previous 255 daily pull) with five forming instead of three ten section machines.

one is having colouring in the feeder. It helps us to serve the luxury bottle market to local customers. Our total daily melting capacity went from 320 tonnes in 2013 to 620 daily tonnes last year through a serious of investments and adding lines to existing furnaces. We have now reached a daily capacity of at least 780 tonnes of bottles with 12 glass forming machines.

How big is the new furnace and how many bottles do you anticipate to supply once it is fully ignited?

As said before, the pull was significantly increased, but with 130m2 and very good boosting from FIC we can manoeuvre with the capacity according to the needs of the market and the needs of our key customers.

We are ready to change colour through the year from amber to green and to flint.

Actually the previous condition of this furnace (Furnace No.1) did not allow us to do that. We do have two other furnaces operating in flint glass only, but the large

Can you tell me more about your company?

Our company is split from the previously known Ecran factory. In the framework of restructuring we split the assets.

Ecran is today a management company on the Industrial park – a brownfield territory with many industrial and nonindustrial tenants, which is not needed for Sibirskoe Steklo and glass bottle manufacturing.

Both companies belong to the industrial holding RATM. The company started to produce only flint glass on very old machines during the 1990s for local vodka manufacturers mostly in Western Siberia

and for local processors of vegetable and fruit juices they also produced simple jars. After 2000 the number of furnaces was extended and around 2006 the first new machines from the Czech company Sklostroj were installed.

After good development of the market, in 2007 it was decided to build up a new largest furnace (current No.1) for production of amber glass with three ten-section double gob new machines from Sklostroj. The booming market with beer and demand for amber BB bottles was stopped with the global financial crises in 2009 and consequent decline of purchasing power and demand for beer in Russia. Anyway, at the end of 2009 was decided to finish the almost ready made project and in spring 2010 the new capacity was available to the market.

Ecran/Sibsteklo in those days could produce amber and flint glass packaging.

With regards to the still bad market in Siberia and overall in Russia at that time, it was necessary to heavily export. Up

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illion furnace expansion

to 60% of production volume went to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan.

It was also good for training of personnel, because of lack of high professionals, and very well trained people, the quality was fully sufficient to sharply increase quality requirements from our global customer producing beer in Siberia.

It is interesting, but only a few people know that the absolute majority of beer in Russia is produced by ABInBev, Carlsberg and Heineken and local independent breweries play little role on the market.

I often make jokes that Novosibirsk - the city where Sibirskoe Steklo is based and produces its wonderful glass packaging, is the capital of the global beer industry!

I have been around beer and glass for 30 years and never have been in a city, where the distance between breweries of global 1 and 2 and 3 is between 12 and 15km.

Maybe I could be wrong, But it shows the potential of our very local market and also it proves our quality due to constant quality inspection on the spot from those

global leaders. Above that, our furnaces are more or less in the same distance from their bottling lines. Another large advantage is that we have also local larger breweries in distance according to Russian conditions in relative proximity -250 and 400km. They take care of glass bottles, they value beer in glass bottles, they are financially stable and their forecasting is accurate. They are buying each around 50 million bottles and another one, which is more far away is buying more than 100 million. Those brands, they have no decline, even in Covid times.

So we have a large and diversified pool of customers in Western Siberia. We only missed green glass, which is now no problem with the introduction of the new furnace. Above that we are almost constantly sold out in flint glass. In the past two years we observed a passion of marketing people at large breweries to bottle the beer into flint bottles. Me, as a citizen of Czech Republic with very solid opinion about all aspects of beer, have

internal issues with that, to see Pilsner type of beer to be packed into flint glass, but local marketers and customers are always right so we needed to shift part of our capacity for vodka, mineral water bottles and jars to serve beer markets with flint beer bottles.

As said, a small part of our production around 5% are jars. We are quite lucky also with the vodka market for our vodka bottles. Although many vodka manufacturers moved their bottling capacities into the European part of Russia, because of the high density of population there and proximity of markets, we still have in the city very modern bottling capacity of the largest Russian vodka manufacturer - Russian Standard which we serve. Around us are also two other top vodka manufacturers and a couple of smaller. So the vodka market remains for us the second most important market. Another advantage is that we are the most easterly large glass packaging manufacturer in Siberia.

Therefore we supply customers from Ural to Vladivostok and Kamchatka. And there are many smaller vodka manufacturers and some beer manufacturers including global companies. The size of the Far East market and certain instability on the market however does not make feasible to build up capacity there, something what we would do if it makes sense.

How many people were involved in the construction? How was the construction period in regards to Covid-19?

In construction works have involved over 120 people, mainly from Russia, some of them representatives of European companies-suppliers, which due to Covid limits were not able to cross the borders.

The Covid-19 caused twice the postponement of construction. First one in spring 2020, where we have materials from China about three weeks later, same have been refractories from Europe with some delay. All other supplies have been from Europe and they arrived on time.

But postponing construction into the beginning of the season was not good for our customers, so we decided to postpone it for autumn, before severe weather hits Novosibirsk. In the end, the positive market and high demand for bottles in autumn did not allow us to make enough stock for the upcoming

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season of 2021 and we have been forced to postpone it for another time to the end of January and beginning of February. On the other hand, it gave us an opportunity to assemble a new feeder, complete all cold end and make cold tests of our newly acquired two glass forming machines, which will operate on new forehearth in tandem. The biggest challenge was not availability of representatives from Europe at assembly and tests, with few exceptions, but with modern technology and mastery of our team we have been to overcame this Covid-19 obstacle What factors made you choose this furnace?

I will not hide that the biggest argument for construction of this furnace was economic efficiency. And of course, once you invest you are today in Russia forced to make environmental and energy efficiency measures. Russia signed the Paris Climate Protocol and from next year to 2027 will introduce a lot of new norms and we must be ready.

What else did the investment involve?

We have purchased new inspection equipment, modernised all existing equipment including batch house, conveyors lines, cooling system. Therefore, in spite of postponing construction of a new furnace, we fully utilised given time (almost a year) with making such investments and improvements, mostly with our own stuff, which pulled down the total costs significantly. Anyway, the total investment was over €20 million.

Was digital technology a part of the investment?

Yes, partially. Some decisions still have to be made. I am a big fan and believer of digital technology in our industry. I do believe in the ‘dark factory’.

So we made a lot of preparation and on one line we installed a complete system of monitoring and evaluation of the process until packaging. We are in constant touch with companies operating in this area. Above that, Novosibirsk with its Akademgorodok – the Russian version of Silicon Valley has a strong scientific base for digital technology. We work together on a few projects with them around digitalisation of bottle manufacturing.

What is the glass market currently like in Siberia?

The current market, especially due to Covid-19, is shaky and fragile everywhere.

In Siberia we have been a little bit more lucky in our market, because nobody from our customers was producing beverages for restaurants, which have been here also closed for a long time.

So our bottles go to retail, and retail was not hit, because consumption moved to households and weekend houses unlike in European part of Russia, where consumer habits and share of glass bottles for restaurant consumption is much larger.

Also we do not export except Kazakhstan. Many of our colleagues in European part of Russia suffered due to Covid, closed restaurant market for their products and due evaporating exports to Europe. We have to fight with many challenges in the field of ecological payments, Russian government requires a 100% collection rate now and wants the responsibility transferred to bottle manufacturers. Two years ago, our company Sibirskoe Steklo together with Ruscam started the Association of Glass Packaging as an independent association from post-Soviet Steklo Soyuz to fight these issues.

We have been active and currently we are members of different committees at Ministries, Russian Parliament and government bodies.

This enables us to stop measures, which would have a negative impact on our market and at the end on health of consumer and environment. Plastic is still the biggest threat to us with increasing pressure of aluminium dose, which we expect this and next year. However, if exports rebound, I am not pessimistic about the prospect of stability on Russian market for glass bottles.

We are producing more ecological bottles, the transfer to NNPB technology is almost complete and many brands of vodka are delivered in NNPB bottles.

Once I arrived in Ekran to make restructuring of the factory, our average beer bottle weighed between 340-360 grams. Today, this is only between 265 and 285 grams.

We constantly work on increasing the share of cullet in our batch and investing into equipment for processing of cullet in glass factories. We do invest into a system of collection. This is not only economical and environmental measure, but also it makes glass bottles more attractive. We can see transfers in sizes of bottles. Bottles are getting smaller, from 500ml in a beer bottle to 465ml. Even 100ml bottles are popular in the vodka segment.

What message do you give your customers after this investment?

First of all, the message is that we are a very stable company. Financially stable with our team and reliable. Further, they can get green bottles in Siberia.

Also that we trust them, therefore we invested. We trust in their long term strategy in Siberia and we feel committed to their strategy. And I do hope that our investment presents for them stability in supplies, reliability and increased quality and also move to a more ecological production.

How would you like the company to evolve over the next five years?

I think that this question would be mostly relevant five years ago, where we have been with our team on the beginning of our big journey to make Sibirskoe Steklo a strategic company in Siberia. Now, five years later, with construction of new furnace No.1, limits of size of market, inability to export except to countries like Kazakhstan, Mongolia etc. due to large transport distances we are close to our limits.

But as you know, in manufacturing, you are never finished with evolution.

We still need to upgrade several forming machines, we need to extend proper warehousing capacities and we will work on digitalisation. This is most important.

Achieving higher efficiency without investments into digital technology will be not possible. Also environmental challenges will not keep our sleep intact.

We are just to acquire new location for sand in order to avoid transport of sand from 1700km distance and invest there.

Our investment into increasing cullet flow will continue. We do have projects, which is study phase, on how to acquire soda in Siberia. So you can see, there is always something what you can to grow and be responsible and efficient .

But mostly, I am happy for the journey which we went through with our holding RATM, with our owner Eduard Taran, and mainly with our team of professionals at Sibirskoe Steklo.

From the very beginning it was not easy, but finishing our largest furnace No. 1 is the nice ending of the most difficult part of our journey to make Sibirskoe Steklo an important factory within Russian glass container industry and absolute leader on territory between Ural and Kamchatka. � Sibirskoe Steklo, Novosibirsk, Russia www.sibstek.ru

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PUT THE DATES IN YOUR DIARY

MANUFACTURING CONFERENCE D I G I TA L E V E N T | 9 – 1 0 N OV E M B E R 2 02 1 Introducing the Renewable Glass Manufacturing Conference, taking place from 9-10 November 2021.

This two day virtual event will highlight some of the potential solutions the glass industry has in order for it to be net zero/low carbon in its manufacturing processes, particularly ahead of the 2050 deadline agreed at the Paris Summit.

Topics covered will be sustainable glass manufacturing such as the use of electric glass manufacturing, hybrid furnaces, biofuels, hydrogen etc.

The Renewable Glass Manufacturing conference will include presentations from Coca-Cola, Diageo, Wiegand-Glas, Encirc and Steklarna Hrastnik.

REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.GLASS - INTERNATIONAL.COM

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LIFE OF A FURNACE

Intelligent BOF steelmaking Tenova’s i BOF® platform is a comprehensive array of BOF automation and process control modules designed to increase productivity and yield, reduce fugitive and particulate emissions and lower operating costs for all phases of the BOF process from charge management through to secondary metallurgy and degassing. By Dr. DJ Zuliani*

Process phases

Figure 1. Tenova’s i BOF® platform provides control and optimization across all BOF steelmaking process steps

Tenova’s iBOF® platform provides control and optimization across all BOF steelmaking process steps (Figure 1).

The i BOF® process modules include slop control, endpoint control, auto tapping and slag carryover control as well as charge management and level 2 automation (Figure 2). Each can operate independently and can be added individually or as a complete i BOF® solution. Tenova also offers a BOF post combustion control module for increased scrap melting, and secondary metallurgy modules for degassing endpoint control using insitu laser off-gas analysis and for alloy cost optimization, which are beyond the scope of this article. iBOF® Digitalized Systems enable modules to standalone iBOF® communicate and thereby work together as part of an ‘intelligent’ network.

iBOF® control modules Slop Control Slopping occurs when molten slag foams uncontrollably and spews from the converter mouth. Unless a deliberately conservative blowing practice is employed, most BOF shops will encounter slopping once the rate of CO generation peaks after silicon oxidation. Table 1 outlines the substantial savings attainable with better slop control [1,2,3,4].

Figure 3 illustrates how Tenova’s slop control module functions [4]; � an accelerometer attached to the lance carriage, continuously monitors lance vibration; � proprietary software analyzes the vibration data in real-time; � specialized cameras facilitate tuning of the slop detection model; � the System is tuned to alarm 20-

40 seconds before visible slopping with minimal false alarms; � the slop alarm triggers dynamic mitigation (lance height, O2 blowing rate, CaO); and, � once the slopping threat has ended, the system dynamically returns to standard blowing conditions (Figure 4).

The benefits of Tenova’s slop control module are summarized in Figure 5; to date, 10 Tenova slop detection systems have been successfully installed in North America and Europe with six additional systems currently pending. Figure 5.

Endpoint control Poor endpoint control manifested as reblows, overblows or blowing down high/mid-carbon grades to ~0.04%C before ladle recarburization causes yield

* Director, Tenova Goodfellow Inc. Canada. Email: doug.zuliani@tenova.com 38 Furnaces International September 2021

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Figure 2. i BOF® modular platform Figure 3. Schematic of Tenova’s slop control module

Figure 4. Lance profile (bottom line) and oxygen flow (top line); normal conditions (Region A), dynamic slop mitigation (Region B) with dynamic return to

Figure 5. Slop detection and mitigation benefits verified in five European BOF

normal blowing

vessels [2]

Table 1. Savings with effective slop control (USA steel plant)

and productivity losses, elevated tap ppm [O], increased slag FeO and excessive tap alloy consumption. To ensure a robust, low cost endpoint solution, Tenova’s latest generation endpoint control module includes: � real-time mass and energy (‘M&E’) balance software incorporating fundamental thermodynamic and kinetic equations to better model the nonequilibrium near-end of blow conditions when carbon, iron and phosphorous oxidation can occur concurrently; � patented NextGen® hybrid extractive/laser off-gas analysis technology, proprietary off-gas velocity and temperature sensors and a PLC link provide all the measurements needed to close a precise real-time M&E balance (Figure 6). NextGen®’s multipoint capability reduces hardware, installation costs and maintenance by enabling continuous, simultaneous off-gas

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Figure 6. Tenova’s patented NextGen® hybrid extractive/laser system

Figure 7. Application of the multipoint NextGen® analyzer system to a 3 BOF shop

Figure 8. Left. Predicted sec-by-sec evolution of slag chemistry

Table 2. Verified savings on low carbon heats using Tenova’s endpoint detection system

Table 3. Confirmed savings with a catch carbon practice using Tenova’s endpoint detection system

analysis on multiple BOFs with a single central cabinet (Figure 7).

With the real-time M&E balance, Tenova’s technology provides a precise endpoint solution:[5] � Reliable [C] and temperature endpoint control for low carbon grades: By eliminating assumptions or statistical models, Tenova’s M&E balance approach is capable of predicting endpoint carbon to within 0.01% and temperature within 17 °C on about 90% of low carbon heats, thereby generating significant operating cost benefits (Table 2). Typically, low carbon heat savings range from $1.00 $1.25 per tls. � Catch carbon practice for midand high- carbon grades: Stopping a blow

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Figure 9a

Figure 9b

Fig 9a and 9b. Upper – turn down too early at high [%C] when using 0.1%P hot metal can result in [%P] exceeding the 0.015% max spec. Lower – overblowing the heat can result in [P] revision

with precision at higher carbon levels is difficult; Tenova’s catch carbon endpoint detection system has demonstrated a 60% reduction in endpoint standard deviation on mid/high carbon grades thereby avoiding recarburization in the ladle, higher operating costs, higher tap oxygen levels and increased tap alloy consumption. Table 3 shows using a 0.05% ‘catch carbon’ practice instead of an 0.04% recarburization practice reduces endpoint [O] ppm and tap alloy consumption with savings between $1.65- 3.15 per tls. � Complete slag and bath chemistry prediction from start-to-end of heat: Tenova’s fundamental model predicts the evolution of both slag and bath chemistries from start-to-end of heat providing a valuable data base for i BOF® digitalization advanced analytics and continuous improvement. Fig 8. � Improved phosphorous endpoint control: Tenova’s endpoint model predicts near-end of blow [P]. With 0.04%, HM [P], the endpoint carbon window to hit < 0.015% [P]max is quite wide and phosphorous reblows are rare. However, Figure 9 shows that, at 0.1% HM [P], early turn-downs and over-blowing can both result in over spec [P].

i. Auto-tapping Tenova uses specialized software, cameras and image recognition to automatically and safely control BOF tapping. The aim is to maintain the optimum tilt angle, maximize the ferrostatic head over the taphole, delay the onset of a vortex and minimize slag entrainment in the tap stream.

Typical auto-tapping benefits are summarized in Table 4.

The i BOF® Auto-tapping solution incorporates many specialized

technologies which can be configured to either enable fully automated tapping without operator intervention or to provide an optimum tilt angle guidance curve for the operator to follow. In both cases, the aim is to maximize the ferrostatic head over the taphole and avoid an early slag vortex which causes excessive slag carryover.

A ladle view camera and car positioning algorithm confirm ladle positioning and freeboard.

operating constraints from ‘must have’ to ‘high priority’ to ‘relaxed’ – the model uses a least squares method to find the optimum solution; if it is unsolvable, the best suboptimal solution will be calculated. Fig 12.

Confirmed i BOF® charge management benefits include: � 1.5% reduction in reblows; � 0.15% increase in yield � 62% of heats stopped within 10% of target � Improved ppm [O] and [P] endpoint control � Offline optimization analysis

Charge management with optional level 2

i BOF® DIGITALIZATION

Charge management is critical – it balances raw material costs against productivity, yield and steel quality requirements. i BOF® charge management properly evaluates all these factors and provides a comprehensive management tool that includes a static charge model together with scrap optimization and ferro-alloy optimization models to maintain the lowest cost scrap mix while ensuring correct steel chemistry.

Tenova’s optional level 2 is a fully open, flexible supervisory system that executes the charge management models in the correct sequence using the correct data to properly account for production delays, changes in HM temperature and chemistry, changes in scrap densities and chemistry, flux requirements and grade specifications. Figure 10.

Effective charge management is critical to the BOF process from defining the HM/ scrap ratio, optimizing the scrap mix, trim additions and tap alloys and defining the end of the blow. Fig 11.

The i BOF® static charge model allows the steel plant to tailor its specific

Fig 13 shows that individual steel plants can install one or more i BOF® control modules and then add the corresponding i BOF® digitalization which enables each module’s process control computer to connect to Tenova’s digital diagnostic centre via the internet.

To comply with each steel plant’s data security protocols, data from the onsite i BOF® control modules can be transferred either in batches, continuously, or on demand/request to a remote server.

Tenova offers two data storage options to meet each plant’s highest security requirements: the highly secure Microsoft Azure Cloud, or a secure dedicated Tenova server.

In compliance with each steel plant’s data security protocol, i BOF® digitalization creates a large data pool for the installed i BOF® control module(s).

As shown in Fig 13, Tenova created a digitalized programme, Service 4.0, that provides ongoing service, support and continuous improvement functionality for each i BOF® control module – each steel plant can tailor the level of Service

Furnace lip camera for ‘slag on the lip’ detection

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A

B

C A. Furnace lip camera for ‘slag on the lip’ detection B.Ladle view camera, car positioning algorithm confirm ladle positioning and freeboard C. Stream and slag detection camera D.HMI display – system information, tap-time

C

calculation and optimum furnace trajectory

D

4.0 coverage that best meets its priorities.

Service 4.0 is designed to provide each steel plant with the following functionality: � Performance monitoring:

Tenova uses the incoming data to monitor each i BOF® control module including both hardware and process control model performance. Where appropriate,

monitoring also uses Tenova’s proprietary digital image recognition software to seamlessly provide image acquisition, analysis, event confirmation, severity recognition, image registration, registered image comparison, and improved performance. As noted above, data is transferred from each i BOF® control module to the Tenova digital centre cloud or steel plant dedicated server either in batches, continuously or on request; � Dashboards: The incoming data are used to generate real-time KPI-driven dashboards that are displayed on each i BOF® control module’s web-based HMI. These dashboards are designed to provide steel plant management with a rapid assessment of hardware health, maintenance and repair status, and process control model performance; � Model tuning portal: Tenova provides a web-based portal for steel plant users to upload data to retrain an existing i BOF® model whenever the dashboards indicate declining performance. Data can be quickly uploaded, the model is automatically retrained on the new data set, and a performance report is issued to assess the new model. If desired, the newly tuned model can be downloaded, quickly installed, and used on the next heat; � Remote access: When required, Tenova engineers can request remote access to an i BOF® control module to enable prompt, low-cost technical support and rapid system diagnostics and repairs; � Advanced cross-correlation data analysis: Tenova’s data scientists use advanced analytics and machine learning on the large i BOF® data pool to assess the performance capabilities of each i BOF® control module. In addition, the entire data pool is analyzed to identify cross-correlation between various installed control modules – for example, determining the cross-correlations between slop frequency and endpoint prediction, or correlating the rate of CO generation with slop initiation; � Continuous performance improvement: i BOF® digitalization allows monitoring of each process control model’s performance to identify when adjustments are required, to maintain peak performance by rapidly and retraining process models, to install software patches as required, and to develop cross correlation algorithms that further improve system performance. �

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Figure 10. Tenova’s i BOF® Charge Management

Figure 11. Charge Management touches every part of the BOF Process

and level 2 supervisory system

Figure 12. i BOF static charge model provides the optimal charge mix

Figure 13. Tenova’s i BOF® Digitalized System of Onsite

solution with complete user flexibility

Process Control Modules connected to Tenova’s Off-Site Digital Diagnostic Centre

References

Table 4. Tangible and non-tangible benefits with Tenova’s auto-tap technology

1. Shakirov, M., Boutchenkov, A., Galperine, G.; Schrader, B., “Prediction and Prevention of Slopping,” ISSTech 2003 Conference Proceedings, p. 655-666, 2003 2. Scipolo, V. Zuliani, D., Todorovic, I., “Update on Tenova’s Intelligent i BOFTM Technology and Slop Detection System (SDS)”, AISTech Conference, Indianapolis In, 2014 3. Evestedt, M; Medvedev A.,” Model-Based Slopping Detection in a Top-Blown Steel Converter,” Department of Informational Technology, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2007 4. Kafie, J.; Babaei, B.; Scipolo, V., “ BOF Slop Detection – Savings Potential with Real-Time Slop Detection & Mitigation Technology”, AISTech Conference, Cleveland, OH, 2015 5. Zuliani, DJ; Scipolo, V., “i BOF® Technology Improves BOF Process Control, Endpoint Detection & Slop Mitigation”, AISTech Conference, Pittsburgh PA, 2016

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LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT CEMENT CREATED

BY LIBERTY GALAŢI BLAST FURNACE SLAG LIBERTY Galati, as a first for the company, exported 50,000 tonnes of blast furnace slag, which will be converted into low carbon cement at a specialist factory in France.

A ship loaded with granulated blast furnace slag, which is a by-product of the steel making process take from LIBERTY Galati’s own facilities, was sent to a manufacturer in France. LIBERTY Galati produces about half a million tonnes of blast furnace slag yearly. The company operates with innovative technology, which uses slag, clay and plaster in a kiln and clinker-free production

process.

The new process is environmentally protective as it does not involve the extraction of limestone, does not release gases into the atmosphere and – eventually – reduces the carbon footprint of the cement by 80%.

The a rotary kiln is used in the classic cement-making process where the raw materials are heated up to 1,450 degrees Celsius, which also generates the clinker by-product, largely responsible for the carbon footprint of the cement.

Cement producers in Romania but also in other countries use the granulat-

ed slag across Europe and Africa. The use of slag in the cement industry reduces the use of natural raw materials and – implicitly – its carbon footprint.

Aida Nechifor, General Director of LIBERTY Galati, said: “Our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030 is already well-known within our GREENSTEEL concept, … we are very happy to be able to ensure that even the by-products of our current production process, such as blast furnace slag, can be used better to help reduce the carbon footprint of other products.”

For more information, visit:; https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/low-carbon-footprint-cement-created-by-liberty-galati-blast-furnace-slag

FEVE UPDATES ON FURNACE OF THE FUTURE GLASS DECARBONISATION PROJECT FEVE’ future made clear webinar on the Furnace of the Future sustainability project as well as the decarbonisation steps the glass industry needs to take hosted

by Adeline Farrelly joined by Ardagh Glass CEO Martin Petersson and FEVE’s Fabrice Rivet.

Mr Petersson described the Furnace for the Future project as a true industry collaboration, with Ardagh working alongside with 19 other glass manufacturers which represents 90% of total glass container production in Europe.

“Together our collective technical expertise and skills will be used to bring this sector level transition to the low carbon economy and we will share the know how to produce climate neutral packaging… Our priority is to work on the melting technologies we currently use. We are looking to invert the fuel balance from today’s 80% gas and 20% electricity, to 20% gas and 80% renewable electricity with CO2 savings of 50% plus.”

He added it will be the first time that

all the elements of electric melting will be put together on this scale of industrial production. If an application for funding is successful the furnace will be built in 2022 and first glass produced in 2023.

The furnace will be built at Ardagh’s Obernkirchen, Germany plant which already has the required electricity grid connection needed for the project.

Fabrice Rivet’ FEVE’s Technical Director then outlined some of the challenges facing the project. The furnace will be deemed a hybrid furnace because, while most of it will be supplied by renewable electricity, a small amount of natural gas will be required.

Out of more than 300 applications for funding from the EU, the Furnace for

the Future project was one of only 70 which had made it through to the final stage of application.

Just 10 of these will be awarded funding and a final decision on successful applications is due at the beginning of November.

Mr Rivet also attended Furnaces international organized event: Future of Furnaces where he discussed , in his presentation, ‘Securing our Industry’s Future: Towards Climate-Neutral Container Glass’. The keynote speaker spoke of the glass industries goal towards carbon neutrality, focusing on the importance of electricity as a replacement to fossil fuels.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/feve-updates-on-furnace-of-the-future-glass-decarbonisation-project

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PILKINGTON UK ARCHITECTURAL GLASS PRODUCTION POWERED BY HYDROGEN Pilkington UK has announced the worlds first successful manufacture of architectural glass at its St Helens, UK facility using hydrogen power.

The trial is a key step in the manufacturer’s plans to decarbonize the production of glass and has claimed a full transition to using hydrogen to power at the site is possible, the site currently uses natural gas.

The switch means that the float glass furnace – which accounts for the majority of the company’s overall carbon emissions – would be able to run with hugely lower emissions.

The aim of the trial was to demonstrate that the furnace, in which the raw ingredients of the glass are heated to around 1,600 degrees centigrade, could run safely at full production without impacting product quality.

Matt Buckley, UK MD of Pilkington UK, part of the NSG Group, said:

“The trial was a significant success…

It proves that hydrogen is just as capable as natural gas in achieving excellent melting performance, and that it could be possible to operate the furnace with vastly reduced carbon emissions.”

He continued: “It was in St Helens that the float glass process was developed in 1952, revolutionising how glass is made around the world… Now, 70 years later, this trial represents another major milestone for the global glass industry and it’s appropriate that it has once again been pioneered here.”

David Parkin, Director of Progressive Energy and Project Director of HyNet North West added: “Industry is vital for the economy but is difficult to decarbonise. HyNet is focused on removing carbon from industry through a range of technologies including the capturing and locking up

of carbon and the production and use of hydrogen as a low carbon fuel. This trial at Pilkington UK is a significant step in demonstrating that is it possible to use hydrogen to power glass production and provides a valuable blueprint for further trials and implementation.”

The three-week trial on the float glass line used approximately 60 road tankers of hydrogen, but the longer-term plan is to create a network of hydrogen pipelines to supply key industrial sites, avoiding the need for road transport.

The initiative is part of the ‘HyNet Industrial Fuel Switching’ project to decarbonise industrial processes across the North West of England.

By 2030, it is expected to cut 10 million tonnes of carbon per year. In February 2020, the HyNet project was awarded funding of £5.3M from BEIS through its Energy Innovation Programme.

For more visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/pilkington-uk-architectural-glass-production-powered-by-hydrogen

Steve Rotheram visiting Pilkington

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SALZGITTER AG AND ANGLO AMERICAN ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO LOWER CO2 STEEL PRODUCTION Salzgitter AG’s announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Anglo American to join forces in investigating the optimization of iron ore supplies for direct reduction.

The have outlined that hydrogen production and electric arc furnaces (EAFs) are the companies future.

The companies have announced that the primary aim of the joint research is to minimize the CO2 footprint of steel production. The MOU covers an examination of the lowest possible CO2 process and Supply chains which will be studied to enhance the company’s processes.

Ulrich Grethe, Chairman of the Man-

agement Board of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH and member of the Group Management Board of Salzgitter AG said, “With this project we continue to progress important milestones on the way to low CO2 steel production.

In driving our SALCOS® technology concept forward, we aim to decarbonize steel production as efficiently and quickly as possible. We are delighted to be partnering with Anglo American, our long-standing major supplier of high-grade ores, for joint reflection and potential projects.”

Ulrich Grethe, Chairman of the Management Board of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH and member of the Group Man-

agement Board of Salzgitter AG In the process, Salzgitter Flachstahl’s carbon-based blast furnace route will also gradually be replaced, from the middle of this decade through to 2045 at the latest, with direct reduction plants that will initially be operated by natural gas and then flexibly with a steadily increasing proportion of hydrogen. Going forward, hydrogen production and the EAFs required for the new process route are to be operated exclusively using electric power from renewable sources. The transformation will allow CO2 emissions from steel production to be reduced by 95 percent by 2045.

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/salzgitter-ag-and-anglo-american-announce-partnership-to-lower-co2-steel-production

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NEWS: GREENER FURNACES

TENOVA ANNOUNCES THE SUCCESS START UP OF TWO NEW WALKING BEAM FURNACES AT ITS PLANT LOCATED IN TERNIUM PESQUERIA Tenova announce the successful start up of its two new state-of-the-art technology Walking Beam Furnaces (WBFs), designed to reduced emissions and save energy, at the new Ternium hot strip mill facility.

The new WBF’s furnaces are designed to heat steel slabs (up to 39 t) at 1,250°C, with a specific consumption of 1.16 MJ/ Kg, while keeping NOx emissions lower than 60 ppm – lower than the required limit.

The furnaces feature a Smart Burner motoring System (SBMS), which enables the monitoring and optimisation of the burners performance, operation

and maintenance. The SBMS works with embedded sensors that are connected to Tenova’s digital infrastructure. The data is then collected and processed to provide the company with a unique approach to the inspection, maintenance and tuning, as well as reducing safety risks of the plant.

Paulo Lopez, Pesquería Plant Director at Ternium, commented on the investments and developments of Tenova, “The Ternium Industrial Center started its first phase in 2013…, we have started up the main production line of the 2nd phase, a new hot rolling mill with a capacity of 4.4 million tons. The two

new WBFs are part of the plant’s new lines and will produce coils to be used in the automotive market in the USMCA area, granting Ternium an increased access in this sector”.

Nicola Cavero, Senior Vice President Tenova Italimpianti added, “This new Tenova equipment joins the previous walking beam furnaces built for Ternium … confirming the fruitful collaboration between the two companies of the Techint Group for this type of application. This represents an important new reference for Tenova in the reheating furnaces market”

For more information, visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/tenova-announces-start-up-of-two-new-walking-beam-furnaces-at-its-plant-located-internium-pesqueria

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NEWS: GREENER FURNACES

ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN STEELMAKING THE KEY TO DECARBONISATION The widespread introduction of electric arc furnaces and the adoption of hydrogen production processes will transform the global steel industry over the next two decades, the European Electric Steelmaking Conference was told.

The 12th European Electric Steelmaking Conference (EEC 2021) was organised by IOM3 and staged in Sheffield, with a fully interactive virtual experience for those unable to attend in person. Visits for delegates were also organised to Liberty Steel at Rotherham and to the Institute’s research facilities at Middlesbrough.

Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Teesside-based Materials Processing Institute, stated: “The majority of steel producers are looking for an alternative to existing blast furnaces, which emit large quantities of carbon dioxide and are likely to be phased out over the coming dec-

ades.”

Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Teesside-based Materials Processing Institute The EEC 2021 and is the primary event for steelmakers, product specialists, and the steel sector supply chain, including academics and research and technology organisations, to share knowledge on current and future developments involving electric arc steelmaking and associated techniques.

The Institute played a major role at the conference, delivering six keynote speeches and chairing three discussion sessions.

In his keynote speech, entitled ‘Development of the UK Steel Industry’, Chris McDonald outlined how electric steelmaking, alongside hydrogen and, to some extent, carbon capture and storage, will meet the challenges of the transition to a future decarbonised and digitised steel industry.

“In previous years this was only of interest to those steel producers who used electric arc furnaces, but EEC 2021 has taken on huge new significance with the need to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions across the industry.”

Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Teesside-based Materials Processing Institute The Institute was awarded £22m

by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, last year to lead the five-year PRISM research and innovation programme for the steel and metals sectors to increase competitiveness and sustainability.

As part of its research into developing new, climate friendly approaches to steelmaking that rely on hydrogen and electric arc furnaces, the Institute has developed a pilot scale electric arc steelmaking facility at its Teesside campus.

For more visit: https://aluminiumtoday.com/furnaces/news/electric-and-hydrogen-steelmaking-the-key-to-decarbonisation

48 Furnaces International September 2021

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50 Furnaces International September 2021

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GREENER FURNACES

The untapped potential of oxyfuel in the aluminium industry

By Dr Martin Lawrence*

*Combustion Development Specialist at Air Products

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GREENER FURNACES

It’s only a few months until the UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, bringing global leaders together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In preparation, even more attention will be focused towards tackling the climate emergency, as the Government publishes additional decarbonisation strategies, and an increasing number of businesses re-evaluate their operations following the wakeup call of the Covid-19 pandemic and commit to net zero.

According to World Aluminium data, the sector is responsible for 1.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum. More than 90 per cent of this footprint is from primary production processes, while primary aluminium currently makes up around 70 per cent of annual metal demand. In the UK, there is a better picture, with aluminium production producing 545,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2019 – a significant reduction since 2005, where 3.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) were emitted – but there is still more that can be done to reduce this further.

At all stages of production, industrial firms are coming under more pressure to bring improvements to their work – both in terms of environmental impact and cost.

No element of the supply chain is exempt, with increasing scrutiny given to every element of production. Rather than just improving their own processes, companies are making more effort to carefully select the materials they use and ensure they perform well from a sustainability perspective.

At Air Products, we’ve seen this through our recent work in the aluminium industry. The importance of aluminium to a range of industries is no secret – particularly in industries such as transport where its sustainability and lightweight properties make it a valuable asset. As such, with companies facing increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact, aluminium will only become more popular.

However, manufacturers must also consider the carbon footprint of the aluminium itself, and this is being examined to ensure it is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible.

Recycling aluminium uses 95 per cent less energy than producing primary

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aluminium, making this ‘secondary aluminium’ an increasingly popular option.

We work closely with the secondary aluminium industry to improve the aluminium remelting process and have developed a range of oxygen enhanced combustion technologies aimed at improving efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

As part of this work, we have found that using an oxy-fuel combustion method rather than the traditional air-fuel, is bringing significant improvements, giving a further sustainability boost to engineering processes which require the use of aluminium.

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As the technology used in the aluminium industry is typically lessadvanced than the systems adopted across the steel industry, oxy-fuel isn’t as widely used in comparison, so businesses are missing out on the potential to improve their processes and reduce their environmental impact.

Oxy-fuel vs air-fuel combustion Oxy-fuel combustion is more efficient than air-fuel combustion due to the lack of nitrogen in the reactant mixture – the oxygen can react much faster with the fuel, increasing flame temperature by almost 1000oC. The higher temperature flame in turn improves the heat transfer rate from the flame to the metal inside the furnace. Compared to standard airfuel burners, this results in significant energy savings of up to 50 per cent.

Additionally, the increased heat transfer to the metal substantially reduces the melt rate of the furnace, which can double productivity.

Fuel savings have an additional knockon effect by reducing CO2 emissions, as less fuel is being converted to CO2 per tonne of aluminium processed. Furthermore, the fuel and oxygen react more completely in oxy-fuel flames, producing considerably fewer intermediate products of combustion such as carbon monoxide and particulates including soot, VOCs and unburned hydrocarbons. The lack of nitrogen in the reactants also eliminates the generation of nitrogen oxides, as well as significantly reducing flue gas volumes. Therefore, oxy-fuel combustion is considerably cleaner than air-fuel combustion, minimising emissions and saving energy.

Improving efficiency and emissions in rotary furnaces The benefits can also be seen in rotary furnaces. By combining with oxy-fuel combustion systems, rotary furnaces can be particularly efficient, as they take advantage of the increased flame radiation to heat up the refractory lining, which comes into direct contact with the metal as the furnace rotates.

The performance can be significantly improved by simply installing the ideal burner for the furnace design and configuration, including developing burners for rotary furnaces which are aimed to maximise melt rate and yield, in a dynamic and aggressive environment.

For example, burners can be designed to maximise heat transfer to the charge

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GREENER FURNACES

material and minimise the amount of free oxygen escaping the flame, which will improve aluminium yield by considering nozzle configuration.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has also provided further opportunities for improvement. The introduction of smart technology such as smart burners and smart furnaces makes a significant amount of data available which can boost efficiency and productivity.

Continuous monitoring of furnace, operation, process and control data in this way can be used in conjunction with the smart control aspects of burner technology to optimise furnace efficiency – helping to monitor usage and plan for further improvements. Data is collected at regular time intervals and logged using cloud data storage technology, giving access to real time and historical data.

Daily reports are configured and sent via email, containing key equipment, process and operational data and summarised performance metrics.

In line with this, we’ve recently worked with Tandom Metallurgical Group to help the team achieve greater efficiencies and savings on a tilt rotary furnace (TRF) used to remelt aluminium dross materials.

The patented Air Products Process Intelligence (APPI) Process Advisor system was used to better predict when the material inside the furnace is ready to be tapped, thereby reducing tapping temperature and improving aluminium yield.

The overall average tapping temperature was successfully reduced by 44°C – where some materials improved more than others – and the average reduction in temperature corresponds to a yield improvement of 0.5 per cent.

As a knock-on effect to reducing the metal tapping temperature, there was a dramatic reduction in energy consumption, with an average reduction of 15 per cent. Energy usage goes handin-hand with carbon dioxide emissions and 15 per cent energy savings is equal to the same percentage reduction in CO2 emissions. Furthermore, an average time saving of 5.7 per cent was also achieved, where it was found that some materials performed better than others.

Improving productivity and yield in reverberatory furnaces Reverb furnaces are inherently less efficient than rotary furnaces in transferring available energy to the metal.

In reverb furnaces, conventional air-fuel sidewall-fired and regen burners direct

energy into open spaces within a furnace and radiate energy in all directions, which focuses a significant amount of heat to the furnace roof, which can affect refractory life. The rate of overall energy input is determined and limited by the maximum allowable surface temperature of the refractory.

One method to take further advantage of oxygen enhanced combustion, aiming to boost productivity, yield and environmental sustainability, is by using Air Products’ Transient Heating Burner (THB) technology. This smart burner is designed to be positioned in the roof of a reverberatory-type furnace, where the flame is directed towards the aluminium.

This configuration provides a significantly higher heat transfer rate when compared with wall mounted burners, as the energy is focused onto the metal rather than across it. Moreover, the transient nature of the THB design allows for direct flame impingement without overheating the metal, further increasing heat transfer. The THB produces four flames that are aimed at four different quadrants of the furnace and are operated independently, allowing heat to be distributed where it is needed.

Looking ahead The use of oxy-fuel in itself provides tangible benefits to aluminium recycling, delivering clear results above and beyond traditional air-fuel methods. However, scratching below the surface has allowed us to significantly increase the impact of this – implementing changes which have been made possible through the switch to oxy-fuel. This is further enhanced by Industry 4.0 and the benefits it brings, which are continually providing ways to help us manage gas usage, further improve efficiency and double the productivity.

Most notably, the switch can also provide significant environmental benefits and help to achieve up to 50 per cent energy savings and the same percentage reduction in CO2 emissions, simply by moving away from traditional air-fuel burners. With time ticking by and getting ever closer to our climate change targets, the aluminium industry has an opportunity to take greater advantage of the untapped potential of oxy-fuel and experience the benefits for itself – which will not only help businesses across the sector, but also contribute towards the united effort against tackling the climate emergency. There’s never been a better time to re-evaluate current operations and make the switch.�

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