Advances in intelligent technology of electric arc furnace steelmaking

In recent years, electric arc furnace steelmaking has made great progress in the field of intelligent smelting, and a series of advanced detection technologies and control models have been developed, which have greatly improved the automation level of the electric arc furnace steelmaking process and promoted the development of the steelmaking industry.

EAF foaming slag detection and control technology

The foamed slag operation in the electric arc furnace steelmaking process can isolate the molten steel from the air, cover the arc, reduce the heat loss radiated to the furnace wall and furnace cover, efficiently convert electrical energy into heat energy and transport it to the molten pool, improve heating efficiency and shorten smelting. cycle. Creating and maintaining foamed slag during the smelting process is the key to low consumption and high productivity EAF steelmaking. In recent years, related monitoring and control technologies for foaming slag operations have been researched and applied with good results.

Siemens has developed the Simelt SonArc FSM foam slag monitoring system. The system can guarantee the fully automatic process of foaming slag. Acoustic sensors installed on the furnace body provide the basis for the precise detection and analysis of the foaming slag height. The zonal detection of the foam slag height related to the electrode can provide guidance for the automatic carbon injection operation, thereby minimizing the consumption index. In addition to reducing power consumption and carbon consumption, reducing production costs, it can also shorten power-on time and increase production capacity.

American PTI Company has developed the electric arc furnace door cleaning and foaming slag control system PTI SwingDoor TM. The system reduces the entry of outside air and improves the tightness of the steelmaking process. An integrated oxygen lance system is installed on the furnace door, which can replace the furnace door cleaning manipulator or the furnace door oxygen lance to automatically clean the furnace door area. The system controls the slag flow by controlling the closing of the furnace door instead of the furnace body tilting device, and can also control the level and existence time of the foamed slag in the furnace, thereby ensuring the thickness of the slag layer in the furnace during the smelting process, reducing energy consumption and improving arc heat transfer efficiency.

At present, most domestic steel mills still use manual methods to operate foamed slag, and some steel mills use the electric arc furnace door system for optimization, and the energy utilization efficiency is significantly improved. However, based on the complexity of the furnace conditions in the electric arc furnace, the reliability of the operation based on the sonic foam slag in the furnace remains to be investigated.

Arc furnace multifunctional furnace door robot

Faced with the harsh environment, danger, heavy manual operation and precise process control of smelting in the electric arc furnace steelmaking area, a series of new technologies for automatic temperature measurement and sampling have been gradually developed and applied. The German Siemens VAI company designed the Simetal Liquid-Rob automatic temperature measurement and sampling robot. The system has 6 degrees of freedom of movement, automatic replacement of samplers and temperature probes, detection of invalid temperature probes, and can be fully controlled through the man-machine interface.

The cleanliness of molten steel is related to the quality of steel products, and the importance of intelligent technology in the field of electric arc furnace steelmaking will become increasingly prominent. The clean production platform of steelmaking process, realizing the continuous improvement of production efficiency, product quality, energy saving and environmental protection level and intelligence, will be one of the key development directions of electric arc furnace steelmaking in the future.

Accelerating the technological innovation of the electric arc furnace steelmaking process, especially the improvement and breakthrough of the clean and intelligent smelting technology, building a clean production platform for the electric arc furnace steelmaking process, and improving the product quality and product competitiveness of the electric arc furnace steelmaking process, will be beneficial to China Iron and Steel. Industrial structural adjustment, transformation and upgrading play an important role in promoting.