Operational and environmental benefits of oxy-fuel combustion in the steel industry

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Iron and Steel Engineer

OSTI ID:27997

Farrell, L M ^[1]; Pavlack, T T ^[2]; Rich, L ^[3]

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1. Praxair, Inc., Tarrytown, NY (United States)
2. Praxair, Inc., East Chicago, IN (United States)
3. North American Manufacturing Co., Coraopolis, PA (United States)

Due to the high flame temperature of conventional oxygen-fuel burners, these burners have typically not been used in reheat furnaces where temperature uniformity is critical. Praxair has developed a number of burners and associated control systems that have been successfully operated in a variety of reheat furnaces beginning in 1980. The burners have also recently been used for ladle preheating. All burners have been operated with 100% oxygen. The patented burners have designs that result in flame temperatures equivalent to conventional air-fuel burners. Flexible flame patterns are possible, resulting in uniform temperature distribution. In addition, the low flame temperature combined with minimal nitrogen in the furnace results in very low NO{sub x} emissions. The design of the control systems insure safe and reliable operation. In the following sections, oxygen-fuel combustion will be described, with a discussion of fuel savings and other benefits. Unique designs will be discussed along with the features which make them applicable to reheat applications and which result in lower emissions. Other equipment provided with the burners to complete the oxy-fuel combustion system will be described briefly. There will also be a short discussion of how both the fuel and oxygen price can affect the economics of fuel saving. Results from the commercial retrofit installations in continuous and batch reheat furnaces, soaking pits and ladle preheaters will be described. Finally, NO{sub x} emissions data will be discussed.

• OSTI ID: 27997
• Journal Information: Iron and Steel Engineer, Journal Name: Iron and Steel Engineer Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 72; ISSN 0021-1559; ISSN IRSEA5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
COMBUSTION
COMPILED DATA
DESIGN
ENERGY BALANCE
ENERGY CONSERVATION
GAS BURNERS
HEAT LOSSES
METAL INDUSTRY
NATURAL GAS
NITROGEN OXIDES
OXYGEN ENRICHMENT
TEMPERATURE CONTROL