EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

BOF bottom gas purging has been established as inevitable technology for high quality demands at decreasing conversion cost levels. The trend for applying raw materials with higher variations in phosphorus at the same or increasing product quality levels increases the need for reliable, save and long-term available inert gas purging. Higher converter lifetime at decreasing converter refractory costs are however realized with increasingly intense slag maintenance methods. Technical solutions are needed to achieve both targets. Based on decades of experience in BOF gas purging at converters worldwide, RHI has developed recently both new purge plug designs and new gas control units to achieve maximum purging availability when converter slag maintenance is applied. The revised product portfolio covers purge plugs from standard to highest gas flow rates and modern and compact gas control in order to realize new concepts of gas purging for improved metallurgical results and gas savings at highest safety standards. Recent case studies are presented.