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The Slag Foaming Practice in EAF and Its Influence on the Steelmaking Shop
Productivity

Article  in  ISIJ International · January 1995

DOI: 10.2355/isijinternational.35.1054

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 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9, pp. 1054 1062

The Slag Foaming Practice in EAFand Its Influence on the Steel-

making Shop Productivity

R. D. MORALES.
Rub6nLule G..1) Francisco LOpEZ.1) Jorge CAMACHO1)
and J. A. ROMERO
Department of Metallurgy, Instituto Polit6cnico Nacional-ESlalE, Apdo. Postal 75-874. M6xico D.F., C.P. 07300.
1) IMEXSASteel, I
Fco. J. Majica No. B, L~zaro C~rdenas City, Michoac~n, M6xico.

(Received on November24. l994 accepted in final form on April 24. l995)

IMEXSAsteel has a four electric arc furnaces (EAF) steelmaking shop which was originally designed to
melt a DRl/scrap ratio of 80/20 for producing steel slabs, but logistical and economical circumstances led
to a change in this ratio to 98.2/1 .8. This decision brought about increases on specific consumptions of
energy, electrodes, refractories and a loss of metallic yield amongother items. In order to improve melting
performance a study involving industrial measurementsand thermodynamic-kinetic aspects of slag foaming
wascarried out, Implementation of a slag foaming practice gave very encouraging results in the main process
variables; energy consumption decreased from 730 to 640kWh/t of steel while electrode consumption
decreased from 2.25kg/t of steel to I .81 kg/t of stee]. With regard to iron oxidation, iron oxide contents
in slag decreased from previous 36~~0wto/o values to 23-25wto/o increasing substantially metallic yield.
Overall process performance was improved and consequencesof this program can be directly seen during
secondary refining process of steel in LF.
KEYWORDS:
steelmaking; slag; foaming; EAF; DRl; thermal efficiency; electrical energy.

1. Introduction
a)To increase the DRI/scrap ratio from 80/20 to
98.2/1.8 in each charge of the EAF.
IMEXSAis acompanythat belongs to ISPAT
steel b) The improvement of metallurgical steel- EAF
group and located in the Pacific basin about 700 km
is making practices toward the production of high purity
to the southwest of Mexico City. The steelmaking automotive steels (Cu=0.04wto/o rirax., Ni=0.04 wtolo
complex consists on a direct reduced iron plant that max., Cr= 0.05 wto/o max. and Sn=0.015wto/o max.).
employs the HyL 111 process, steelmaking shop and a The approach followed to counteract negat,ive effects
slab continuous casting plant. The DRI plant has four on the overall process performance, coming from higher
reactors for iron ore reduction with an annual production DRI/scrap ratio in the charge and to accomplish with
2
capacity of million of prereduced iron per year. DRI the requirements of higher purity steels, was the im-
is discharged from reactors at
a low temperature equal plementation of a slag foaming practice. Twomain goals
to 60'C and is transported by an inclined rubber band were expected to be reached: Less oxidized slags and a
to four hoppers which are located above the EAF'S. muchbetter heat transfer efflciency from electric arc to
DRI is later fed by a computerized continuous feeding the molten bath. Process analysis, results and their
system (CFS) to the deltas of furnaces. This CFShas discussion will be the topics treated in next lines.
additional hoppers for storing other raw materials like
fluxes and coke. The steelmaking shop has four three
phase EAF's with ip 28" graphite electrodes powered
2. Metallurgical Aspects of DRI Melting in EAF
=
by four 125 MVA
transformers. lron yield during DRI melting depends on two basic
The inside diameter of furnace's hearth is and 8m factors; DRI/scrap and DRI metallization. Gen-
ratio
liquid steel capacity of each furnace is 220 ton per heat. erally speaking iron oxide content in slag increases as
Secondary refining facilities consist of two ladle that ratio increases and DRI metallization decreases,
furnaces powered by two 30 MVA
transformers, a This more dramatic when a low DRI metal-
effect is

lization is charged at high proportions into a EAF, FeO

vacuum degassing unit assisted by steam ejectors, a
powder injection unit and two units for injecting concentration can easily reach 50 wto/o at low carbon
capsulated reactives. contents in molten steel (i.e. 0.03~).06 wtolo). Figure 1
There is
an attractive automotive market in which shows the relationship between contents of iron oxide
IMEXSAis introducing its steel. However, difficulties and carbon in slag and molten steel respectively for
on scrap availability and prices in Mexico led to the various heats processed in IMEXSA employing different
managementto take the two following important mea- DRI/scrap ratios and metallizations of DRI. As is seen,
sures : iron oxidation behaviors are in agreement with that

C 1995 ISIJ 1054

 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9

50
L
l
~> 100%SGrap
40 > 80%DRI(met 89%)
>~
~80%ORI (met 86%)
\\ ;~~ - Equilibrium

O
O
LL
30 ~>~>~~
>~
(> ~~e;X )
x
~~00 ~
>~~-
>
> x
x
~ 20
(>
~ x ___~ X >
x
~~---~x_~>
x >
~ ~C>
~~
,~ x >
10 ~~ x
e Fig. 1.
Effect of charge characteristics on slag oxidation during
EAFsteelmaking.
o
o 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6
[Wto/o C]

1 800
0,9 750
O
O .Pr.aQt.iqe. .A
o)
,o 0,8 C:o
700
.~
O 0,7 =
~~ - - -Q Pr_actice C
,D e
LL 650
006
:~' e >
2, Praotice C~
O 600
o 0,5
,:;

Charges with 100'/. DRl O

0,4 O,D 550 -...* ".*.

UJ '**
. ".*.

0,3 500
87 88 89 90 91 92 80 82 84 86 88 90
Metalliration ot direct ,*d~*.d iron ('/.)
Thermal efticiency ('/.)
Fig. 2. Effect of direct reduced iron on the activity of iron Fig. 3. Energy consumptionasa tunction ofthermal efficiency
oxide in slags during steelmaking in EAF. for melting charges in EAFwith a 98.2/1 .8, DRI/scrap
ratio employing DRI metauizations 85-93 '/. .

mentioned in the precedent lines. These operation data which should be reduced consuming energy and this is
are comparedwith a thermodynamic equilibrium curve
calculated for a slag with B=(o/oCaO)/(o/oSi02)
a fact confirmed in various industrial reports.2~5) To
= 2, have a more quantitative idea about this item, massand
wtoloMg0=10, wto/oAl203=3, wto/oMn0=1 and energy balances were carried out which are briefly ex-
wto/oTi02=1 which is a typical composition of slags pressed by the following equations:
employed in this plant and Pco= I atm considering the
following equilibrium; ~(~J)Wj=Cj ......
..........(2)

~+(FeO)=C0+Fe ......... ..........

(1) W[~A HSEN+ ~AHENR- ~AHEXR
in this iron activity was assumedto be equal
reaction, +(1 e )(O 90E ~AHExR]=0.90E. ..... .
..(3)

to one and the iron oxide activities were calculated using where meaning of this symbols are given at the end of
a quasi chemical-model for complex slags.1)It is clear this paper.
that as the DRI/scrap ratio increases and DRI metal- The solution of this set of equations using appropriate
lization decreases this reaction
movesfurther awayfrom thermochemical data6) Iets to obtain the results shown
thermodynamic equilibrium. Besides, there is a direct in Fig. 3 where the specific consumption of ~nergy is
relationship betweenmetallization of DRIand iron oxide plotted against the thermal efficiency of an EAFcon-
activity in slags (belonging to experimental heats) as is sidering various DRI metallizations and assuming an
2
shownin Fig. which wascalculated by using final FeO electric efficiency of 90 o/o Which can be considered as
contents in slags formed with different DRI metalliza- reasonable for modernelectrical circuits for EAF's.7) As
tions and with the help of the quasi-chemical model. expected, consumption of energy rises as DRI metalliza-
These operating facts put on the spot the need for a tion decreases but the most important point to be noticed
better control of iron oxidation not only for rising iron is the strong influence of the thermal efficiency between
yield but for decreasing oxygen content in tapping steel a relatively small range of values for this p~rameter. Even
as well. for low DRImetallizations it is possible to obtain rather
Consumption of electrical energy (E.) also increases 10w consumptions of energy and this stresses the im-
whenDRI/scrap ratio in an EAFcharge increases and portance for a close control of this critical operation
DRImetallization decreases. This is a logical result since parameter.
ftself
a low DRImetallization meansa high iron oxide content Thermal efficiency is
a very complex function

1055 C 1995 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9
of various operating factors such as tap-to-tap time, Practice A. This is the conventional practice which
refractory thickness, fuels, recharging times,
external was being employedbefore the slag foaming implementa-
mass of molten steel, surface-volume ratio of bath (de- tion program was started. Eventually an addition,
sign of a given EAF) and foaming of slags, etc. Figure 4 through the CFS, of 1500 kg of lump coke were added
shows a schematic representation of these factors in- during the processing time af a heat. Themelting practice
fiuencing this important parameter. With the exception is schematically shownin Fig.
5
where the vertical axis
of furnace design steelers are able to manipulate all these for the tap settings are written; at the end of
a heat, a
factors to affect negatively or positively the thermal ef- hot heel of around 20-30 t is left in the furnace to start
ficiency. As mentioned, in this work slag foaming is the next one and avoiding, at the sametime, excess slag
em-
ployed as one of these manipulable factors to enhance carryover to the ladle. Approximately, 3OOO Nm3of
the thermal efficiency and controlling, at the same oxygen per heat are injected through two consumable
time, iron oxidation to maintain acceptable metallic steel tubes located in the side walls for carbon refining.
yields. DRI is fed at a rate of 2800 kg/min by the CFSfor a
DRI metallization of 890/0 Which can be considered as
3. Slag FoamingPractices an average value in this plant. Table I
shows some
physical and chemical characteristics of DRI charges
Slag foaming was assisted by injection of graphite
employed in this plant.
powder madefrom electrodes (80 o/o at -200 mesh) to
Practice B. In this case graphite is injected at
the metal-slag interface using a SIT-2000 equipment with a mass
air as
a carrier gas. Through previous calculations and
1
flowrate of 25 kg/min and 500 kg of lump coke are
charged through the CFSinto the EAF
during melting
trial and error procedures it was found that a mass refining stages.
flowrate of graphite equal to 25 kg/min wasgood enough
Practice C.Graphite is injected at a massflowrate of
to produce a stable foam. Higher values than this, at
25 kg/min and I OOO kg of lump coke are charged, through
beginning of a heat, promoted heavy slag slopping
the CFS, at the beginning of DRI feeding and an ad-
affecting operations in the working floor and making
ditional charge of coke amounting as maximum OOO
unstable electric arcs hindering operations with long arcs a 2
kg during the time in which the heat is processed through
of high voltage and low current. This initial period of
trials took place at the middle of February-94 and finished
the sameCFS.
the early days of March. After this, steelmaking practices Hot heel, DRIfeeding and oxygeninjection procedures
were divided in the following classification:
for practices B C
and were the sameas that described
in practice A. In all cases carbon steels with less than
0.05wto/o were taken at the end of refining period as
DRI / SCRAP experimental heats. Samplesof metal and slag were taken
RATIO and posteriorly analyzed by standard chemical analysis
procedures.
EAF Deslgn rll~~'T~]
HEATSIZE
4. Results and Discussion

r~5~~~~1LSl
THERMAL
EFFICIENCY L~~j~~iFSTl
Figure 6showsa comparison of results for iron oxide
I NG
FOAM
OF FUELS
contents in slag between practices A
and in EAF'sC 1
PAACTICE and 2respectively. It is evident that practice C
(EAF l)
promotes considerably less oxidized baths than practice
r~~~~~~~~~r]~
A (EAF 2) observing contents of FeOin slag 7-9 wto/o
TAP- To- TAP 10wer than those belonging to the conventional practiqe
TIME THICKNESS
A at carbon contents lower than 0.04wto/o in bath. In
Fig. 4. Operating factors that infiuence directly the thermal the samefigure there is an equilibrium curve of Reac-
efficiency of EAF'S. tion (1) just to compare the experimental results with

SEQUENTIAI
HEATFOR220 TONOF
STEEL
TOTALTONSOFDRI =222
TOTALTONSOFSCRAP=4
HOTHEEL= 30 TON
TAPSETTENG

7R
(9G MVV)
-25 Nm3/min/lance
6R
(93 MW) OXYGEN=3000Nm3/heat
4R
(B5 MW)
2R
(T4 MVV)
222 TONS
OFDRl, FEEDRATE:2800 Kg/MIN Fig. 5.
N
(67 MVV) TAPPING Melting practice for a sequentiai heat employing 100~/,
charges of DRI during EAFsteelmaking.
(51
3L
MW)
ONOFEAF
PREPARAT =~
* 140 800-159 120 ~ ENEReY
iN KWH
95' • TIME IN MINUTES

C 1995 ISIJ 1056

 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9
Table 1. Physical and chemical characteristics of DRI thermodynamicequilibrium and it is clear that data for
employed in the plant.* (wtQ/o) practice Care nearer to than data for practice A. it

Figure 7shows the results for iron oxide in slag using

Direct reduced iron Gangue
practice A for EAF3and as seen the trend of these data
Fe Fe* Met C s Si02 CaO MgOAl203 are similar to the case of practice A in EAF Com- l.

parison between practices A and C can be seen

more
89.2 79.0 88 5 1,88 0.007 2.15 l .90 0.57 0.78 directly in Fig.
8for the samefurnace (EAFl) confirming
Sizes (m x 102)
in a general
way that practice Cproduces less oxidized
baths than practice A. Figure 9 shows results where
1.90 l.58 l 27 . 111 ,
0.952 0.635 ~).635 experimental data belonging to practices Band Cin EAF
4 are compared, there! is not a clear difference of bath
wto/o l 80
.
2.40 36.0 24.0 17.6 13.8 4.4 oxidation at carbon contents above 0.04 wto/.. However,
~i
Monthly data.
at lower carbon contents practice produces slightly less C
oxidized baths which indicates that this is the most
60 suitable one for refining low carbon steels at acceptable
' EAF I Practice C levels of bath oxidation.
~FEAF2 Practice A
50 - - Equilibrium Overall foaming performance can be evaluated
1~r:v
v through specific energy consumptions as a function of
40 -- v ~r
-
e~i' l! iron oxide contents in slag which are presented in Fig.
O ~v v
a)
LLO
:~~:~o

~_
30 1'F~,rvv
v
If't lO for practices C
and in EAF's and 2 respectively. A I
ee e
It is evident that,
as waspointed out, practice promotes A
20 - e e more oxidized baths and generally speaking higher
e '
10
specific electric energies (E.) than practice
Calthough a
high dispersion of this variable is clearly observed. Some
heats with low iron oxide contents in slag at the end of
o
o o,05 0,1 o, 15 melting-refining period reported high specific consump-
[vvt% C] tions of E, but heats with high iron oxide contents in
Fig. 6. Effect of graphite injection during steelmaking in EAF slag at the end of
sameperiod also showedlow E..
employing 100 o/o DRI charges. The features of these data indicate that there was not
50
v 70
vv v
40
v ~rvvvv ~ EAFe 60 --
1~r
Eq"ilib*i~*
Vvv
vvvv ,r v
50
e
~~80 'F
vv O 40
-
LLa)

~~.
v ,r a)
LL •1~C • Melting praetlae C
~_ v ~~.Q
e
~quillbrlum
20 ~30 - e ,,F~ e
'L Melting practiee B

e ~~
e e
10
20
- *e
e
1•*

10

o
0,01 o,08 o,05 o,07 o,09 Oo o,05 o, I o, 15
[wt'l.C] [wt'l.Cl
Fig. 7. Effect of melting practice A on slag oxidation during Fig. 9. Comparison of melting practices B and C during
1000/0 DRI charges in EAF. steelmaking in EAF4 employing charges with 1000/*
DRI.
50
V C I,•Itlng pnlotlet C 1.ooo
V~VV
:~ A
M,,It[ng prlctlo•
e v v EAFNo 2, p,acti*. A
40
V V
V1'r
e\~rr~l~:1~~1'
V'~FVl:F~~
Equtllbrlum
900
e
v
v
1)
e EAFNo I ,
p"'ti*' C

30 800 'v v e
~
~~
h
V++
V+ v
:::

~ 700 e
e
~v
11P'I'yy It
v
~~~.'

,e . vlivv
"
ee.'edbvevb
vv
v,*
~- e
20 e .e v
e v e v
e e 600 e.~r
v e .
e
10 500 e
.
400
o 10 15 20 30 35 2540 45 50
o o,05 o*1 0,1 5 (wi% FeO)
[wt'l.C]
Fig. lO. Relationship between energy consumption and slag
Fig. 8. Comparisonbetweenmelting practices Aand Cduring oxidation during steelmaking employing 1000/0 DRI
steelmaking in EAFI employing 100 '/* DRIcharges. charges,

1057 C 1995 ISIJ

 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9

a clear relation between bath oxidation and specific
consumptions of E* and, although, graphite injection was
working very fine to control iron oxide in slag it wasnot
doing well for controlling specific consumption of E..
This was also a symptomof an irregular slag foaming
formation and this situation was verified by data be-
10nging to the samepractices in EAFI as shownin Fig.
11 where the sameirregular behavior was observed.
As far as variations on DRI quality and operating
practices were not wide enough to explain those great
variations a process analysis approach was employedin
order to understand foaming phenomena and in this way
to be able to control in better way specific consumption
of E* during DRI melting in
5. FoamingPhenomena
in Slags
Driving force for slag foaming is a pneumatic energy
provided by COgeneration during melting-refining in
EAF. Reactions responsibles of this COformation are,
in addition to Reaction (1), thb following:
slag interface (C-s) and Reactions (6) and (7) at slag-gas
(s-g) and carbon-gas (C-g) interfaces respectively. Figure
12 is a schematic representation of reaction sites during
injection of graphite and/or addition of coke during steel
melting-refining processes in an EAF. It is inferred from
this figure that CO formation is a very complex function
of several process variables such as size, type and mass
flowrate of carbonaceous material, flowrate of carrier
gas, carbon content in bath, slag chemistry, slag-metal
area etc. Authors are actually working in a
interfacial
mathematical model which takes into consideration all
these variables. Nevertheless, in this paper only quali-
tative aspects are considered.
EAF. On other hand, another condition for foaming of
the
slag should be fulfilled. This condition shall be called
here as sufficient and it is directly related to the trans-
port properties (which affect foam stability) of steel-
making slags at refining temperatures. In this sense,
Jiang and Fruehan8) conducted experiments on the foam-
ing of bath smelting type slags and defined a foaming
index, Z
(measured in time units i.e. seconds), as a

C+ 02 CO
- 2 =
I ..... .... .
(4)
function of slag chemistry and mathematically expressed
as;

(FeO)+C=Fe+CO ......... ,.........

(5)
~ I15
't
..........(8)

where the expression (4) represents a direct reaction [

pgcr] I 12

between gaseous oxygen and carbon in bath, (5) is a
direct iron oxide reduction reaction by carbon in slag
while expression (1) is the oxidation of carbon in bath
by iron oxide in slag. All these reactions are COformers
giving stirring energy for mass transfer between metal
slag, carbon, and gas phases and they can be considered
as a necessary condition for slag foaming. Some reactions
are consumers of CO, one of them is a possible iron
oxide reduction on the surface of a CObubble and can
be written as:
(FeO)+C0=Fe+C02"""'
which can be controlled by an intermediate reaction given
by:
C02+C=2CO
..,...........,,............(7)
Sitesof reactions can be located as follows; Reaction
(1) at the
slag-metal interface (s~m), Reaction (4) at the
gas-metal interface (~~m), Reaction (5) at the carbon-
Using a cold model of slag foaming Ogawaet al.9) found
that a high viscosity and a low surface tension of slag
are specific conditions for a stable foam. Kitamura et
al.10) reported high foam stability of CaO-(Fe203+
MnO)-Si02 slags at silica saturation compositions and
at higher slag basicities foaminess diminished. Hara et
al.11) reported that surface active
componentsin slags
such as phosphates, borates and silicates form stable
foams. Thus as far as ~ in Eq, (8) mayincrease, a higher
stabilization of foam in a given slag maybe obtained.
"""""(6) Unfortunately all experimental data reported in literature
are for simple systems and there is not a complete study
on foaming of complex steelmaking slags. However, it
is possible to estimate their foaming index employing
experimental data reported in a very complete review
madeby Mills and Keene on transport properties of
complex steelmaking slags,12) According to Eq. (8)
surface tension, density and viscosity are the properties

1.ooo o.
' ' PRACTIOE
A
' PRACTiCE
C
\ ~~CARBON
GASBUBBLES
PARTICLES
ORGRAPHITE
900 e v
CO
e
e vvvy
800 te
ee 1' ve
v (~
I~~ v
It,rv vy
v
It
v ~.(~ 7(~~
~';:~
v ~~)
> 700 e '8F v I~lliir vv v ~,~~7
~, e
e , v c~~ 6~~
' C~)

vy ~~ SLAG
600 IV
e e ee
Q,

-O-O-
c:~
~cc)
UJ 500 e
e
c:~_ 4

~ - -O
O_ - c~'
400
15
e
20
e
25 30
(wt'/.
35
Feo)
40 45 50 55
Fig, 12,
~ (~~

A schematic
~ ~ MOLTENSTEEL

representation of chemical reactions

Fig. 11. Relationship between energy consumption and slag taking place during slag foaming practice in EAF
oxidation during steelmaking in EAF employing 2 (numbers are referred to chemical reactions in the
lOO"/• DRI charges. text),

C 1995 ISIJ 1058

 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9
that define
foaming index. Onthe other hand, Mills and d) Slags with intermediate iron oxide contents and
Keene report that density of complex slags is highly high basicities near the lime saturation zone have also
influenced by content of iron oxide providing intermediate foaming indexes and the presence of solid
a cor-
relation given by: particles of lime solution
may assist to stabilize foam
p=2460+18(wto/o formation. Owingto this reason this zone
iron-oxides)
................
(9) maybe called
as heterogeneous foaming.
Additionally, experimental data of viscosity and surface According to these precedent lines it is possible to draw
tension for complex slags at different temperatures given
in this reference
a kind of a slag foaming mapas is shownin Fig. 14 for
were normalized at 600'C by respective 1 the same pseudo ternary system and, as
was defined
temperature coefficients accompanyingthese data. Once previously, it also represents
knownthese properties they were substituted in Eq. (8) a map of the sufficient
condition for slag foaming. The effect of solid particles
to estimate the foaming index. The results of this
procedure are plotted in a diagram shownin Fig. 13 and
on the viscosity of liquid slags can be estimated by the
following equationl 3):
somecommentsin regard with this foaming index are
worthy to be done: ,t.=~(1 1350) 5/2 ..........(lO)

a) Acid slags have the highest foaming index forming

According with the precedent expression with only 20 olo
what can be called as homogeneousfoaming. This is in volume fraction of solid particles in liquid slag, viscosity
agreement with that reported by Kitamura et al. I o) has a twofold increase and zone for heterogeneous
b) Slags with low contents of iron oxide (less than
foaming can be considerably enlarged, partially embrac-
10wto/o) form a more stable foam than highly oxidized ing the non-foaming zone, as is shownby the dotted line
slags (more than 40 wto/o FeOat
any basicity) which, in Fig. 14.
consequently, can be called non-foaming slags.
To have a morecomplete view of slag foaming during
c) At low iron oxide contents slag basicity influences graphite injection iron oxide activity in complex slags
strongly foaming stability, at higher basicities, under a
given iron oxide content, foaming index decreases. At
was calculated employing a structural-quasi chemical
modell) considering a slag chemical composition with
high iron oxide contents slag basicity plays
no role. lOwt"/o MgO
and 3wto/o A1203 which are typical
si02+Al,o*+p,o* contents of these oxides in slags employed in these
furnaces, the results can be seen in Fig. 15. Comparing
this latter Figure with the previous
one the following
observations can be settled down:
a) Homogeneous foaming zone with low iron oxide
activities (less than 10 wto/o) show strong resistance to
a
iron reduction by carbon not only because of low iron
oxide activities but mainly owing to the surface active
nature 9f silica in slags. It has been reported by Sano
and his coworkersi4) that iron reduction in this is
zone
mixed controlled by masstransfer and chemical reaction
mechanisms.
b) Highly oxidized slags are easily reduced by carbon
c.0+Mg0+M*o since iron oxide activities
F*o
are high enough but they do
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
not form stable foams.
(Wt ole)

Fig. 13. ISOStabilitycurVes for foaming index of complex SiOl + AtaO!

Steelmaking slags.

(%SIO:+%p:05+%Al:Og)

1o 90

20 80 o.i5

ao 70 O.20

40 60 O.30
Homogeneous
Taa 50 so
50 50
hard reducing sl O.dO
60 Efteat of solid
40 O.50
particles
5uspendedin liquid slags
0.60
70 30
~
l. O.70
Bo 20
lu.
90 4b
rec'uel"gfoal'77eu:gr,sg,
ll
Heterageneous foamin 10
eas
stags easier to be reduced y
(%Ca0+%MgO
+%MnO) (%F.o)
10 20 ao 40 50 Go 70 80 90 50
(Wt 'l.) cao+Mgo F~O
Fig. 14. Areas of chemical compositions for complex steel- (Wt olo)

making slags which define foaminess and reducibility Fig. 15. Iron oxide activities in complex steelmaking slags
of iron oxide. calculated bya quasi-chemical model.

1059 C 1995 ISIJ

 ISIJ International,
c) Usual compositions of steelmaking slags observe
and intermediate behavior. Although, final slags have
the tendency to be very oxidized particularly whena low
DRI metallization melted as indicated in Fig. 1.
is
As a summary, it possible to conclude that at the
is
beginning of the DRI melting process whencarbon in
melt is high, iron oxide in slag is low and if carbon and
oxygen are simultaneously injected both conditions,
necessary and sufficient are totally fulfilled and slag
foaming is secured. Onthe other hand, near the end of
the process whencarbon in melt is low and slag is already
very oxidized, slag foaming becomesdifficult and smooth
bath surfaces are usually obtained, this condition can be
more intensified if DRI with a low metallization is fed
into EAF. In a situation like this arc radiation to walls
and roof of an EAF
makesto decrease, considerably,
the overall thermal efficiency of the process.
To be consistent with this analysis the following
measureswere taken in order to maintain a stable slag
foaming until just before steel tapping:
(1) After the steel reached 0.lwt"/. (from minute
85 approximately) the mass flowrate of graphite was
increased to 30 kg/min without slopping problems.
(2) Since minute 90 a mixture of carbon and lime
was injected through the oxygen steel tubes.
(3) Two minutes before tapping an addition of t
of lime was done.
(4) Operation using long arcs with high voltages and
low currents was prolonged until tapping time,
These procedures were added to the original practice
C receiving, consequently, the title of practice modified
and a comparison between both types of practices is
presented in Fig. 16. Data from practice Cmodified (Cm)
Vol. 35 (1 995), No. 9
and roof of EAF. Heat transfer from the heat source
(arc) is carried out by intensive convective
movements
promoted by falling of DRI pellets onto slag's surface,
electromagnetic field and foaming bubbles formed by CO
evolution during melting-refining period. Heat transfer
rates are enhancedin this turbulent stirred systern as is
expressed by the equationl5).
log Nu= - 0.777 + 0.25(10g Ko) + 0.333(log Sc)
.(1 1)
where Nu, Pr and Sc have the usual meaning and Ko is
Kolmogoroff's number defined as ed4/v3 in which 8 is
the power input by stirring energy. Practical results of
intensive stirring and a higher thermal efficiency (pro-
moted by foam) are shown in Fig. 18 where it is seen
that high DRI metallizations together with slag foaming
practice Cmallows to increase feeding rate of DRI
without a danger of heavy slag slopping.
Results for electrical energy are plotted in Fig. 19 where
advantages of practice C over practice A during years
C 1992-1993 and those of practice Cm over practice Ccan
be seen. Thermal efficiencies of the process for those
practices calculated by the mass and energy balance
model, above explained, are presented in Fig. 3 where
the influence of slag foaming is clearly evident.
2 Electrode consumption could be diminished thanks to
the following main reasons:
a) A
high DRI/scrap ratiodecreases risks ofelectrode
breakage.
C 40
~ *****'*' *
' Praetice C modlfied
'. ':~11F

indicate less oxidized slags than in the case of practice 80 ~

e . IF

C with a lower dispersion. Specific electrical energy oq)

e e e~ * ~(~~L
!,;
consumption as a function of iron oxide contents in slag .e .*e***
LL
~~ 20 e .*(~* 1)

is shownin Fig. 17 presenting

a moreconsistent behavior ~~_ e 1' e. e *
remaining almost independent from slag oxidation levels. t
10
6. Effect on EF Productivity
The melting of high proportions of DRI in EAFis o
very suitable foaming purposes thanks to a very
for slag o o,02 o,04 o,06 o,08 o, I o, 12 o, 14
high volume of generated slag forming a thick layer. The [wi% c]
thickness of slag is good enoughto cover completely the Fig. 17. Comparison between melting practices C and C
arc radiation avoiding excessive heat losses through walls
modified during steelmaking in EAF I employing
1000/. DRI charges.
7so
8.400

I~ 700 - 3.200 -
e
.~
3.ooo ~
I ~~~ .J'

~
-650 e
, e
~•:~

."F
O'
' ~ 2.800
e ee e .
o) ., •' No-foam~ng
ee .
~2.600 - SI8g fa8ming
S= 600
.
'1F
LiJ
2.400

550 - 2.200
1o 14 18 22 26 30 86 87 88 89 90 91 92
(wt% Feo) DRI metallization ('/.)

Fig. 16. Relationship between energy consumption and slag Fig. 18. Effects of DRI metallization and slag foaming
oxidation employing practice C
modified in EAF I .
practice on melting rate of DRI in EAFsteelmaking.

C 1995 ISIJ 1060

 ISIJ International, Vol. 35 (1 995), No. 9
b) A high DRI/scrap ratio promotes a huge amount considered:
of COmaintaining a reduced atmosphereeven if oxygen a) Good slag foaming was
obtained when iron
is employed for decarburizing the bath. content in slag was between 10 and 18 wt"/o FeO.
Results are shown in Fig. 20 for years 1992-1993 b) Foaminess of slag was higher when, in addition
(before slag foaming practice) and 1994 (monthly of FeOcontents above stated, the bath temperature
average) using slag foaming practice. Actual
was
consump- low (less than 1580'C).
tion is around .8 kg/t of liquid steel. I c) As expected from thermodynamicsof steelmaking
As a consequenceof higher feeding rates of DRI and slags (Fig. 15) gas production is main controlled by the
better thermal efficienties tap to tap time also following factors: injection rate of graphite, activity of
was
diminished as is shownIn Fig. 21. FeOin slag and injection rate of oxygen.
d) The small quantity of slag (with less iron oxide)
7. Final Comments carried-over from EAFto ladle
was easily conditioned
in the LF, shortening treating time of steel at this
During the experimental trials some qualitative
observations secondary refining process.
were made and they are worthy to be
8. Conclusions
800
771

750
A
metallurgical practice for melting charges with
near
lOOo/* DRI pellets in EAFemploying slag foaming
700 techniques has been established and the concluslons
:r:
~~ 665 reached are as follows:
> 650 L:~~•;~i=1"
635 For a good slag foam formation there are neces-
(1)

600
sary and sufficient conditions. The firsts are related with
generation of COthrough
decarburization reactions in
uJ 550 different interfaces
during all the processing time and
the seconds are those corresponding to thermophysical
500
i992 A 1993 A i 994 c 1994 cm properties of complex slags. Generally speaking, high
Years of operation Iow densities
viscosities, and low surface tensions en-
Fig. 19. Comparisonof melting practices A, Cand Cmodified hance foam stability.
in regard to
energy consumption (data of 1994 are (2) At the time whencarbon in molten metal is low
month averaged).
the necessary condition should be accomplished making
a more intensive employment of graphite injection
together with solid particles of lime
or dolomite to
increase the apparent viscosity of slag.
O (3) Slag foaming practice helps to increase
con-
siderably the productivity of steelmaking shop allowing
O a
to melt charges with high DRI/scrap ratios.
E
(4) Slag foaming practice improves the thermal
efficiency of the process from 80
up to 90 o/, in the case
presented in this work owing to better heat transfer from
UJ
arc to molten metal.
1992 1993 1994
Years ot operation Aeknowledgments
Fig. 20. Electrode consumption employing practice (years A The authors give the thanks to Drs. J. Sittard, M.
1992l993) comparedwith monthly average in 1994 Mukherjee and Mr. Richard S. Armstead, CEO,
employing practice modified. C Executive Director and Director of Operations
respec-
tively of IMEXSA for their encouragement and
sup-
160 port to carry out this work. Twoof us (RDM and JAR)
(150)
(1 53)
wish to thank also to the institutions SNl, CoNaCyT
150 and COFAA for their support to the Process Metal-

140
lurgy Group at Instituto Polit6cnico National.
_
E_
C~ Nomenclature
S! 130
WJf
,:,

':L
: Weight ofcomponent'' ', in raw material "i"
j
F 120 "loj: Weight fraction of component '' ,, in raw
(1
1o) material
'' .,'
l
j
110
AHT: Enthalpy necessary to heat up all raw
~oo materials up to the operating temperature
1992 199e 1994
Years ot operation
AHENR
: Enthalpy for endothermic reactions
Fig. 21. Tap-to-tap time during years 1992-1993 employing
AHEXR
: Enthalpy for exothermic reatctions
practice A and in 1994 (monthly average) employing AHsEN
: Sensible heat ofraw materials heated in EAF
practice Cmodified. eT : Thermal efficiency (-)

1061 C 1995 ISIJ

 ISIJ International. Vol. 35 (1995), No. 9

E.: Electrical energy 2) K. Meyer and G. Post: Stahl Eisen, 93 (1973), 194.
Cj: Constant in material balance for component 3) H. Ottmar, B. H. Schenck and W. Dahl: Stahl Eisen, 97 (1977),
'' .,'
731.
J 4) E. Elsner. H. Knappand H. Voss: Stahl Eisen, 94 (1974), 1322.
E: Foamingindex 5) G. Post and D. Ameling: Iron Steelmaker, 2(1975), 43.
p: Slag viscosity 6) I. Barin: Thermochemical
Data of Pure Substances, Parts I and
p: Slag density II,
VCHVerlagsgeselschaft mbH,D-6940, Germany,(1989).
(T: Slag surface tension 7) M. Bock. G. A. Boyd, S. H. Karlson and M. Ross: Iron
Steelmaker, 63 (1994), 63.
Gravity constant 8) R. Jiang and R. J. Fruehan: Metall. Trans. B, 22B (1991), 481.
Nu:
Ko:
Nusselt number (- )
Kolmogoroff number( )
9) Y. Ogawa,D. Huin, H. Gayeand N. Tokumitsu: ISIJ Int., 33
(1993), 224.
Schmidt number( )
-
Sc :
- 1O) S. Kitamura, K. Ogahira. S. Tanaka and M. Doi: Tetsu-to-

Hagan~, 69 (1983), S135.

d: DRI pellet diameter
Kinematic viscosity of liquid 1l) S. Hara and K. Ogino: ISIJ Int., 32 (1992), 81.
12) K. C. Mills and B. J. Keene: Int. Met. Rev., 32 (1987), 1.
Stirring energy 13) R. Roscoe: Br. J. Appl. Phys., 3(1952), 267.
O: Fraction volume of solids in slag 14) P. Wei, M. Sano, M. Hirasawa and K. Mori: ISIJ Int., 31 (1991),
358.

REFERENCES 15) J. F. Elliott and R. J. O'Malley: Proc, of The Sixth Int. Iron Steel
Cong., Vol. l, ISIJ, Tokyo, (1990), 131.
1) M. Blander and A. D. Pelton: Geochim. Cosmochim.Acta, 51
(1987), 85.

C 1995 ISIJ 1062

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