MIS810S - 2022

Unit 2: Metallurgical Features of Steelmaking

Self-tests 2: Basic Oxygen Furnace. [35]

Submitted to Prof Sofya

23/03/2022

Done by ;

NATALIA NAMENE ANDREAS

215029267

1. Oxygen lance is the key component of any oxygen converter. Is it to be immersed into the
liquid steel? What is a usual life span of this device? What technical precautions are made to
insure a reasonable lance life? [15]

The lance does not contact or touch the liquid steel , because if it touches it might end up breaking
and also it will not be able to release oxygen at the right pressure . Lancing is however done at the
proper distance .

The lance is immersed into the converter in a way that it does not touch the liquid steel , thus to
allow proper blowing of oxygen and this is done at a high velocity .

The maximize lance life is 200 to 400 heats.

The oxygen lance is provided with a cooling circuit. This helps to prevent the destruction of the
lance as high temperatures may lead to deterioration of the lance

2. What measures are taken / to separate steel from slag upon tapping effectively, thus
preventing contamination of steel in a ladle with slag? [10]

Before tapping is considered, the required chemical composition of the steel must be reached.
Before the tapping process is started, the converter vessel is tilted in the direction of the taphole,
the tapping hole is covered with a plug of refractory material to prevent slag transfer to the ladle.

To ensure that no slag is transfered to the ladle, the taphole has electromagnetic sensors installed
around it for the detection of slag, when slag is detected, the tapping is stopped. The plug of
refractory material is broken upon tapping.
 After steel tapping, slag is poured in a slag pot by tilting the converter and dumped in the slag yard
from which it can be reclaimed. Currently, about half of this quantity gets recycled internally. The
valuable elements recovered are CaO and Fe.

3. An oxygen steelmaking converter generates a lot of CO and CO2 gases, as well as fumes. What
measures are taken to prevent environmental pollution? [10] End of Self-test 2

Most of the fumes are generated during the main blow. These fumes are collected by a closed or
suppressed combustion hood, termed the Fume hood, that eliminates and reduces the induction of air
to very low levels (< 15%).The fume hood also provides thermal insulation while channeling the gases to
the exhaust pipe.

Environmental pollution is also mitigated by the Exhaust pipes;

The exhaust pipe is linked to a filtration system, it then conducts the gases to the filtration system,
hereafter, the exhaust gases can be recovered and used in reheating furnaces.