Newsletter Header

December 2010                                                                                  Issue 15

 

LATEST NEWS
BF Equipment Seminar in China
POS Himetal New Manganese Furnace
Dark Month for Carbon Block Hearths in China
INFORMATION
Join Our Mailing List
 HEARTH CALCULATOR

Need a fast price indication for a Blast Furnace hearth lining?  When planning a reline or new furnace project, the Hearth Calculator will enable you to obtain a cost indication immediately!

Having Trouble Viewing this Email?

Seminar Sign Up!
Want to host a Seminar at your location?  Sign up here!
 
Meeting 
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Holiday Image 2010

Dear Newsletter Reader,

Time has really flown and it's hard to believe that 2011 is right around the corner.  As we prepare for the upcoming Holiday Holiday Bells GoldSeason we can look back on a year that at times was challenging and difficult but has made us all aware of how important sound business decisions are!  We appreciate our more than 1000 subscribers to this Newsletter and wish you and yours a very Merry & Safe Holiday Season! 
BF Equipment Seminar in China 
 
On September 3-4, 2010 the Ironmaking Branch of China Metal Society conducted a seminar named, China BF Design 2010. The seminar was held in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. It attracted more than 150 participants which included representatives from most of the local engineering companies. A total of 33 papers were presented during the two days, several discussing long hearth campaign lives.

Henry Yu
Henry Yu presents at China BF Design
The picture depicts Mr. Henry Yu, a GrafTech representative in China, presenting the paper, "The Record Breaking Hearth Campaigns at Shougang, Baosteel and Benxi".  A copy of the paper in English and Chinese is posted on our web page and can be accessed here.  T
he paper presented by Mr. Yu stirred a lively discussion as several supporters of large carbon block linings were amazed by the results presented.  Arguments included; "but it can't work with that many joints", "the porosity measured for the UCAR� Refractory materials in laboratories is higher than in super micropore blocks".  Mr. Yu answered with details from the paper that documents the superior performance and explains the technical reasons in detail.  Read the amazing results for yourself!
POS Himetal Building Manganese Furnaces in South Korea  

In our last Newsletter, we told you about the Chinese manganese producer CYMCO who is presently building the largest FeMn smelting furnace in China, rated at 68 MVA and using a GrafTech ChillKote™ lining. Now here is another manganese producer in Asia expanding; POS Himetal is now building new FeMn SAF's in South Korea.
POSCO Inspection
Mr. Jung Hoan Kim Inspects Lining
The photo shows Mr. Jung Hoan Kim the POSCO Chemtech Deputy General Manager Customer Satisfaction Planning Group when inspecting the lining his company has purchased at the GrafTech plant in Columbia, Tennessee.

POS Himetal, a joint venture between POSCO and Dongbu Metal in Korea, will build two submerged arc furnaces to produce manganese alloys.  GrafTech was awarded the contract to supply the hearth lining for the SiMn furnace, which is rated at 30 MVA and has a shell diameter of 11.1 meters.  The UCAR ChillKote™ system will include NMA™ and NMD™ HotPressed bricks for the wall, GradeD™ carbon blocks for the bottom, and CJR™ graphite for the bottom, walls, and taphole components.  The furnace is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011.
August 2010, a dark month for block linings in China

China, today the worlds largest producer of steel, experienced no less than four (4) hearth lining failures during the month of August 2010. The common denominator was that all these hearths relied on refractory linings consisting of domestic made or imported large carbon blocks, some categorized as "super micropore", and some using a so called "ceramic cup".
  • Steel producer #1  -  Campaign length: 8 years
  • Steel Producer #2  -  Campaign length: 6 years
  • Steel Producer #3  -  Campaign length: 5 months
  • Steel Producer #4  -  Campaign length: 3 years
Since 2004, we have recorded 16 hearth breakouts through large carbon block linings around the world. The typical campaign lives before the premature refractory failures range between 3 and 8 years. In the paper presented by Mr. Yu in China in September he explains the reasons for the fast deterioration seen in many carbon block walls over the years.
 

Thick wall

High Expansion

Ram annulus

Cracks

Large blocks

Chemical Attack

High Temperature

No protective skull

 

Large blocks fail because they do not address the causes of hearth wear, while the UCAR System is designed to maintain low temperatures and prevent hearth wear mechanisms from occurring.

Block-Crack
Typical cracks seen in large carbon block after a few years of operation

GrafTech Refractory Team

GrafTech, HotPressed, ChillKote, C34, GR37, Grade D, NMA, NMD, RP4, SmartRam, UniGraf, RefractoryFlex, FlexLine, and FlexRepair are all trademarks of GrafTech International Holdings Inc.  UCAR� is a registered trademark used under license by GrafTech International Holdings Inc.  The information contained in or referred to in this newsletter is based on data believed to be reliable but GrafTech makes no warranties, express or implied, as to its accuracy and assumes no liability arising out of its use.  GrafTech's liability to purchasers is expressly limited to the terms and conditions of sale.  �2010 GrafTech International Holdings Inc.