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INFORMATION | |
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Upcoming Events in
2013 |
Beijing, China
October 16-18
Barcelona, Spain
November 10-12
Colgone, Germany
November 24-27
Kolkata, India
January 16-18
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Newsletter Archive | |
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Read Newsletter #26 in
Russian
Read Newsletter #26 in
Spanish
Read Newsletter #26 in
German
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Read Newsletter #26 in
French |
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Dear Newsletter Reader,
Since our June Newsletter, we are looking at a steel market that continues to be impacted by uncertainties in the Eurozone. Several operators are investing in campaign extending improvements. While idling furnaces and performing maintenance, refractory repair on short notice is often part of the activities. Big block hearth wall linings are known to offer unpleasant surprises, sometime after short campaigns. We are excited to be a part of several of these important repair projects, where in many cases, timely supply of quality carbon and graphite refractories is critical. To be prepared for the worst, many customers take advantage of the RefractoryFlex™ Program, read more here. Access to an inventory of GrafTech's unique HotPressed™ bricks, cement and ram can save days or weeks of downtime when emergency repairs are needed.
In this issue, we will tell you about a record lifetime for a FeCr furnace at Hernic, a repair of a blast furnace hearth wall in Sweden this summer, an IMnI workship in China and the world's largest ferroalloy conference conducted in Kazakhstan in June. You can also find out what Roger Fuhrman loves to do when he is not working hard to serve our customers. |
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Hernic #3- A Record FeCr Campaign and Now Aiming for Another!
Hernic Ferrochrome was established in 1995 and is situated near Brits in South Africa. The first phase of Hernic's smelting operation comprised of two 37 MVA smelting furnaces (#1 & #2). Both furnaces were originally installed with insulated type linings. For decades the ferrochrome Industry in South Africa suffered with poor lining performance. Typically the lifespan of traditional insulating linings was 5 to 6 years and required frequent taphole repairs. Several of these furnaces equipped with insulating refractory linings had major break outs, putting personnel at risk and resulting in massive production losses.
With the successes achieved with the UCAR® ChillKote™ linings in ferromanganese furnaces, the chrome industry was looking for help to improve lining life, furnace availability and reduce safety risks. The first ever ChillKote™ lining in a South African FeCr furnace was installed at Hernic Ferrochrome during 1999 in their new F3 furnace rated at 54MVA and with a shell diameter of 13 meters. After this investment, the furnace operated for six years before the conventional ceramic taphole required repair, at which time it was converted to a UCAR® system.
As with all ferrochrome producers, the markets have forced operators to temporarily shut furnaces to balance supply and demand, making F3 no exception. However, the lining has enabled Hernic to operate efficiently for the past 14 years, even when subjecting the lining to thermal cycling. This performance has proved to be a significant improvement over conventional lining experiences here and elsewhere.
All four furnaces at Hernic are now taking advantage of the ChillKote™ lining advantages, including the F4 furnace rated 78 MVA, commissioned in 2005.
Earlier this year, a new UCAR® ChillKote™ lining was ordered from GrafTech to replace the one installed in F3 back in 1999. In addition the furnace will have the shell replaced. The old lining has a record long campaign in a very demanding application and a furnace with a very high power input for the hearth area. The new lining is designed to even better balance the heat flow from the smelting zone to the shell, potentially offering an even longer campaign life. It was installed during the South African winter. |
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Manganese conference in Naning
The International Manganese Institute (IMnI) provides vision and guidance to the manganese industry by promoting economic, social and environmental responsibility and sustainability for all stakeholders. And on April 23 - 25 they conducted their 4th environmental workshop in Naning, China. Industry authority Mr. Paul O'Shaughnessy, of OCTC Ltd, gave a presentation named "The UCAR® Freeze Lining Technology for Improved Furnace Refractory Performance andIncreased Safety". Paul took the opportunity to give the following advices to his audience: "Never allow your furnace lining to be the weakest link in your smelting operation!" and that "An insulating or containment lining is working against the process; a conductive lining is working with the process, not against it". He also concluded that "Conductive linings as supplied by GrafTech are a well proven concept in the Manganese Ferroalloy industry. The linings offer increased safety and more profitable furnace operations the world over."
The photo belows show Paul making his presentation at IMnI.
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INFACON XIII conducted in Almaty, Kazakhstan
In September 2010, we reported from the last Infacon conference, conducted in Helsinki, Finland (INFACON XII), and in June this year, this, the world's largest ferroalloy conference was conducted in Kazakhstan. Only two years from now, Infacon XIV will be conducted in Kiev, Ukraine.
In Almaty 360 people attended, 72 papers and 42 posters were presented. One of those papers was "Improved Furnace Lining Performance at Yiwang Ferroalloys". Authors are Kang Guoxhu (General Manager, Yiwang Ferroalloys Company Ltd), Peter Sylven (Marketing Director, GrafTech International Holdings Inc), Paul O'Shaughnessy (OCTC Limited), and
Mr. Dai Wei. The paper is available in the Infacon proceedings or from us on your request.
This paper describes how Jiaocheng Yiwang Ferroalloy Co. Ltd (Yiwang), in the People's Republic of China, produces manganese metal in a three stage process. The first stage generates high carbon ferromanganese and a high grade slag from primary raw materials. The second stage produces low carbon silicomanganese, also from primary raw materials. In the third stage, the high grade slag from stage one and the low carbon silicomanganese from stage two are reacted together to manufacture the manganese metal. In order to limit the manganese recovery in the first stage of the process, a low basicity slag is used. This slag has however been very aggressive towards standard furnace linings which incorporate regular grades of carbon refractory materials. The result was lining campaigns of less than six months. In December 2006, a UCAR® ChillKote™ lining was installed in the 10.5 MVA, 10 meter diameter high carbon ferromanganese furnace at Yiwang. Since start up in 2007, and allowing for periods of downtime due to non-furnace related issues, this lining has provided more than four years of service, a significant advance on what has been achieved using standard carbon lining materials. Based on improved lining performance in F101, Yiwang decided to install a similar UCAR ChillKote™ lining in F301 in 2012, the 18 MVA High Carbon Ferromanganese furnace in Meltshop No.3. The photo below shows the condition of F101 sidewalls after four years of operation. The NMA™ HotPressed™ Carbon Bricks showed very limited wear compared to the experience from earlier campaigns.
Yiwang is presently constructing their largest ferromanganese producing furnace named F401. This is rated 30MVA with a diameter of 16 meters. Based on their experiences from F101 and F301, Yiwang decided to order another UCAR ChillKote™ wall lining. This will be installed in October and Yiwang is expecting another reliable furnace operating in their plant.
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Repairing a taphole in Sweden
In Newsletter issue 8 in 2009, we told you about the repair of SSAB blast furnace #4 made in December 2008. Newsletter 8 here.
This summer a similar repair was made at this Swedish plant, but this time on a one year old lining.
Blast furnace #4 at SSAB Oxelösund in Sweden was blown-in with the current big micropore block refractory lining in early 2012. This is a single taphole furnace with a hearth diameter of 8.6 meter. It has 20 tuyeres and spray cooled hearth. This furnace is one of very few which has the "composite" large micropore block lining, where the carbon blocks have been "pre-glued" to micropore carboceramic materials prior to installation. Core drilling was made prior to the repair in the damaged area, which showed iron had penetrated the pre-glued joints for more than a meter away from the taphole. The original designed taphole thickness was 1440 mm but this summer only about 1000 mm of the composite micropore lining remained.
This repair was made by using UCAR NMA™ and NMD™ HotPressed™ Bricks to replace approximately a 3 x 3 meter section of the composite lining around the taphole. The Dutch refractory installation company Heatteq carried out the repair work and started removing the damaged big blocks on July 22. In addition to the HotPressed™ Bricks, the UCAR materials used for this critical taphole repair were C34™ Cement, Smart Ram® RP20 Ramming Paste and GR 37™ Grout. Blast furnace #4 was restarted in August.
Making a substantial repair on a one year old hearth lining is not what an operator expects to do but the new UCAR HotPressed™ Brick taphole lining will enable SSAB to maintain full production on blast furnace #4 in the future.
Photo below shows the HotPressed™ Bricks being installed in SSAB blast furnace #4, Oxelösund.
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Roger Fuhrman promoted
Roger Fuhrman has been promoted to the position of Commercial Manager for the Refractory Sales office. Roger most recently held the position of Customer Service Representative. Roger holds a B.S. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University. Roger's 32 years at GrafTech also include extensive experience in accounting, process improvement, management and quality. His primary responsibility is coordinating delivery of the optimal Refractory solution for each customer; from proposal through installation and operation.
Roger has been married for 27 years with three daughters, 25, 22 and 21. The Fuhrman family's favorite activity is water skiing on the Tims Ford Tennessee Valley Authority Lake. Roger will continue to be based in the main Refractory Systems sales office in Columbia, Tennessee. He can be reached at roger.fuhrman@graftech.com. |
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GrafTech, HotPressed, ChillKote, C34, GR37, Grade D, NMA, NMD, RP4, SmartRam,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. ©2013 GrafTech International Holdings Inc.
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