Title

From DRI to Finished Steel: Integrating Hot Charged DRI, DC Furnace and Thin Slab Casting Technologies for the Steel Mill of the Future

From DRI to Finished Steel: Integrating Hot Charged DRI, DC Furnace and Thin Slab Casting Technologies for the Steel Mill of the Future

Authorship

QUINTERO, RAÚL; GUZMÁN, JOSÉ G.

QUINTERO, RAÚL

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GUZMÁN, JOSÉ G.

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DOI

10.5151/2594-5300-28Aciaria-151-164

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Abstract

Hylsa has been producing steel via the D.R./E.A.F. route for 40 years – longer than anyone. The HYL III Process is a mature, continuous ironmaking technology with high availability. Product is usually cold discharged, or hot discharged for briquetting, and shutdowns are typically once yearly for maintenance. The EAF, while also highly mature technologically, is a batch process with cycling time of about one hour and with frequent shutdowns. Hylsa has the additional problem of having to shut down EAF steelmaking for four hours daily due to high peak electrical energy rates. After years of development and testing of the HYTEMP® Pneumatic Transfer System, the new 4M plant provides Hylsa with the opportunity to use this technology to take advantage of the heat value of the DRI by linking the D.R. plant to the EAF. This paper will describe the HYL III Process, with emphasis on solids handling at the reactor discharge. A description of the Hylsa CSP steel mill will be given, detailing present and future iron requirements, and the HYTEMP® System will be described. Emphasis will be placed on the solutions found to link a continuous to a batch process, and the results which are expected once the 4M plant becomes operational.

Hylsa has been producing steel via the D.R./E.A.F. route for 40 years – longer than anyone. The HYL III Process is a mature, continuous ironmaking technology with high availability. Product is usually cold discharged, or hot discharged for briquetting, and shutdowns are typically once yearly for maintenance. The EAF, while also highly mature technologically, is a batch process with cycling time of about one hour and with frequent shutdowns. Hylsa has the additional problem of having to shut down EAF steelmaking for four hours daily due to high peak electrical energy rates. After years of development and testing of the HYTEMP® Pneumatic Transfer System, the new 4M plant provides Hylsa with the opportunity to use this technology to take advantage of the heat value of the DRI by linking the D.R. plant to the EAF. This paper will describe the HYL III Process, with emphasis on solids handling at the reactor discharge. A description of the Hylsa CSP steel mill will be given, detailing present and future iron requirements, and the HYTEMP® System will be described. Emphasis will be placed on the solutions found to link a continuous to a batch process, and the results which are expected once the 4M plant becomes operational.

Keywords

HYTEMP, minimill, DRI

HYTEMP, minimill, DRI