Title

VALUE CRATION BY GRANULATION OF EXCESS PIG IRON

VALUE CRATION BY GRANULATION OF EXCESS PIG IRON

Authorship

Beskow, Kristina; Vesterberg, Per; Rick., Carl-Johan

Beskow, Kristina

I am this author

Vesterberg, Per

I am this author

Rick., Carl-Johan

I am this author

DOI

10.5151/2594-357X-22284

Downloads

Abstract

Integrated steelmaking often has a mismatch between the pig iron output and the downstream batch wise steel production. The causes to this are often plant logistics, problem with continuous caster, BOF relining etc which generates an excess of pig iron. When short-term buffering capacity is not sufficient, the pig iron is typically casted in an outdoor dry-bed or as pig iron bars. The excess iron volume can be up to 8% of the blast furnace output. This results in loss of production time, costs and poor material quality. An alternative is the industrially accepted and high capacity Granshot metal granulation process. In this paper excess hot metal, in granulated form, so called Granulated Pig Iron, GPI, is discussed and compared to alternative feedstock. Results from operation and use of GPI, material properties such as size distribution and shape, bulk density, cleanliness and methods of handling are discussed. The benefits and drawbacks of addition of different materials into various steelmaking operations such as EAF's and converters are also compared. The efficiency in melting of different materials is further studied by experiments in laboratory scale. The paper demonstrates the value of granulated pig iron as an excellent feedstock; having clean and correct material properties, supporting simplified and automated handling when used in any steelmaking operations.

Integrated steelmaking often has a mismatch between the pig iron output and the downstream batch wise steel production. The causes to this are often plant logistics, problem with continuous caster, BOF relining etc which generates an excess of pig iron. When short-term buffering capacity is not sufficient, the pig iron is typically casted in an outdoor dry-bed or as pig iron bars. The excess iron volume can be up to 8% of the blast furnace output. This results in loss of production time, costs and poor material quality. An alternative is the industrially accepted and high capacity Granshot metal granulation process. In this paper excess hot metal, in granulated form, so called Granulated Pig Iron, GPI, is discussed and compared to alternative feedstock. Results from operation and use of GPI, material properties such as size distribution and shape, bulk density, cleanliness and methods of handling are discussed. The benefits and drawbacks of addition of different materials into various steelmaking operations such as EAF's and converters are also compared. The efficiency in melting of different materials is further studied by experiments in laboratory scale. The paper demonstrates the value of granulated pig iron as an excellent feedstock; having clean and correct material properties, supporting simplified and automated handling when used in any steelmaking operations.

Keywords

Blast furnace; Granshot process; Granulated pig iron; GPI.

Blast furnace; Granshot process; Granulated pig iron; GPI.