Additional Slag Doors for Increased EAF Efficiency: A Conceptual Study

Abstract

The paper presents a conceptual study on modification of the electric arc furnace (EAF) slag doors in order to allow removal of the excess slag from the EAF. The idea behind additional slag doors is to allow deslagging of the bath in certain unfavorable cases when the slag height is too great. Slags which exceed the optimal height cause unnecessary refractory corrosion and additional energy losses. The study proposes symmetric slag doors comprised of two hatches, i.e. upper and lower. The upper hatch is intended to decrease the slag height to the optimal level, while the lower hatch can be used to completely deslag the EAF at tapping. In this manner, tilting of the EAF is not necessary. A conceptual study is performed focusing on the effects of the proposed doors on EAF energy performance. The study shows that implementation of the proposed solution could lead up to 1–2% efficiency improvement and approximately 2–3 minute tap-to-tap time decrease in comparison to the conventional slag doors.