The pneumatic lime injection during the electric arc furnace (EAF) process has gained much interest and has become a valuable tool for the steel industry in the last years, due to its greater efficiency compared to traditional lime feeding systems.
An article has been published in the prestigious magazine Steel Research International (www.steel-research.de) highlighting the comparative results obtained with pneumatic lime injection in the EAF steelmaking process compared to the conventional adduction system.
The study, conducted at Acciaierie di Calvisano (BS), using a new pneumatic lime injection system developed by Unicalce S.p.A. and installed on a 90 t EAF electric arc furnace, allowed to measure through the analysis of more than 1200 heats, the performance obtained by this new technology compared to the traditional practice of lime injection in baskets.
The main advantages, in comparison to the traditional procedure of lime lumps addition within the scrap bucket, can be summarized in raw materials consumption reduction, foaming benefits, operational cost benefits, and improvement in environmental aspects.
The study showed that by adopting the lime injection system, in addition to optimising the specific consumption of raw materials for steel production, it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in the energy consumption required for production. This technology is therefore of great benefit to the environment, with a marked reduction in CO2 emissions and significant economic savings for steel producers.
This important result of Unicalce’s research confirms the company’s attention not only to its customers but, not least, its commitment to developing increasingly efficient technologies, the use of which contributes to making the world of production more sustainable, to the benefit of the whole community.
