Capturing High-Temperature Exhaust Energy

With melting points in excess of 2,000°F, steel mills have many processes requiring tremendous amounts of heat. Although every effort is made to capture excess heat for various purposes, exhaust streams often contain megawatts of useful power. AirClean’s engineering experience and knowledge of the steel industry make us well-suited to assess your opportunities to capture that energy and distribute it for use in your mill – whether as electricity or heat.

Two common opportunities which AirClean has encountered are Basic Oxygen Furnace heat recovery and Steel Reheat Furnace heat recovery. These opportunities allow steel production facilities to reclaim substantial operating capital through improved thermal efficiency.

AirClean will perform assessments of your heat recovery opportunity, estimating both the practical thermal benefits and total cost of implementation for your facility.

Substantial Energy Savings for Integrated Steel Mills

AirClean Energy Patented Technology

The basic oxygen furnaces used in integrated steel mills produce a significant amount of waste heat in the form of exhaust gas, which is normally vented to the atmosphere. Rather than venting, this waste heat can be used for the benefit of the facility. In addition to the heat, the exhaust gas contains a substantial percentage of carbon monoxide, which can be used as a fuel rather than wasted.

However, taking advantage of this waste can be difficult due to the cyclical nature of the system. Cycling over large temperature ranges makes heat recovery difficult because the recovered energy is highly variable, and the equipment must be equipped to handle the thermal variation. Additionally, the large volume of particulate entrained in the hot exhaust gas can coat heat transfer surfaces, reducing efficiency and causing mechanical failures.