Latest Developments and Installations

of Environmental Protection Measures

in Material Handling Solutions

Dr. Rainer Bertling

Latest Developments and Installations of Environmental Protection

Measures in Material Handling Solutions

1. Introduction

2. Developments in material handling improving environmental protection

I. Closed raw material storage

II. Clean unloading systems

III. Reduced maintenance and energy recovery in sinter production

IV. Energy recovery and capacity increase by hot DRI charging into EAF

V. HBI soft cooling without water treatment requirement

3. Examples of latest installations all over the world

4. Conclusion

Agenda

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AUMUND Metallurgy equipment

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1. Introduction

2. Developments in material handling improving environmental protection

I. Closed raw material storage

II. Clean unloading systems

III. Reduced maintenance and energy recovery in sinter production

IV. Energy recovery and capacity increase by hot DRI charging into EAF

V. HBI soft cooling without water treatment requirement

3. Examples of latest installations all over the world

4. Conclusion

Agenda

4

Latest Developments and Installations of Environmental Protection

Measures in Material Handling Solutions

I. Closed storage systems

Arrangement of Baosteel closed material storage (Source: Baosteel / MCCI)

Longitudinal

storage

buildings

Circular

storage

buildings

Silos

Features:

Avoid dust exposure resulting from open stockpiles especially in storage areas close

to the sea with high wind velocities

various systems for the stacking and reclaiming of the different raw materials such as

coal, iron ore, limestone or coke

No special dust control, no risk of material losses and no fugitive dust pollution or

ground water pollution can occur

5

Storage

volume

per

footprint

I. Rotary Discharge Machines

Multiple silo arrangement using various rows of Aumund Rotary discharge machines

Features:

increased storage volume on significantly reduced foot-print

capacities of up to 4000t/h per machine with several machines per line possible

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compliance with safety

regulations to explosion

protection (self-combustion

by time) – avoidance of

solidification

by first in first out principle

blending by parallel rows /

number of machines per line

Easy maintenance by

moving out of the silos

I. Rotary Discharge Machine

Features:

Simultaneous Feeding and

Discharging

Low power demand

travelling length, depending on

stockpile length or number

and size of silos up to 400m

defined by type of power

supply system such as

power chain, cable reel or

festoon system

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I. Rotary Discharge Machine dedusting system

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material chute ~ 20mm

above belt conveyor guides

material from bunker table /

serves as dust cover

Optimized water spray

system by adaptation of

water droplet size to

grain size

Minimized operational costs

by adapted spray nozzles

(water / pressurized air

requirement)

Material free fall nearly zero, bulk of truck contents is

drawn into the body

~ 25% of the rate required for extraction on

conventional deep hoppers, thus saving capital cost

and long term operational costs

Benefits:

Surface Mounting without costly

Excavation.

Flexibility in Location / Easily

Relocated

Minimum Dust Generation

Easy Maintenance Access

Reduced Energy Demand

A Flexible Investment

II. Samson® Material Feeder for clean material unloading

Dust Filter

Module

Profiled

Steel

Enclosure

Dust

Curtain

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III. Hot Sinter Conveyor – replacement of vibrating feeders

Sinter discharge area with vibrating feeder Sinter discharge area after reconstruction

with Aumund pan conveyor Benefits:

Significantly reduced energy demand & noise emissions (and hence improved

working conditions)

Reduced wear and maintenance (no vibration (disintegration / recirculation), no

relative movement metallic pan conveyor with special wear protection caps

with proven lifetimes > 10 years

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Features and applications:

Sinter shaft cooler technology with improved heat and energy recovery and minimized

diffusive dust emissions (closed system)

counter flow principle is applied with increased height of the sinter bed for the most

effective heat transfer

lifting hot sinter to a higher charging level possible with inclinations of up to 60° (in case of

bucket apron conveyors)

III. Hot Sinter Conveyor – part of latest heat recovery sinter cooling systems

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Example of Primetals sinter shaft cooler system (Source: Primetals)

Features:

Instead of cooling DRI, the direct use in EAF significantly

reduces energy consumption / tap-to-tap times

EAF productivity increase up to 20% (or more)

DRI-EAF route = substantially lower CO2-emissions / ton

steel vs. BF route (mainly natural gas based)

Buckets = greatest possible volume = minimum contact area

to surrounding atmosphere / small potential reaction surface /

optimized thermal radiation for energy saving

Lifting height up to 110m

conveying capacities up to 400t/h – limited by chain strength

(increasing chain size would increase total weight) – specific

breaking strength of each single chain of 3000kN possible

dust losses << vs. pneumatic transport >> energy /

maintenance costs

IV. Energy-optimized hot DRI conveying

Bucket conveyor

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Source: Primetals

IV. Benchmark with Hot DRI input

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Increasing use of merchant HBI to

replace scrap charge in EAF for

high quality steel grades

increase steelmaking capacities

reduce CO2-emissions

With applications in EAF / BF

V. HBI Soft Cooling

voestalpine Texas LLC HBI plant

For further handling / transport HBI needs to be cooled after the DR furnace

Disadvantages of quenching with water directly after the briquetting process:

open quenching systems produce dust loaded steam clouds

resulting in dust pollution and equipment wear

Fast cooling process can cause cracks / potential fragmentation leading to additional

fines

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Source: Midrex

Patented HBI soft cooling conveyor to

achieve best quality HBI under the most

environmentally clean conditions

V. HBI Soft Cooling

Features:

Using water mist / vapor for a smooth cooling effect

Avoidance of sludge and dust generation in a closed system

vapor injected just according to the need to achieve the required HBI temperature,

typically to be ~ 100°C

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1. Introduction

2. Developments in material handling improving environmental protection

I. Closed raw material storage

II. Clean unloading systems

III. Reduced maintenance and energy recovery in sinter production

IV. Energy recovery and capacity increase by hot DRI charging into EAF

V. HBI soft cooling without water treatment requirement

3. Examples of latest installations all over the world

4. Conclusion

Agenda

16

Latest Developments and Installations of Environmental Protection

Measures in Material Handling Solutions

Rotary Discharge Machine (RDM) – Baosteel Meishan coal storage

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13 silos: 33m height, Ø 21m

Capacity: 400-550 t/h

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AUMUND Hybrid Feeder

New AUMUND BPB-SLP Hybrid Feeder, a technical combination of Samson® Material Feeder and heavy-duty AUMUND

BPB-SF Arched Plate Conveyor (example photos)

Combination of Samson® Material Feeder and a heavy-duty AUMUND Arched Plate

Conveyor = spillage-free heavy-duty process

• ERAMET Le Havre’s Sandouville Refinery, France

• Nickel Matte extremely difficult to handle – almost

spherical particles = challenges in reception, interim

storage and onward transportation

• Dust cover and top-mounted filter, slewing grate,

cleaning brushes and catching strips, for fine, spherical

bulk material.

• Essential no spillage of fine material in production area

= sealing Robust tractor-type chains required due to

high densities of material (2.8 to 4.3 t/m³).

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new permanently lubricated rollers after successfully testing in actual working conditions

in other sinter plants

Long trial sequences

Latest installation: 3,000 mm wide

capacity ~1,500 tons sinter /h

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Further references e.g. in

Brazil, Russia, Germany,

Austria, Netherlands

Hot Sinter Conveyor Japan

Patented HBI cooling lines for MIDREX Project at Cleveland Cliffs

New HBI works close to Lake Erie.

In December 2018: patented technology with 2 FPB-K pan conveyors with center

distances of 72 m.

AUMUND = subcontractor to MIDREX

HBI-Slow-Cooling process with HBI product to be conveyed and cooled from 750 to 90

°C, protecting the integrity of the product

Throughput of up to 285 tph at a nominal conveying capacity of 142 tph

First installation successfully completed by AUMUND in Venezuela in 2006

Example

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Regulatory drivers but also cost reductions through energy recovery and reduced

maintenance requirements have already been supporting different investments in

environmental protection measures worldwide.

AUMUND, together with its partners in steelmaking technologies and operation,

developed solutions to

minimize risk of material losses, fugitive dust pollution or ground water pollution by

means of covered storage areas or silos and unloading stations

allow modern sinter coolers to be connected in existing situations accompanied by

minimized energy demand and noise emissions.

handle other hot materials such as pellets, DRI or HBI

to improve energy consumption and environmental influences of the processes

to avoid / minimize equipment damages / high maintenance costs.

Conclusion

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Thank you for your kind attention!

Dr. Rainer Bertling