Refractory Engineering Furnace Optimisation by Mettop

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TABLE OF CONTENT

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 3

2 METTOP AT A GLANCE ............................................................................................................................. 4

3 3D REFRACTORY ENGINEERING ................................................................................................................ 5

4 ADD-ONS – A SPECIAL SERVICE BY METTOP ............................................................................................. 6

4.1 QUALITY CONCEPT ...................................................................................................................................... 6

4.2 LINING SEQUENCE ...................................................................................................................................... 6

4.3 HEAT TRANSFER CALCULATION AND EXPANSION CALCULATION ............................................................................. 6

4.4 START-UP PROCEDURES AND HEATING-UP INSTRUCTIONS.................................................................................... 7

4.5 SPECIAL SUPPORT AND TRAINING COURSES ..................................................................................................... 8

5 HOLISTIC APPROACH – SCOPE OF SERVICES BY METTOP .......................................................................... 9

6 CONTACT ............................................................................................................................................... 10

BIC STSPAT2G

VAT No. ATU 61690637 DE 274789359 PL 5263148464

Account No. 00001263219 Bank Identification Code 20815 IBAN AT192081500001263219

Court of Registration Leoben Civil Court Commercial Registration No. FN 26145k Bank Steiermaerkische Bank und Sparkassen AG

Mettop GmbH Peter-Tunner-Str. 4 8700 Leoben Austria t +43 3842 81 7 87 f +43 3842 81 7 87 - 8 office@mettop.com www.mettop.com

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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is the rising demand for an economic and cost saving operation mode in all metallurgical plants

that makes every aggregate unique and asks for tailor made solutions that are absolutely essential

for an optimised process. A rethinking of the prevailing refractory concept, especially in terms of

refractory lifetime and furnace availability, can lead to significant improvements.

Upgrading of the existing furnace refractory design can lead to a wide range of improvements and

benefits for the customer:

Optimised visualisation of the refractory material by using exclusively 3D engineering

Combined consideration of furnace geometry, steel construction, refractory material and

arrangement of all additional components

Prolonged refractory lifetime by contribution to optimised operation (heating-up

specifications and expansion calculation)

Speeding up the installation by providing lining sequences step by step

Best furnace availability due to support before, during and after installation on-site

Comparing different suppliers´ grades to guarantee the best available product

Cost saving lining concepts by choosing price optimised material

Best available concepts by implementation of most modern operational systems (purging

systems, cooling solutions and tuyere arrangements)

With these tools it is possible to achieve the following objectives:

Increased time of furnace campaigns

Optimisation of furnace availability

Decrease of costs for refractory material

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2 METTOP AT A GLANCE

Mettop GmbH, founded in 2005, is an independent Austrian engineering company, specialised in the

design, optimisation, and engineering of technologies for metallurgical processes. It is active in the

field of pyro- as well as hydrometallurgy of non-ferrous metals and recently also started with

innovative cooling systems for the iron and steel industry. Special topics can be highlighted:

Feasibility studies on metallurgical processes

Basic and detail engineering of metallurgical processes

Technical and metallurgical process optimisation

New tankhouse technology, i.e. the METTOP-BRX Technology

Water-free and safe cooling technology, i.e. the Ionic Liquid Cooling Technology (ILTEC)

Cooler design and integrated solutions for cooler, refractory and process conditions

Gas purging systems

Refractory management comprising of refractory engineering, delivery and supervision

during lining on site

Project management, monitoring and risk analysis

Staff-training to implement the provided technical innovations

The scope of services comprises optimisation solutions in the area of furnace integrity, combining

refractory selection and layout, gas purging systems and cooling elements. In the field of

hydrometallurgy, a new electrolysis technology - the METTOP-BRX Technology - was developed and

is in operation to allow an acceleration of the electrolytic refining of up to 50 percent. For all

metallurgical aggregates and equipment, Mettop developed the new and water-free cooling

technology ILTEC, that uses an ionic liquid as cooling medium, for creating new pathways towards

safe and efficient cooling for the entire metallurgical industry.

In addition, Mettop is internationally active in terms of technical consulting (process optimisation)

and operator training for customers in the non-ferrous metals industry, and also assists in the

optimisation of risk management in metallurgical plants.

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3 3D REFRACTORY ENGINEERING

In contrast to the state-of-the-art refractory engineering in two dimensions, Mettop uses 3D

refractory engineering to optimise refractory linings and furnace concepts. 3D refractory engineering

requires a full design of all lining details during the construction and drawing stage. This is a big

advantage compared to 2D refractory engineering, as the cutting of bricks on site can be avoided

with the detailed 3D design. As a consequence, time and costs during installation can be saved.

Furthermore, the 3D refractory engineering allows a step-by-step visualisation of the installation

procedure. This again facilitates the refractory installation on site.

3D engineering of the furnace allows the automatic generation of a complete part list of all bricks

and additional fixtures (e.g. steel plates, hanging hooks, expansion inserts). These are named

systematically and are saved in a comprehensive list. Each brick format and every additional part is

only drawn once and then copied, so that the part list can be generated automatically and contains

all the information required for the refractory lining installation, as for example the required

amounts of brick formats and qualities, the number of expansion inserts, weight, volume and

positioning of bricks in different furnace areas.

In Figure 1 the difference between 2D and 3D can be seen.

Figure 1 – Comparison of a 2D refractory drawing of an off-gas opening of a drum type anode furnace and the same part drawn in 3D. The sophisticated steps, ledges and brick formats can hardly be distinguished in 2D whereas in 3D each brick is visualised

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4 ADD-ONS – A SPECIAL SERVICE BY METTOP

With the finalisation of the drawings for refractory engineering, the service of Mettop is not yet

complete. For the purpose of providing the best possible concept for a best possible operation of the

entire process, refractory engineering comprises of more than drawings.

4.1 Quality Concept

As an independent refractory supplier without a production site or contract to refractory producers,

Mettop can select the best available material to provide an independent and process-orientated

optimised concept. Since the scope of supply refers to refractory engineering but not refractory

manufacturing, a totally neutral material list, without any relation to single manufacturers, can be

offered. This allows the customer to independently order the refractory material according to the

provided quality concept. In addition, Mettop provides full service in terms of ordering, shipping and

delivery, including supervision on site if requested.

Based on the metallurgical and process know-how, the decision about the best available refractory

material has to be considered individually for each customer and application. This also means that

for one single furnace different brick qualities and subsequently different suppliers can be used, just

as desired by the customer.

4.2 Lining Sequence

In order to make the installation and the lining work on site as fast and smooth as possible, a

visualisation of the lining sequence can help immensely. With the 3D engineering tool, a brick by

brick illustration of the entire lining can be provided, for example as a video or as single pictures. This

helps to prevent cost, time and material consuming failures during the lining and will lead to a more

economical and cost saving lining.

In Figure 3 an installation instruction for a drum type anode furnace can be seen. Picture by picture

the installation of each single brick can be visualized.

4.3 Heat transfer calculation and expansion calculation

In order to provide not only the best material but the best lining result, an optimised furnace

performance is also significantly influenced by the start-up procedure. Since expansion during

heating-up is a topic of significance, a careful consideration of the expansion behavior during this

start-up phase is inevitable.

In Figure 3 an example of both, the steady state heat transfer calculation and the expansion

calculation, is given. As a result of the heat transfer calculation, the expansion of the different

materials at the different installation positions is known and instructions can be given on how to

prevent damage of the refractory during the start-up phase.

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4.4 Start-up procedures and heating-up instructions

Once the furnace is lined, the operation mode starts with a first heating-up of the furnace. Especially

too rapid heating can cause irreversible cracking, but also too little heat at some areas of the furnace

might result in condensation and subsequently in cracking due to hydration.

In order to prevent any damage caused by inappropriate heating, a specific and detailed description

of the heating-up procedure is proposed.

Figure 2 – Lining sequence including installation instruction for the entire lining process for a drum type anode furnace

Figure 3 – Detailed consideration and calculation of the steady state heat transfer through the different materials (right) and the expansion calculation including instructions for expansion joints (right)

Customer: PNo.:

Vessel: CNr.:

Sector: Calculated by:

Length: 1,600.00 mm [l]

Brick: 100.00 mm [s]

Brick inside

temperature.:1,267.00 °C [Ti]

Brick outside

temperature.:615.00 °C [Ta]

Extension at [T1]: 300.00 °C 0.40 % [e1]

Extension at [T2]: 1,400.00 °C 1.50 % [e2]

Mortar (Y/N): Y dry-laid: 0.15 mm/Joint

Spring: 0.00 mm wet-laid: 0.10 mm/Joint

Compression

mass:0.00 mm

Fibre board: 10.00 mm

Expansion of

steel shell:4.00 mm mm

Polystyrene: 0.00 mm

Tensioning: 10.00 %

1/5 Temperature 1,136.60 °C [T]

Extension at [T] 1.24 % [e]

No. of jonits 15 pcs. [n]

Expansion 20 mm [ε]

Expansion all-up 6 mm [Ε]

Theo. no. of. exp.

inserts2.10 pcs.

[N]

Exp. theo. allow

after every7.13 brick

Exp. allow

after every8 brick

Exp. covered by

card boards 19.29 mm

ε - Compensation

Ε / Thicknes of exp. Insert

n / N

Card Board

Ti-(Ti-Ta) ∙ 1/5

e1 + (e2 - e1) / (T2 - T1) ∙ (T - T1)

l / s

l ∙ e / 100

Calculation

Expansion insert

Calculation Of Expansion Allowance In Straight Linings

Example Furnace

EXPC01 - Bottom WL - Length

Parameter

Compensation Jointfigure

Thickness of expansion paper

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Ambient temperature (input)Surface temperature (calculated)Heat transition coefficientCalculation formulaWind velocityEmissivityDiamter Heat loss per m²Heat loss per m tube

Wall layers from inside to outsideMaterial

Steady state heat transfer calculation

18.08.2015

Customer

DateName

PNo.:CNo.:Vessel Example Furnace

HTC-01: Bottom-str

Quality 1Quality 2

RangeRev.

mm

W/m

Temperature [°C]mean borderW/mK

1,351.0--

230 928.1

1,241.01,013.0 1,015.9972.0 1,010.9931.0 933.3

2.7002.7002.6092.623

1,128.045010

150

0.0

mmW/m²

-1,351.0

0.5-

°C°C

W/m²K

m/s

UnitOutsideInside1,250.01,241.0

30.0169.7

9.7ASTM680F

Quality 5Quality 6Quality 7Quality 8Quality 9

150.0

Quality 3Quality 4 10

163041020

1200

813687516262170

1.3381.2961.2390.07650.68

695.8679.1347.8170.2169.7

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4.5 Special Support and Training Courses

It is of superior interest to provide the best possible performance on applying a new refractory

concept, but not only in terms of material performance. Therefore we take service seriously and

assist in all sorts of issues.

Installation on-site with precision, speed and efficiency

The entire installation on-site will be supervised and guided by Mettop personal.

After sales service

Mettop provides after sales service and special support for planned maintenance as well as for the

case of an unlikely event.

Training courses

For an optimised profit from the benefits, and using the entire metallurgical potential of refractory

engineering, it is of interest to fully understand the metallurgical background of the processes.

Therefore Mettop provides detailed and comprehensive training courses on-site to teach the

operators metallurgical know-how combined with operational instructions.

Figure 4 – Specific heating up description

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5 HOLISTIC APPROACH – SCOPE OF SERVICES BY METTOP

The scope of services of Mettop is intended as a holistic concept to create an optimised process. The

offered refractory engineering itself comprises of the following:

3D engineering

Construction plans

Complete list of parts

Independent and process orientated optimised concept

Technical documentation

Since Mettop combines substantiated knowledge about refractories with profound metallurgical know-how, it makes sense to be part of the entire process concept. On letting Mettop be part of the process, the following tools are used for optimising processes:

Thermodynamical modelling with HSC

CFD modelling

Optimised construction

Optimised refractory design for less wear

Most modern cooling systems

Possibility of improvement of metallurgical processes via purging systems

Finally, after having created a refractory concept, Mettop will support the customer in every possible way to achieve an optimised performance:

Visualisation of the lining sequence, step-by-step installation procedure

Heating-up description

Considerations regarding possible problems on-site (hydration,…)

Extension calculations and instructions

On-site support, supervision during start-up

After sales service and special support

Training courses for operators

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6 CONTACT

Mettop GmbH Peter-Tunner-Strasse 4 8700 Leoben Austria www.mettop.com Dr. Iris Filzwieser: +43 664 88 60 45 41 iris.filzwieser@mettop.com Dr. Andreas Filzwieser: +43 664 88 60 45 40 andreas.filzwieser@mettop.com DI Stefan Wallner: +43 664 88 60 45 53 stefan.wallner@mettop.com

Mettop GmbH Peter-Tunner-Str. 4

8700 Leoben Austria

www.mettop.com

Dr. Iris Filzwieser: +43 664 88 60 45 41 iris.filzwieser@mettop.com Dr. Andreas Filzwieser: +43 664 88 60 45 40 andreas.filzwieser@mettop.com

DI Stefan Wallner: +43 664 88 60 45 53 stefan.wallner@mettop.com