Refractory Engineering Furnace Optimization 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 – SPECIAL SERVICE BY METTOP ................................................................................................ 7

4.1 QUALITY CONCEPT ...................................................................................................................................... 7

4.2 LINING SEQUENCE ...................................................................................................................................... 7

4.3 HEAT TRANSFER CALCULATION AND EXPANSION CALCULATION ............................................................................. 8

4.4 START-UP PROCEDURES AND HEATING UP INSTRUCTION ..................................................................................... 9

4.5 SPECIAL SUPPORT AND TRAINING COURSES ..................................................................................................... 9

5 HOLISTIC APPROACH – SCOPE OF SERVICE BY METTOP .......................................................................... 10

6 CONTACT ............................................................................................................................................... 11

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 economic and cost saving operation mode within all metallurgical plants

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

optimized process. Especially regarding refractory lifetime and furnace availability subsequently, a

rethinking of the prevailing refractory concept can lead to significant improvements.

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

Optimized visualization of the refractory material by exclusively 3D engineering

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

arrangement

Prolong refractory lifetime by contribution to optimized operation (heating up specifications

and expansion calculation)

Speed up installation by providing lining sequences

Best furnace availability because of support before, during and after installation on site

Comparing different suppliers´ grades for guaranteeing the best available product

Cost saving lining concept by choosing price optimized material Best available concept by implementation of modern operational systems (purging system,

cooling solutions and tuyere arrangements

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

Increasing furnace campaigns

Increasing furnace availability

Decrease costs for refractory material

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2 METTOP AT A GLANCE

Mettop GmbH is an independent Austrian engineering company, which was founded in 2005. Mettop

is specialized in process design, process optimization, and process engineering with the focus on:

Feasibility studies on metallurgical processes

Basic and detail engineering of metallurgical processes

Technical process optimization

New tankhouse technology, the METTOP-BRX Technology

New cooling technology, the Ionic Liquid Cooling Technology (ILTEC)

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

Delivery of coolers

Refractory engineering

Delivery of refractory

Staff-training for realization of the provided technical innovations

Trading technical devices and equipment in the frame of the above described company

subjects

According to the specific customer and project, the above-mentioned products and services

are provided as either complete package or single parts

Mettop’s activities include the field of the pyro- and hydrometallurgy of non-ferrous metals as well

as the iron and steel industry. The scope of service comprise optimization work in the area of furnace

construction (furnace integrity), like refractory linings, gas purging systems, and cooling systems. In

the field of hydrometallurgy, a new electrolysis technology - the Mettop-BRX Technology - was

developed, which is already used commercially. For all metallurgical aggregates and equipment,

Mettop developed a new cooling technology ILTEC, which uses an ionic liquids as cooling medium

instead of water.

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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 optimize 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 cutting bricks on site can be avoided with the

detailed 3D design. Consequently, time and also costs during installation can be saved. Furthermore,

the 3D refractory engineering allows a step-by-step visualization of the installation procedure. This

again facilitates the refractory installation.

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

and additional parts (e.g., steel plates, hanging hooks, expansion inserts), as all parts 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 parts list can be generated automatically and contains

all the information required for the refractory lining installation, for example required amounts of

brick formats and qualities, 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 draw in 3D. The sophisticated steps, ledges and brick formats can hardly be distinguished in 2D whereas in 3D each brick is visualized

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Figure 2 – Various examples of 3D engineering

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4 ADD-ONS – SPECIAL SERVICE BY METTOP

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

finished. 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 any production site or contract to refractory

producers, Mettop can select the best available material for providing an independent and process

orientated optimized concept. Since the scope of supply can only consist of refractory engineering, a

material list totally neutral and without any relation to manufacturer 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 knowhow the decision about the best available refractory

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

for one single furnace different brick qualities and subsequently different suppliers are used, just as

desired by the customer.

4.2 Lining Sequence

In order to make the installation and the lining work on site as easy as possible, a visualization of the

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

Figure 3 – Example for a quality concept of an XXXXX furnace with a list of different proposed quality grades for each part

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4.3 Heat transfer calculation and expansion calculation

For providing not only the best material but the best lining result, an optimized furnace performance

is also significantly influenced by the startup procedure. Since expansion during heating up is a topic

of significance, a careful consideration of the behavior during heating up is inevitable.

In Figure 5 an example for 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 are known and instructions can be given how to

prevent damage of the refractory during the start up.

Figure 4 – Lining sequence including installation instruction for the entire lining process for an drum type anode furnace

Figure 5 – Detailed consideration and calculation of the steady state heat transfer through the different materials (right) and the expansion calculation including instructions 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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4.4 Start-up procedures and heating up instruction

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 furthermore, too little heat at some areas of the

furnace might result in condensation and subsequently cracking because of hydration.

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

of the heating up procedure is proposed.

4.5 Special Support and Training Courses

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

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

assist in all sorts of issues.

Installation on site:

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

After Sales service:

In case either any unlikely event or planned maintenance, Mettop provides after sales service and

special support.

Training courses

For optimized profiting 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 for teaching the

operators metallurgical knowhow combined with operational instructions.

Figure 6 – Specific heating up description

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5 HOLISTIC APPROACH – SCOPE OF SERVICE BY METTOP

The scope of service of Mettop is intended as being a holistic concept for creating an optimized

process. The offered refractory engineering itself comprises of the following:

3D Engineering

Construction plans

Complete list of parts

Independent and process orientated optimized concept

Technical documentation

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

Thermodynamical modelling with HSC

CFD modelling

Optimized construction

Optimized 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 for achieving an optimized performance:

Visualization 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

http://www.mettop.com/mailto:andreas.filzwieser@mettop.com