Steel Plantech Develops New Furnace for Reduction of Dust from Electric Furnace

Japanese major steel making equipment maker, Steel Plantech (SP), announced on Monday the firm established Electric Smelting Reduction Furnace which conducts dust of electric furnace and takes up metal.

The firm started commercial operation of it in KATEC, Taiwanese electric furnace maker, in September. The furnace can take up iron from dust. The equipment takes up high purity zinc oxide. Japanese integrated steel makers enhance recycle of steel dust from iron works. SP builds up iron dust recycle system for electric furnace makers in domestic and offshore markets.

Electric furnace generates dust about 2% of steel, which is 500,000 tonnes of Japanese crude steel of electric furnace at 30 million tonnes. It accounts for about 30% for iron, about 20% for zinc and 5% for Chlorine. If some electric furnace makers, which has production capacity at 30,000 tonnes per month, introduce this new process, the firm can take up iron at 200 tonnes per month from dust, and can sell zinc oxide to other smelters, and reduce dust disposing cost at 20,000 yen per tonne.

New process makes briquette from dust, and reduces in fusion furnace with briquette and cokes. SP solved problem by high temperature fusion. Sp developed the process with KATEC, which sells it at below 1 billion yen except for Taiwan.

In Japan, integrated steel makers developed Rotary Hearth Furnace (RHF) for blast furnace and converter, and suggest it for electric furnace in recent days. As for electric furnace maker, Asahi Industries only introduced RHF, while other electric furnace makers didn’t adopt it. It seems that dust recycle business boosts by SP’s new process.