Slag Granulation
Slag Granulation
Slag Granulation
Keywords: Blast Furnace, Dry Slag Granulation, Slag Sand, Heat Recovery, Cement, Carbon Footprint, CO2 reduction,
Energy Efficiency
INTRODUCTION
Each year, approx. 400 million tons of blast furnace slag is produced worldwide with a tapping temperature of around
1,500°C. Currently, the slag is granulated in wet granulation plants using large volumes of water and to date it has not been
possible to utilize the remnant heat energy of the molten slag, with approx. 1.7 GJ of energy per ton.
However, in an R&D project currently underway by a consortium of companies led by Primetals Technologies and
comprising voestalpine Stahl GmbH (Austria), FEhS Building Materials Institute (Germany) and the Montanuniversität
Leoben (Austria), a dry atomizing technology is being developed to use air to cool molten slag and recover the lost heat
energy.
Phase 1 of the project has been completed where a technical plant was set up in 2012. The research results have shown the
process suitability as an industrial application and the decision was taken to proceed ahead with the project to Phase to install
a semi-industrial scale pilot plant. [4]
The design and erection for Phase 2 pilot-plant at the site of voestalpine Stahl in Linz has been finished in May 2017
followed by a intense commissioning phase. Since June 2017 discontinuous batch campaign operation are executed to gain
know-how and allow for process optimization for later commercialization of the process.. This paper summarizes the major
results until January 2018 and outline further development work required to achieve industrial readiness.
The wet granulation process operates with a high water to slag ratio of about 8:1. The advantage of the wet process is that it
is accepting wide fluctuations in the mass flow and physical/chemical properties of the slag.
However, the wet process faces also significant disadvantages:
• Despite mechanical dewatering in drums, silos or heaps, a residual moisture of about 10 - 12 % remains in
the slag sand. For the manufacturing of cement, the product therefore first has to be dried, Which requires
substantial energy input of more than 100 kWh per ton of slag.
• For granulation with open water circuits, vapor stream containing sulphur with intense odor are released,
and a correspondingly large amount of fresh water (about 1 m³/t) has to be fed into the system. Granulation
plants with closed water circuits and condensation systems can largely prevent such emissions of water
vapor containing sulphur, but are also capital intensive.
• When slag is quenched with water, the high energy potential of the hot liquid slag is wasted (heating and
evaporation of water.
• For granulation, the circulated water has to be re-cooled in cooling towers or with other cooling methods.
Mainly cooling towers are equipped with electrically powered fans and also the cooling water circulation
system are consuming significant electrical power. Finally the heat is released to the environment at a low
temperature level without any chance to be utilized.
Dry Granulation - Leap-frog Innovation for the Production of Slag Sand with efficient Energy Recovery
Intense water consumption and energy for drying can be avoided by dry dispersion and quick air cooling of the liquid slag.
The essential point for any dry technique is that the obtained slag product meets the properties as cement additive. Basically
the target is to achieve at least the quality of wet granulated slag sand. This applies in particular to the glass content (target >
95%), which is a key parameter for the latent hydraulic reactivity and hence the quality of the slag sand.
The glass content has a direct impact on the strength of the concrete. However, the required glass content can only be
achieved by ultra-fast cooling below the transformation temperature. Due to the less efficient cooling mechanism of water-
free air quenching, the dry process is technically more challenging than conventional water based granulation.
Diameter and shape of the cup has significant impact on the quality of the slag atomization process functionality at different
process. Variable speed control has to maintain the fluctuating slag flow and properties. By applying CFD fluid analyses for
the rotating cup, parameters of slag layer thickness & slag velocity vectors were evaluated for different load conditions and
cup designs. These results were combined with the extensive operation experience from the dry slag granulation pilot plant to
define a proper cup design. The speed of the cup is varied according to the current slag conditions (e.g. flow, temperature) to
reach a consistent product quality (e.g. grain size distribution, glass content) and process stability.
The atomized particles, mainly in a grain size range of 0,5 to 3mm impact on a inclined water cooled wall, bounces off the
wall and falls into a bed of granules. A first particle cooling effect is caused mainly by the radiation to surrounding
equipment and product, and convection heat transfer to the cooling air during the flight phase towards the water cooled wall
and finally to the granulate slag bed. Part of heat transfer takes place at the water cooled wall by conductive heat transfer.
Small sized particles have already created a solid surface before impacting the water cooled wall and bounce directly off the
water cooled wall without deformation. Larger sized particles cannot create a stable solid crust on the particle surface during
their first flight phase. They are deformed when impacting the wall to flattened form, but they re-establish a spherical shape
again after the wall impact due to the physical properties of blast furnace slag. The correct hitting angle, the material quality
of the impact surface and the cold surface temperature of the water cooled wall prevent sticking effects of the slag particles
on the side wall elements.
The solidifying granules fall into a bed of granules. The cooling air introduced into the granulate bed by several different air
supply chambers flows through the bed. The active control of the different cooling air flows into the cooling air chambers
ensures that the granulate bed remains in stable condition. The resistance time of the granulate in the bed is defined by the
required heat exchange time between granulate and cooling air. Major part of heat transfer in the granulator takes place in the
granulate bed.
The discharging system at the bottom of the granulator is designed for independent discharge of granulate from the granulate
bed to a conveyor system. Cooling air can pass the discharging modules to have a direct bottom up flow of the cooling air in
the granulate bed / granulator (counter flow principal).
Obviously “dry” granulation requires no subsequent drying of the product. This leads to a CO2 reduction potential of about
30 kg per ton in comparison with wet process. Given global slag sand production of approximately 210 million tons of slag
sand (2007), this equivals to a potential CO2 reduction of more than 6.3 million tons per year.
PHASE 2 - DRY SLAG GRANULATION PILOT PLANT
With environmental and energy saving considerations becoming ever more important and even becoming enshrined in
legislation, there is clearly a need for a major improvement in slag handling. Our past experience of the dry granulation
process is being further enhanced with heat recovery technology to satisfy this requirement and the topic is now a major
R&D project at Primetals Technologies in conjunction with the consortium partners. voestalpine Stahl GmbH Linz site has
been chosen to build a new semi-industrial scale dry slag granulation pilot-plant which will be capable of handling slag flow
up to 2 tons per minute from a single tap hole in STEP 1. This STEP will assess and improve process performance and
evaluate detailed off gas parameter information for a subsequent heat recovery plant installation. If the STEP 1 plant
operation will be successful it is the intention to upgrade the facility in a STEP 2 development to treat full slag flow from
multiple tap holes on the blast furnace A and install downstream a waste heat recovery plant.
Figure 3: Process scheme of Phase 2 STEP1 pilot-plant installation at voestalpine Stahl Linz
Main focus is on the core process – the rotating cup atomization process. But also several other equipment’s at the pilot plant
have to be tested intensively regarding their reliability for a dry slag granulation process. A closer look the key areas of the
dry slag granulation pilot plant is outlined below:
Slag Supply
The slag is fed to the granulator via a slag runner which is directly connected to the blast furnace tap hole. Based on the fact
that the blast furnace slag tapping flow will exceed the granulator capacity, the slag flow is limited to a specific flow level
applying refractory slag divider. Just before the slag entrance into the granulator the slag can be diverted to a slag emergency
pit in case of an emergency shut down of the granulator.
Granulation process
The core equipment – the rotating cup unit – is fed with slag from the top. It is possible to equip the granulator with different
rotating cup configurations for process optimization of the rotating cup design. The speed of the cup is actively controlled
within a certain speed range. Several visual high-speed and temperature imaging devices are installed for monitoring, control
and evaluation of the granulation process. The particles impacts an inclined water cooled wall. The main inner diameter of
the granulator is about 6,5 meter. The bottom of the granulator forms the granulate bed with a filling weight of about 30 tons.
The bed is intensively cooled from the bottom and side walls with cooling air properly distributed.
Discharge System
The core equipment of the discharge system is a wide area discharge module. With this system a controlled discharge of
granulate at the bottom of the granulator in combination with a wide area cooling air supply is possible. The granulate is
discharged from the center of the granulator with 2 conveyors and stored in a granulate pit area.
Figure 4: View at the dry slag granulation pilot plant (East & West)
Plant preparation:
Before starting the operation of the plant the main operation parameters are defined accordingly. One important parameter is
the maximum amount of slag flow that is guided to the granulator. The slag flow to the granulator will then be restricted to
the defined amount. The surplus of slag is guided to the existing slag handling system. Before start of tapping of slag from
the blast furnace runner to the pilot plant is pre-heated. Before The granulation plant is set-up to stable condition, this means
all systems are running (spinning of rotating cup, process air, water cooling circles etc. ) with a main focus on the stable
conditions of the granulate bed. Then the slag is fed continuously to the granulator.
Plant operation:
From first slag feeding into the granulator it takes about15 minutes to achieve stationary process conditions and to allow to
evaluate the big data from DSG operation.. All components in the granulator and the fluidized bed has to heat up until they
reach their final temperature (if constant slag flow is given). Based on the indication of process parameters and the visual
monitoring of the granulation process following main parameters will be adjusted during the trial:
It is the aim to run the granulation process during the whole tapping until the active tap hole at the blast furnace will be
closed again. Only in case of emergency condition the granulation process is interrupted by diverting the slag flow towards
the emergency pit.
Analyses of operation:
After every campaign the granulator is carefully inspected with main focus on:
- Effects of wear in the granulator (especially at rotating disc)
- Amount of granulated solidified slag
- Environmental parameters, energy & mass balance, off-gas parameters, etc.
All recorded measurement data of each trail are systematically analyzed. In the following table typical main parameters of a
granulation trial are described (parameters at stationary operation conditions):
Based on the recorded process data an energy- and mass balance of the granulator is established. This is an important
information to adjust the slag flow. online via a slag flow evaluation and control systems. A typical energy balance of a
granulation trial can be seen in following figure:
Granulate product:
Requirement for starting the granulation process is a stationary established fluidized bed inside the granulator. Then the slag
is granulated for about one hour and the granules are collected in the granulate bed. The analyses of the slag product shows
97 to 99% glass content. These value are equal or better compared to conventional wet granulated slag. First investigations
on concrete properties have shown appropriate values compared to the wet granulated slag. There is no doubt that product
quality with the dry slag granulation pilot plant as required can be achieved. Extensive large scale cementitious testing are on
the way and will be reported later..
Figure9 & 10: Dry slag granulate product from pilot plant
- Increasing the maximum pilot plant slag flow capacity up to 60 tons per hour
- Testing of pilot plant process limitation for achieving a maximization of off-gas temperature
- Long-term granulation experience to detect wear and sticking behavior at potential critical plant components
CONCLUSIONS
Liquid blast furnace slag represents the largest untapped high temperature waste energy source in the iron and steel industry.
The consortium partners voestalpine Stahl GmbH, FEhS Building Materials Institute and the Montanuniversität Leoben,
Primetals Technologies have decided after successful lab-scale phase 1 during 2013-2015(40 kg/min) to enter into phase 2
and to install a semi-industrial pilot plant. Engineering, manufacturing and installation was finalized in May 2017. Since June
2017 the pilot plant is operated in batch campaigns. During the first six month the focus was on process optimization and
operation know-how collection. Process control parameters have been developed and implemented. A couple of hundred tons
of slag product has been granulated. The quality of the product shows high glass content of 97% plus. Cementitious
parameters show appropriate values. During the next month the focus will be on big data gaining, improve process control,
process reliability and determination of wear and sticking.
The benefits of the dry granulation process were confirmed and are significant.
Would only half of the operating blast furnaces switch from wet to dry type granulation, more than 3.5 million households
can be supplied with sustainable power or 6.5 million e-cars can be charged on basis of 10000 km per year driving.
The additional advantages for cement producers are to utilize a first class cement clinker additive which is dry, highly glassy
and easy to handle and at remarkably reduced carbon foot print. makes this a very good fit with our overall customer’s needs.
The development and operation of the dry slag granulation pilot plant at the site of voestalpine Stahl in Linz is bringing the
dry slag granulation technology one step closer to industrial commercialization.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the “Klima und Energiefond” managed by “Komunalkredit public
consulting” and “Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft”.
This project is supported by funds of the Austrian “Klima und Energiefond” (climate- and energy fund) and executed in the
context of the program “Energieforschung” (Energyresearch).
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