Electric Arc Furnace

Application

Steel Electric Arc Furnace for production of Merchant Bar

Optimization Potential

The original baghouse design was based on furnace power-on time equal to 66 minutes. When additional chemical heat was added to the furnace to reduce power-on time to 51 minutes water sprays were installed to keep the temperature under the limit for polyester needled felt media. When frequent bag failures, spark damage and high differential pressure occurred the plant retained an independent laboratory to investigate the causes. They found severe levels of acidic moist heat hydrolysis of the polyester and fine micron dust penetration into the felt, concluding that the polyester felt was not suitable for this fine fume application.

Solution

Optimized system settings and replace the existing woven polyester bags with GORE® ePTFE membrane bags with 16.8 oz/sq yd acid resistant fiberglass backing.

Results

The bag failures from sparks were eliminated. Hydrolysis is no longer a concern since the GORE™ ePTFE membrane and the fiberglass backing are acid and hydrolysis resistant. The baghouse pressure drop has decreased and flow has increased. More flow can be taken from the DEC so more of the fume is captured before escaping from the furnace.

Electric Arc Furnace (133 KB  )