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Energy costs can greatly impact profitability in the steel industry. Learn how a steel plant in Virginia managed to decrease its energy costs substantially while increasing its performance at the same time thanks to the use of GORE® LOW DRAG Filter Bags.

Steel plant producers must balance productivity with emissions control. Thanks to the use of GORE® LOW DRAG Filter Bags, a steel recycling plant in South Carolina has improved its overall operating efficiency, with no adverse effects to its regulatory compliance. 

An emergency order was placed for GORE® Low Emission Filter Bags. The new filters were rushed to the plant site, where the leaking filters were completely replaced.

A South African producer of silicomanganese (SiMn) with five submerged arc furnaces tapped GORE LOW DRAG Filter Bags to help expand its production capacity through greater emissions control and overall cost savings.

System optimization and installation of GORE filter bags resulted in improvements to the baghouse and overall production process. Emissions from all the filters are well below 10 mg/Nm, maintenance on the filters has been significantly reduce, and extraction volumes from the furnaces have been significantly increased, leading to lower stack temperatures.

The system now runs with a consistent airflow of 41,000 acfm and compartment pressure drops of 4.5 - 6.5" H2O. The customer is able to run two ladles simultaneously, increasing metal throughput.

GORE Membrane Filter Bags improved bag life to three to four years, while baghouse down-time, maintenance costs, and stack emissions have all been drastically reduced. Baghouse emission rates are lower than the required regulatory limits and draft at the blast furnace is adequate for the operation. The hygiene conditions inside the plant have improved as a result.

Original set of GORE® membrane filter bags were in service for more than three years and were removed during a planned maintenance shutdown. Emission levels measured less than required by standards/regulations during this operational period.

By removing the U Tube cooler pressure loss the plant was able to open the canopy hood dampers more. This allowed increased secondary flow from the shop. With less flow resistance through the DEC system the primary evacuation has also increased with better fume capture at the furnace.

The bag life improved, while baghouse down-time, maintenance costs, and stack emissions have all been drastically reduced. Bags have survived several acid upsets which would have completely destroyed the previous bags.