Abstract
Excavation of industrial-scale furnaces allows for the systematic study of reaction sequences by identifying the different reaction zones within the furnace . In 2013, Transalloys excavated a 48 MVA submerged arc furnace that was used for silicomanganese production using the ore-based route . The excavation method was reported elsewhere as was observations made in terms of refractory wear and modes of electrical energy dissipation prior to excavation . The paper presented here, reports on the process reaction zones observed during the excavation and subsequent phase chemical analyses of a number of process samples obtained during the excavation . The zones identified were a loose burden zone, a dry coke-bed zone, a wet coke-bed zone, a hard build-up zone, and an alloy zone. The results are compared to observations made in the excavation of an industrial-scale SAF and a pilot-scale SAF in Norway. The presence of the hard build-up zone below one of the electrodes and absence of a slag zone below all three electrodes are unique features of the SAF excavated at Transalloys.
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The paper is published with the permission of MINTEK, Transalloys, and the University of Pretoria.
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Steenkamp, J.D., Gous, J.P., Grote, W., Cromarty, R., Gous, H.J. (2018). Process Zones Observed in a 48 MVA Submerged Arc Furnace Producing Silicomanganese According to the Ore-Based Process. In: Davis, B., et al. Extraction 2018. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95022-8_50
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95022-8_50
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