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EDW349
Issue Date: 14th December 2007
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New vacuum pump system helps producers reduce energy costs and improve product quality
Crawley,
UK (14th December 2007) - A new mechanical oil-free vacuum system from Edwards
for degassing steel alloys offers dramatic savings in energy costs of more
than 90% compared to traditional steam ejector systems.
Steel producers, and those making specialist alloys for aerospace and other
applications, will find that the Edwards vacuum system could play a significant
role in helping them reduce their carbon footprint. It is being launched,
ahead of January 2008 when Phase II of the EU Energy Trading Scheme (Directive
2003/87/EC2) comes into force. Under Phase ll the scope of the scheme is
to be expanded to include all greenhouse gases, not just CO2 as now. Companies
running energy intensive processes may well find themselves liable for significantly
increased ‘offsetting’ costs as a result.
Vacuum degassing (VD) and vacuum oxygen decarburisation (VOD) are used in
the production of speciality steel alloys to reduce the levels of hydrogen,
carbon and other impurities during the secondary steel making process. Traditionally
producers have used large, energy-hungry multi-stage steam ejector systems,
backed with liquid ring pumps. Such systems not only require consistent
high quality steam, but can also suffer from fore-line dust deposits that
develop into “cakes” making cleaning difficult.
The new dry pumping system from Edwards consists of HV30000, SN7000 and
IDX1000 pumps arranged in three stages, pre-mounted, piped and fully wired
on a two-part skid. Each skid is nominally capable of vacuum degassing around
23 tonnes of steel, so a number of skids can be mounted in parallel and
integrated with the steel degassing tank to suit the required ladle size,
typically up to 160 tonnes or more.
The oil-free vacuum pumps are ideally suited to pumping the off-gas mixture
containing traces of metal and refractory dusts normally found in these
processes. The pumps are selected for each stage from Edwards' wide range
of vacuum equipment and combined to make a system which is fully optimised
to the pumping speed and compression requirements of the application. The
result is a robust, high efficiency, expandable, modular design, easy to
install and operate in typical steel degassing environments.
The energy costs associated with running the new system have been shown
to be less than 10% of that for a steam ejector system in both VD and VOD
applications.
Further, quality of the final product is improved by using dry pumps. Residual
hydrogen is reduced because the back-streaming effect associated with steam
ejector systems is eliminated, and because evacuation is faster, closer
control of the chemistry is possible. As a result, manufacturers will be
able to produce more consistent formulations, and to optimise their products
for more specialist applications.
Other operational benefits include reduced maintenance, and easier cleaning
and waste disposal.
END
Editorial Contact: Freshwater Technology
Click here for full text in UK | GERMAN | ITALIAN | FRENCH
EDW349
Issue Date: 14th December 2007
CLICK HERE for 300dpi RGB hi-res
image
To download image to computer:
PC 'right-click', choose 'Save Pictures As'; MAC 'click and hold', choose
'Download Image to Disk'.
New vacuum pump system helps producers reduce energy costs and improve product quality
Crawley,
UK (14th December 2007) - A new mechanical oil-free vacuum system from Edwards
for degassing steel alloys offers dramatic savings in energy costs of more
than 90% compared to traditional steam ejector systems.
Steel producers, and those making specialist alloys for aerospace and other
applications, will find that the Edwards vacuum system could play a significant
role in helping them reduce their carbon footprint. It is being launched,
ahead of January 2008 when Phase II of the EU Energy Trading Scheme (Directive
2003/87/EC2) comes into force. Under Phase ll the scope of the scheme is
to be expanded to include all greenhouse gases, not just CO2 as now. Companies
running energy intensive processes may well find themselves liable for significantly
increased ‘offsetting’ costs as a result.
Vacuum degassing (VD) and vacuum oxygen decarburisation (VOD) are used in
the production of speciality steel alloys to reduce the levels of hydrogen,
carbon and other impurities during the secondary steel making process. Traditionally
producers have used large, energy-hungry multi-stage steam ejector systems,
backed with liquid ring pumps. Such systems not only require consistent
high quality steam, but can also suffer from fore-line dust deposits that
develop into “cakes” making cleaning difficult.
The new dry pumping system from Edwards consists of HV30000, SN7000 and
IDX1000 pumps arranged in three stages, pre-mounted, piped and fully wired
on a two-part skid. Each skid is nominally capable of vacuum degassing around
23 tonnes of steel, so a number of skids can be mounted in parallel and
integrated with the steel degassing tank to suit the required ladle size,
typically up to 160 tonnes or more.
The oil-free vacuum pumps are ideally suited to pumping the off-gas mixture
containing traces of metal and refractory dusts normally found in these
processes. The pumps are selected for each stage from Edwards' wide range
of vacuum equipment and combined to make a system which is fully optimised
to the pumping speed and compression requirements of the application. The
result is a robust, high efficiency, expandable, modular design, easy to
install and operate in typical steel degassing environments.
The energy costs associated with running the new system have been shown
to be less than 10% of that for a steam ejector system in both VD and VOD
applications.
Further, quality of the final product is improved by using dry pumps. Residual
hydrogen is reduced because the back-streaming effect associated with steam
ejector systems is eliminated, and because evacuation is faster, closer
control of the chemistry is possible. As a result, manufacturers will be
able to produce more consistent formulations, and to optimise their products
for more specialist applications.
Other operational benefits include reduced maintenance, and easier cleaning
and waste disposal.
END
Editorial Contact: Freshwater Technology