• Blast Furnace Ironmaking

Hot Blast Generation & Supply

Having integrated many decades of experience from previously different leading players in designing and supplying hot blast stoves plants and hot blast systems, Paul Wurth proposes tailor-made solutions for your hot stoves, either with internal or external combustion chamber. The portfolio includes a strong and large competence in modernisation and stoves repairs of all kind.

The internal combustion chamber stove is a proven, continuously developed and reliable solution for the operation of small to medium size blast furnaces. For larger blast furnaces and operations committed to reduce carbon monoxide emissions, Paul Wurth recommends stoves with an external combustion chamber.

The newly developed Paul Wurth Top Combustion Stove satisfies customers’ demand for this type of stove and provides a suitable solution for different challenges like retrofits or restrictions in the plant footprint. In terms of performance, it can be rated equivalent to Paul Wurth’s external combustion chamber stove, still listed as best available technology by the European Union.

Paul Wurth Top Combustion Stove

After heating the stoves, the waste gas generated still contains a significant amount of energy. The closest use case would be preheating the combustion gas and combustion air at the same hot stoves. The overall thermal efficiency of the stoves plant improves, resulting in substantial energy savings and optimised operating costs.

Paul Wurth’s heat recovery systems are, typically based on heat pipe technology. However, specific site conditions may call for a different solution to be developed and e.g. a system with heat carrier media becomes possible. Paul Wurth’s design of the heat recovery system always considers all requirements of the stove process and connected aggregates, ensuring energy saving and reliable operation of the stoves under the new operation conditions.

Blower and TRT

Prior to the use of blast furnace top gas’ calorific value in combustion processes, the use of the Top Gas Energy Recovery Turbine (TRT), an expansion turbine installed downstream of the gas cleaning equipment, can transform the potential energy of the top gas into electricity. For a large blast furnace with high top pressure, the gas recovery results in substantial electric energy savings and contributes, in a sizeable way, to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. In certain cases, even a mechanical coupling of TRT to the same blast furnace’s blower station for cold blast generation is possible and results in best energy recovery performance.

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