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Synopsis
In April 2013 a 48 MVA submerged arc furnace producing silicomanganese
was excavated in South Africa. Since the high shell temperatures recorded
in the tap-hole area resulted in the furnace being switched out for relining,
the tap-hole area was excavated systematically. A refractory wear profile
of the tap-hole area with affected hearth and sidewall refractory was
obtained in elevation. The carbon ramming paste in front of, above, and
below the tap-hole was worn, as was the SiC with which the tap-hole was
built. A clay mushroom formed but was detached from the refractories.
Thermodynamic and mass-transfer calculations were conducted to
quantify the potential for wear by chemical reaction between refractory
and slag and refractory and metal in the tap-hole area. It was found that
chemical reaction between refractory and slag or metal could offer only a
partial explanation for the wear observed; erosion is expected to contribute
significantly to wear.
Background
Introduction
Silicomanganese (SiMn) is an alloy used in
steelmaking to provide both Si and Mn
additions at low carbon contents. In South
Africa, SiMn is produced in three-phase
alternating current (AC) submerged arc
furnaces (SAFs) by carbothermic reduction of
manganese ores in the form of lump, sinter,
and briquettes (Steenkamp and Basson,
2013). In a SAF the electrode tips are
submerged in a porous charge mix, with
electrical energy being liberated by microarcing to a slag-rich coke bed floating on top
of a molten metal bath (Olsen and Tangstad,
2004; Matyas et al., 1993). Typical power
ratings for SAFs producing SiMn are 1540
MVA; such furnaces produce 80220 t of metal
per day (Olsen and Tangstad, 2004). The
furnaces are circular, with an external
diameter of 11.6 m and height of 6.2 m being
typical of a 40 MVA furnace (Brun, 1982).
The initial report on the tap-hole wear
profile and thermodynamic calculations
conducted to understand the potential for
chemical reaction as wear mechanism in the
tap-hole area was presented at the SAIMM
Furnace Tapping Conference (Steenkamp et
The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
VOLUME 115
University of Pretoria
Mintek, Randburg.
Carnegie Mellon University.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
The Southern African Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy, 2015. ISSN 2225-6253. Paper received
Jul. 2014; revised paper received Sep. 2014.
MARCH 2015
199
Keywords
excavation, dig-out, post-mortem, submerged arc furnace,
silicomanganese, refractory, tap-hole, thermodynamics, FACTSage, mass
transfer
Table I
Composition (mass percentages) and thermal conductivity of refractory materials (as obtained from supplier data
sheets, except where indicated differently)
Material
Fireclay brick
Carbon ramming
Raw materials
Thermal conductivity
Carbon
11 W/mK at 1000C
high-grade
SiC brick
Tap-hole clay
Composition (weight %)
SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
TiO2
CaO
MgO
Alks
53.6
42.0
1.5
1.6
0.15
0.3
0.85
Al2O3
Anthracite
Clay
Graphite
Resin
Tar
15
5070
15
1525
612
27
Silicon carbide
SiC
Si3N4
Fe2O3
Al2O3
(nitride-bonded)
(Fickel, 2004)
75
23.4
0.3
0.3
Al2O3
SiO2
TiO2
Fe2O3
19
79
0.5
0.8
(resin-bonded)
CaO
0.2
Figure 2Tap-hole area of SiMn furnace with (a) thermal image and (b) low-quality photograph of section of steel shell on which thermal image was based.
The maximum temperature of 480C (indicated) was measured at the tap-hole itself
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Average (as-received)
Average (normalized)
Standard deviation
Corrected
MnO
SiO2 MgO
13.3
13.7
1.8
11.9
46.0
47.4
0.8
48.3
25.3
26.1
1.0
27.1
6.0
6.2
0.4
6.4
0.5
0.5
0.3
0.0
5.9
6.1
0.7
6.3
97.0
100.0
-
Table III
Average (as-received)
Average (normalized)
Standard deviation
Mn
Si
Fe
Total
Mn:Fe
66.2
66.3
0.5
1.8
1.8
0.2
17.0
17.1
0.8
14.8
14.8
0.6
99.8
100.0
-
4.6
Method
The top 2 m of the burden below sill level was dug out from
the top of the furnace by manual labour. Thereafter the
The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Results
In Figure 3 the dimensions of the worn lining are
superimposed onto the refractory design drawing presented
in Figure 1. The dimensions of the red-line drawing were
obtained on a vertical plane passing through the centre of the
tap-hole.
As can be seen in Figure 3 and the series of photographs
in Figure 4 to Figure 9, wear of the tap-hole area was
extensive. As indicated in Figure 3, more than 50% of the SiC
brick was worn away, with most of the wear occurring at the
hot face of the sidewall. Wear of the SiC brick was more
extensive above the tap-hole than below. Furthermore, the
carbon ramming above the SiC brick was worn all the way to
the top of the carbon. In plan view (not indicated), the wear
pattern was in the form of a channel 500 mm wide, with
fairly straight sidewalls rather than funnel-shaped as is
typical of the wear pattern in open bath furnaces. The SiC
brick and the carbon ramming paste in the hearth in front of
the tap-hole were worn away both below and above the taphole.
Figure 4 shows a side view of the tap-hole region
(compare Figure 3) with the high-grade carbon ramming and
SiC tap-hole extension (c) removed on the left-hand side,
exposing the super-duty fireclay brick installed as back lining
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Figure 6Closer view of zones in front of tap-hole B, showing (b) highgrade carbon ramming, (c) SiC bricks, (d) slag with burden and/or coke
bed material, (e) mixed material containing metal, and (f) clay
mushroom
Figure 7Detail of tap-hole B with (c) SiC bricks, (d) slag with burden
and/or coke bed material, (e) mixed material containing metal, and (f)
clay mushroom infiltrated with slag
Discussion
The three main observations made during the excavation
were as follows.
1. Contrary to expectations based on laboratory test
work, the SiC brick in the tap-hole itself wore
The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Figure 8Interior of tap-hole B with (c) SiC bricks, (d) slag with burden
and/or coke bed material, and (e) mixed material containing metal
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203
Figure 11Predicted (a) phase composition of as-received metal and (b) chemical composition of liquid metal phase, as a function of temperature
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Figure 13Predicted phase composition of 100 g slag reacted with 100 g of (a) SiC and (b) C-based refractory material, as a function of temperature. Solid
lines represent the borders for phase composition calculated from the as-received slag analysis, and dotted lines calculated from the corrected slag
analysis
Refractory consumption
Figure 14Predicted chemical composition of (a) slag, (b) metal, and (c)
gas phases that form when reacting 100 g slag with 100 g of SiC-based
(open symbols) or C-based (filled symbols) refractory material as a
function of temperature
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205
Figure 15Refractory consumption when reacting 100 g metal or 100 g slag with 100 g of (a) C-based or (b) SiC-based refractory material, as a function of
temperature
Table IV
Actual mass of C and SiC refractory worn as calculated from the wear profile in Figure 3
High-carbon ramming
Assume vertical cuboid
Volume
SiC
H
2.4 m
0.5 m
0.5 m
0.9 m
0.7 m
1.08 m3
0.5 m
Volume
0.2 m3
Density
1.8 t/m3
Density
2.6 t/m3
Mass
1.9 t
Mass
0.4 t
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Table V
Description
Slag/alloy ratio
Size of a tap: Alloy
Size of a tap: Slag
Number of taps
Total amount of slag
Equation
RA
nS
Value
0.8
22
17.6
1880
33088
Unit
ton
ton
ton
Calculation of mass transfer coefficient for silica for laminar flow inside a circular pipe
Symbol
Description
Equation
Value
Unit
References
t
m
Duration of tap
Size of tap
30
17.6
min
tons
Table VII
M
60
t
35.2
t/h
Slag density
2774
kg/m3
1000
m
3600
0.003525
m3/s
DT
0.1
Figure 17
Um
v DT2
0.448791
m/s
(Asano, 2006)
Slag viscosity
0.74
kg/ms
Re
Reynolds number
DTUm
168
(Asano, 2006)
10-11
m/s
(Liang, 1994)
Sc
Schmidt number
D
/
2.67 x 107
(Asano, 2006)
Figure 17
DT Re Sc
4 L
3.52 x 108
(Asano, 2006)
Sh
Sherwood number
1.65 Gz1/3
1166
(Asano, 2006)
kc
Sh D
DT
1.2 x 10-7
m/s
(Asano, 2006)
Gz
Conclusions
One of the reasons for the excavation and reline of the 48 MV
SiMn furnace was the high shell temperatures (300480C)
in the vicinity of the tap-hole. Prior to the excavation, SiC
brick used as tap-hole refractory (which should not react with
slag) and reconstructive tap-hole clay used to form a
mushroom attached to the refractory were expected to protect
the tap-hole from wear.
The furnace excavation revealed two areas of high
refractory wear the tap-hole area and the furnace hearth. It
was found that the SiC brick in the tap-hole itself wore
extensively. Above the tap-hole, not only did the SiC brick
extension wear but also the high-grade carbon ramming,
with wear taking place unexpectedly in a channel 500 mm
wide and extending vertically upwards to the top of the
The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
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207
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Figure 16SEM BSE image of industrial slag (scale bar 2 m) with three
different slag phases (a, b and c) and metal phase (d) indicated
The Journal of The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy