Ironmaking & Steelmaking

Processes, Products and Applications

ISSN: 0301-9233 (Print) 1743-2812 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/yirs20

Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF

through fluid flow simulation and practical
evaluation

D. S. Kim, H. J. Jung, Y. H. Kim, S. H. Yang & B. D. You

To cite this article: D. S. Kim, H. J. Jung, Y. H. Kim, S. H. Yang & B. D. You (2014) Optimisation of
oxygen injection in shaft EAF through fluid flow simulation and practical evaluation, Ironmaking
& Steelmaking, 41:5, 321-328, DOI: 10.1179/1743281213Y.0000000143

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/1743281213Y.0000000143

Published online: 06 Dec 2013.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 88

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=yirs20

Download by: [Inha University] Date: 29 September 2016, At: 20:18

Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF
through fluid flow simulation and practical
evaluation
D. S. Kim*1, H. J. Jung2, Y. H. Kim2, S. H. Yang3 and B. D. You1
An alternative energy technology to save power consumption in the steelmaking process was
developed with supplementary oxygen injection in a new shaft electric arc furnace (EAF). The op-
timisation of oxygen injection for enhancing post-combustion was carried out to increase the
preheating temperature of the scrap in the shaft using preheating simulation and trial tests. The
conditions of oxygen injection from supersonic burners and an oxygen lance, and the appropriate
injection distance between molten bath and oxygen lance, were established through fluid flow
simulation and practical tests. In addition, the optimal conditions for supersonic burners and
oxygen injection to enhance the post-combustion were deduced. From comparisons of the
present and conventional results, it was found that the electric energy and operating time of the
shaft EAF were decreased through practical improvements, resulting in energy savings and
increase in productivity on the shaft EAF.
Keywords: Shaft EAF, Post-combustion, Oxygen injection, Supersonic burner, Energy savings

Introduction with emphasis placed on improving the electric energy

Energy reduction is becoming extremely important in
most industries due to the recent issues associated with
global warming. In addition, environmental regulations
are being strengthened regarding emissions of various
pollutions. The development of technologies in the steel
industry has changed operating methods and introduced
efficient equipment designed to solve environmental
pollution along with reduction in energy consumption.
In the electric arc melting process, 400 kW h t21 of
electric power is consumed generally, and problems such
as emission of dioxins from the electric arc furnace
(EAF) have been a major concern from an environ-
mental standpoint. Previous methods for preheating the
scrap were to send high temperature exhaust gas to the
scrap preheating facilities and preheating it to a
temperature of 310–450uC. In this way, if the preheated
scrap is placed in the EAF and melted, the electric
energy, electrode consumption and tap to tap time can
be reduced by 40–60 kW h t21, 0?30–0?36 kg t21 and 5–
8 min respectively.1
To respond to recent trends of increasing lightweight
scrap and worsening of scrap quality, it has become
necessary to establish cost competitive processes and
equipment efficiency by utilising low grade scrap. New
EAF equipment in various forms have been developed
1
Metallurgical Engineering, Graduate School, Inha University, Incheon
402-751, Korea
2
R&D Center, Dongkuk Steel Co., Pohang 790-841, Korea
3
Incheon Works, Dongkuk Steel Co., Incheon 790-841, Korea
*Corresponding author, email dongseek.kim@dongkuk.com
and productivity through preheating of scrap. The
development and application of Consteel and EPC
processes as scrap preheating methods using exhaust
gas and the continual charging of scrap are main
examples.2 The estimated effect of energy reductions in
the recently developed EAFs is 30–50 kW h t21 for the
twin vessel type, 30–50 kW h t21 for Consteel and 70–
100 kW h t21 for the shaft EAF.3
To achieve the energy savings target of ,300 kW h t21
for the EAF melting process, Dongkuk Steel Co. has
began to operate an environmentally friendly, high
efficient shaft EAF called ECOARC to prevent the
emission of sources of environmental pollution, including
harmful gases such as dioxins. The new 120 ton shaft
EAF basically utilises the method for preheating scrap
inside the shaft using high temperature exhaust gas from
the EAF, after which the scrap in the skip car is charged
continuously from the top of the shaft. Figure 1
represents the schematic view of the equipment of
ECOARC. It was designed with the concept of direct
preheating of scrap, high combustion of exhaust gas and
dioxin reduction using rapid cooling of exhaust gas. It
consists of a melting bath, a preheating shaft and after
shaft there is a combustion part for thermal decom-
position of the dioxin among exhaust gas and a cooling
part for preventing resynthesis of dioxin after thermal
decomposition.
It is well known that the preheating efficiency of scrap
by hot exhaust gas depends significantly on the scrap
quality, such as size, shape and, especially, surface area
of the scrap, which is the most important parameter
in preheating the scrap in EAF. Although the most

ß 2014 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

Published by Maney on behalf of the Institute
Received 19 March 2013; accepted 9 July 2013
DOI 10.1179/1743281213Y.0000000143 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO 5 321
Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF
1 Shaft EAF including melting and preheating parts
important consideration in terms of reducing the electric
energy consumed by the EAF is to maximise the
temperature of preheated scrap in the shaft, it is also
necessary to raise the temperature of exhaust gas inside
the shaft as high as possible by promoting the post-
combustion of exhaust gas inside the EAF. To increase
the speed of scrap melting and reduce the energy
consumption by the EAF, it is necessary to improve
the injection conditions for the auxiliary sources of
carbon and oxygen as well as the uniformity of the
temperature of molten steel in the furnace.
With the objective for increasing the performance of
the shaft EAF to improve the electric energy efficiency
and operating time of the shaft EAF, the injection
conditions of oxygen for lance injection and auxiliary
source device supersonic burner (SSB) were investigated.
In addition, enhancing post-combustion to increase the
post-combustion rate of exhaust gas from the EAF was
also investigated.
Improvement of post-combustion
In the conventional EAF, auxiliary devices such as
oxygen lances are used in the upper part of the slag
layer above the molten steel for enhancing the post-
combustion of CO gas inside the EAF. The high
temperature gas layer from the post-combustion of CO
gas is separated from the molten steel due to the low
thermal conductivity of the slag layer. Thus, most of the
slag surface is heated earlier than molten steel. For this
reason, it was reported that it is difficult for the
utilisation efficiency of heat obtained from post-
combustion in the conventional EAF to exceed 20–
25%.4 On the other hand, if post-combustion occurs
in the lower part of the shaft or inside the EAF, the
scrap inside the shaft is then preheated by the post-
combustion heat, which can increase the energy effi-
ciency over that of the conventional EAF. Generally, as
post-combustion produces a reaction heat of ,2?5 times
that of CO combustion, as shown below in equations (1)
and (2), there is a need to utilise it effectively in terms of
energy reduction
322 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO
vCwz1=2O2 (g)~CO(g),
DH~27:5 kcal mol{1 , at 12000 C (1)
CO(g)z1=2O2 (g)~CO2 (g),
DH~67:1 kcal mol{1 , at 12000 C (2)
As a result, the preheating temperature of scrap
increases with increasing post-combustion reaction
inside the shaft, so the post-combustion rate of exhaust
gas is a very important factor related to energy
efficiency. In this case, the post-combustion rate refers
to the proportion of CO2 gas with regards to CO and
CO2 gas and is calculated as CO2/(COzCO2)6100.
Simulation of preheating in shaft
Two SSBs were installed in the shaft of the EAF with an
oxygen injection lance between the two, as shown in
Fig. 2. A simulation was performed to estimate the
changes in preheating temperature of scrap with the
temperature of exhaust gas inside the shaft. Fluent
13?0?0 was used for analysis, and three-dimensional (3D)
modelling was carried out. The K–e model was used for
the turbulence model, and the Ergun equation was used
to calculate the decrease in pressure caused by the scrap.
The scrap particles were assumed to be of round shape,
standardised to a size, density and porosity of 0?078 m,
7,750 kg m23 and 0?93 respectively. The boundary
conditions of the pressure outlet were used for the gas
inlet at the lower part inside the shaft. The exhaust gas
was collected at a speed of 5?6 m s21 through the
boundary conditions for flow velocity of upper gas
outlet of the shaft. Based on the practical conditions, the
simulation was that the scrap inside the shaft is supplied
continuously and melted in the EAF in a given time,
after which scrap would again be charged from the top
of the shaft and melted using a user define function.
The changes in preheating temperature of the scrap
were analysed with time by transient analysis, and
comparative analysis was performed on the preheating
temperature of scrap in all items of analysis at the time
when the added scrap was melted completely and
became molten steel. The preheating temperature of
the scrap was estimated by considering only the heat
transfer between the scrap and the gases caused by the
combustion reaction of coke and exhaust gas compo-
nents. An analysis was performed under the conditions
of injecting air into the gas input in the lower part of the
shaft by assuming two exhaust gas temperatures of 1200
and 1400uC. As shown in Fig. 3, the temperature in the
lower part of the shaft was higher in the case of 1400uC,
compared to that of 1200uC. When the post-combustion
reaction inside the EAF was increased, the temperature
of exhaust gas increased, so the preheating temperature
of scrap could be increased.
In addition, the reaction of carbon and oxygen
injected simultaneously by both SSB devices in the shaft
EAF produces CO gas combustion. Accordingly, the
method for increasing the post-combustion rate by
injecting the oxygen to activate the post-combustion
reaction in the upper part of the CO gas layer was
considered.
5
 Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF

2 Schematic diagram of shaft EAF with supersonic burners and oxygen lance

Operational results and discussion
After installing the oxygen injection inlets for enhancing
the post-combustion near SSB nos. 1 and 2, the effect on
the practical operation of oxygen injection for post-
combustion reaction was investigated. To evaluate the
change in preheating temperature of scrap with oxygen
injection for post-combustion reaction, trial tests were
performed to measure the temperature inside the shaft by
applying two cases, where the oxygen for post-combustion
reaction was either not used or used at 300 N m3 h21.
The preheating temperature of the scrap inside the
shaft was recorded continuously by inserting a K type
thermocouple together with the scrap, moving gradually
down from the top of the shaft. As shown in Fig. 4, where
the no oxygen for post-combustion reaction was injected,
the preheating temperature of mid-shaft region was
,100uC, increasing gradually toward the bottom of the
shaft until it reached a maximum temperature of 815uC.
Where oxygen for post-combustion was injected, the
preheating temperature of the mid-shaft region was
increased by ,200uC, showing a much wider temperature

3 Preheating temperature of scrap with temperature of exhaust gas at a 1200uC and b 1400uC

Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO 5 323

Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF

4 Variation of preheating temperature of scrap with use of oxygen for post-combustion

5 Continuous analysis of exhaust gas with flowrate of oxygen for enhancing post-combustion

distribution with a maximum of 980uC. These results
show that the oxygen injection for post-combustion
reaction at 300 N m3 h21 increased the preheating
temperature of scrap in the lower part of the shaft by
,165uC. With respect to energy reduction related to the
increase in preheating temperature of the scrap, the heat
balance calculated by entering data on the preheating
temperature of the scrap and the changes in concentra-
tion of exhaust gas revealed electric energy savings of
19 kW h t21, which is similar to actual operation.
Table 1 shows a summary of the practical tests
performed on the 120 ton shaft EAF, where the amount
of oxygen injection for enhancing post-combustion was
increased from 100 to 300 N m3 h21. An increase in
oxygen injection for post-combustion reaction resulted
in an approximate 5% decrease in electric energy to a
level under 300 kW h t21, whereas the operating tap to
tap time was reduced by ,3% to a level close to 50 min.
Based on the analysis of components of exhaust gas in
the outlet of the shaft with oxygen injection for post-
combustion reaction, there was a decrease in concentra-
tion of CO gas from maximum 6 to ,3 wt-%, as shown
in Fig. 5; thus, the post-combustion rate of exhaust gas
was increased by ,10%.
The effect on other EAF operational results, such as
recovery of molten steel, when injecting the oxygen for
post-combustion reaction in the steelmaking process was
also investigated, but the results were similar to
conventional operation. The reason for this was that
no oxidation reaction was generated when the oxygen

Table 1 Operation results with amount of oxygen injection for post-combustion

Oxygen for post-combustion/N m3 h21 Carbon/kg21 t21 Oxygen/N m3 h21 Electric power/kW h t21 Tap to tap/min21

100 34 26 313 54
200 33 27 306 53
300 36 26 298 52

324 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO 5

 Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF

6 Behaviour of slag and molten steel with oxygen injection of supersonic burner no. 1 at a 300 N m3 h21, b
500 N m3 h21 and c 700 N m3 h21

7 Behaviour of slag layer with oxygen injection of supersonic burner no. 2 at a 300 N m3 h21, b 500 N m3 h21 and c
700 N m3 h21

for post-combustion reaction came into contact with the
molten steel or slag, but a gaseous reaction with exhaust
gas occurred inside the EAF.
Optimisation of oxygen injection in EAF
Simulation and results of SSB oxygen injection
In general, the heat from the oxidation reaction of
oxygen and carbon in the EAF helps in the melting of
scrap and also increases the temperature of the molten
steel. However, when the conditions for injection of
oxygen and carbon into the EAF are not ideal, it can
lead to the excessive oxidation of molten steel. If the slag
layer is open when injecting the oxygen into the EAF, it
is very important to ensure the appropriate amount of
oxygen injection considering electric energy, operating
time and recovery of molten steel in the EAF because
oxidation can occur in the slag and molten steel,
resulting in a decarbonising reaction in molten steel.
To estimate the appropriate flowrate of oxygen
injection from SSB no. 1, simulation was performed
on the slag and molten steel with the flow of oxygen. The
volume of fraction method was used to analyse the
behaviour of the three elements of oxygen, slag and
molten steel, and the flow analysis was carried out
without considering thermal and chemical reactions
inside the EAF. The analysis was carried out in 3D full
mode to simulate the entire EAF, and the calculations
were performed by analysing the flow behaviour with
time using a transient model. The physical properties
used for the analysis inside the EAF were densities of
6700 kg m23 for molten steel and 1760 kg m23 for slag
and viscosities of 0?00673 kg m21 s21 for molten steel
and 0?3 kg m21 s21 for slag.

Table 2 Test results for evaluating amount of oxygen injection by SSB no. 1

Oxygen amount for enhancing FeO before Electric Tap to

post-combustion/N m3 h21 Carbon in steel/% tapping/% power/kW h t21 tap/min

300 0.10 26 305 52

500 0.08 29 300 51
700 0.04 37 296 50

Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO 5 325

Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF

8 Fluid flow of molten steel and slag with oxygen flowrate at a 3000 N m3 h21, b 4000 N m3 h21 and c 5000 N m3 h21

The modelling conditions for analysis inside the EAF
were 160 tons of molten steel and 20 tons of slag, and
the calculations were performed using three values for
oxygen injection by SSB no. 1 of 300, 500 and 700 and
4000 N m3 h21 by the oxygen lance. Figure 6 shows the
depth of penetration into the slag (left side) and the flow
distribution of molten steel and slag (right side). The
penetration depth into the slag was increased with
increasing oxygen flowrate, and the slag thickness at
400 mm revealed a penetration depth close to molten
steel layer when the flowrate was increased to
700 N m3 h21. In relation to the flow distribution of
molten steel and slag, at an oxygen injection rate of
4000 N m3 h21, a significant amount of slag was
affected, opening an eye in the slag that was opened
further by the SSB.
In relation to the opening of the slag layer above
molten steel, splashing occurred in the case of excessive
oxygen injection, and the splashing acts as a main factor
limiting the lance flowrate. In the present work, a
decrease in splashing was confirmed by adjusting the
angle of oxygen injection to one more deeply into the

Table 3 Test results for evaluating amount of oxygen injection by SSB no. 2

Oxygen for post-combustion/N m3 h21 Carbon in steel/% FeO before tapping/% Electric power /kW h t21 Tap to tap/min

400 0.06 31 317 52

550 0.07 30 315 50
700 0.06 31 306 49

326 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO 5

 Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF

9 Fluid flow with depth from surface of molten steel at various injection amount of oxygen lance

slag layer. In addition, it was predicted that the slag and
molten steel would be oxidised excessively when the
exposed surface area of molten steel grew larger due to
the larger amounts of oxygen used. To verify this in
practical operation, trial tests were performed to
evaluate the effect on operation with increasing oxygen
flowrate from 300 to 700 N m3 h21, and the test results
are summarised as Table 2.
Operational analysis showed that the FeO content in
the slag was increased to ,42%, whereas the electric
energy and operating time were decreased by ,3 and 4%
respectively compared with the conventional operation.
The excessive oxygen flowrate in SSB no. 1 is considered
unfavourable in terms of the operation cost, leading to
the decrease in recovery of molten steel due to the
increase in FeO content in the steelmaking process.
Hence, it is important to determine the operational
conditions to minimise the oxygen flowrate in SSB no. 1
as much as possible.
Flow and bath penetration were also analysed for
three conditions of oxygen injection by SSB no. 2,
namely, 300, 500 and 700 N m3 h21. Slag thickness and
oxygen lance were set to 400 mm and 4000 N m3 h21
respectively. As shown in Fig. 7, the penetration depth
into the slag layer was increased with increasing amount
of oxygen injected. This was different from that
observed with the oxygen injection in the case of SSB
no. 1. The surface of the molten steel almost did not

Table 4 Operation results with amount of oxygen injected by oxygen lance

Oxygen for post-combustion/N m3 h21 Carbon/kg t21 Oxygen/N m3 h21 Electric power /kW h t21 Tap to tap/min

3000 34 30 328 53
4000 30 31 316 52
5000 30 31 314 49

Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO 5 327

Kim et al. Optimisation of oxygen injection in shaft EAF
a–c 800 mm; d 600 mm
10 Comparison of flowrate of molten steel with injection
amount of oxygen lance (distance of oxygen lance tip
from molten steel)
open, even when oxygen was injected at 700 N m3 h21.
The reason for this was that the oxygen injected by SSB
no. 2 was more distant from the stream of the oxygen
lance compared to SSB no. 1, suggesting that it was not
affected. To evaluate the effects of the oxygen flowrate
of SSB no. 2, practical operation tests were carried out
at 400, 550 and 700 N m3 h21, and the test results are
summarised as Table 3. Both electric energy and
operating time were decreased by ,4 and 6% respec-
tively, when the oxygen flowrate was increased from 400
to 700 N m3 h21. In contrast to SSB no. 1, there was
almost no change in FeO in slag with increasing amount
of oxygen injection.
Therefore, in terms of energy savings and productivity
as well as operation cost, an appropriate increase in
oxygen injected by SSB no. 2 would be advantageous in
practical operation.
Simulation and results of oxygen lance injection
The fluid flow of molten steel in EAF increases with
increasing oxygen flowrate injected. The flow reaches a
maximum where the oxygen jet impacts on molten bath,
and the surface of molten steel exposed due to this
encounter is the main area of oxygen absorption and the
decarbonising reaction. The fluid flowrate on the surface
of molten steel has a direct effect on the physical
movement of carbon and oxygen in molten steel.5 The
analysis of fluid flow in the EAF with the flowrate of
lance oxygen was performed under the conditions of
3000, 4000 and 5000 N m3 h21. In addition, the effects
of the distance between the molten steel and oxygen
lance were analysed at 600, 700 and 800 mm. As shown
in Fig. 8, the fluid flowrate on the surface of molten steel
and slag increased with increasing flowrate of oxygen
lance.
328 Ironmaking and Steelmaking 2014 VOL 41 NO
At an oxygen flowrate of 5000 N m3 h21, the slag
opening occurred directly below the stream of oxygen
injected by lance. As a result, it was predicted that the
fluid flowrate of molten steel increased and the
decarbonising reaction accelerated. Figure 9 shows that
the flowrate on a cross-section of molten steel with
increasing flowrate of oxygen lance was increased when
it was closer to the surface of molten steel.
In addition, the flowrate of molten steel increased
with decreasing distance between molten steel and
oxygen lance, as shown in Fig. 10. The practical tests
performed in the shaft EAF confirmed the above results.
As presented in Table 4, increasing the flowrate of
oxygen lance from 3000 to 5000 N m3 h21 during
middle period of EAF melting resulted in ,4 and 7%
decrease in electric energy and operating time respec-
tively compared with the conventional operation.
Conclusions
After the introduction of new shaft EAF, various
attempts for improving the operation and equipment
were made for early stabilisation. The technology of
oxygen injection for enhancing post-combustion was
developed to increase the preheating temperature of
scrap inside the shaft by increasing the post-combustion
rate of exhaust gas.
In addition, appropriate conditions for practical
operation were established with regard to the injection
of oxygen by supersonic burners and an oxygen lance, as
well as the injection distance between oxygen lance and
molten steel. As result of the evaluation on the practical
operation, the application of the above improvements
on the shaft EAF resulted in much progress regarding
the optimisation of operation and the increase in
performance.
Acknowledgements
This study was performed at the R&D Centre and
Incheon works of Dongkuk Steel Co., and the authors
participated in the early stabilisation of the new shaft
EAF.
References
1. ‘Electric arc furnace scrap preheating’, EPRI Centre for Materials
Production.
2. ‘New track record for ConsteelH due to new environment-friendly
features’, MPT International, May 2007.
3. Energy Conservation Center, Japan, 2006.
4. Y. N. Toulouevski and I. Y. Zinurov: ‘Innovation in electric arc
furnaces’; 2010, New York, Springer.
5. C.-L. He, R. Zhu, Y.-G. Qiu and K.M. Sun: ‘Modeling of
impinging oxygen jet on molten bath surface in 150t EAF’, J. Iron.
Steel Res. Int., 2011, 18, (9), 13–20.
5