9

Improving process design in steelmaking

D S I C H E N , Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

9.1 Introduction
The design of a process requires teamwork, since it must take many major
factors into consideration, such as the aims of the process ± the product(s), the
choice and availability of the raw materials, the environmental constraints, the
energy consumption and the cost of the production.
Any analysis of the process route should begin with the identification of the
aim or aims of the process, namely the products in the present discussion. This
should be followed by the examination of the potential raw materials. Only after
knowing the endpoint (the products) and the possible starting point(s), can one
start looking for the process route. There will be a number of processing
alternatives as shown schematically in Fig. 9.1.
Environmental regulations would rule out several possible rates. The
availability of the raw materials would further reject a couple of options. The
remaining production routes, however, are usually still multiple, and choosing
the production route is, in fact, always an optimization process. It depends on the
choice of the raw materials, energy consumption, the quality required of the final
products, the extent of pollution and the cost. In the optimization process, the
potential processing route has very often to be modified. Therefore, the final
choice of the process route and, consequently, the design of the process have
usually to go through a number of planning cycles. The present chapter does not
intend to discuss the optimization process. Instead, it focuses on the fundamentals
of the technical design or development of the individual route. Hence, we shall
confine ourselves only to the chemical engineering aspects in this chapter, while
leaving the economical and environmental concerns to the readers' further study.

9.2 Overview of process design

9.2.1 Whole process
A production line, viz. the whole process is usually composed of a number of
sub-processes. The design of a production line requires a comprehensive