Fluidbed Furnaces in the Wire

Industry
A brief history and look at recent
developments in furnace design
 Advantages of Fluidbed Furnaces

• High heat-transfer rate

• Environmentally friendly
• Fast heat-up and cool-down
• New controls are energy efficiency
• New designs offer a rugged low
maintenance package
A Brief Technical History of Fluidbed Furnaces for
the Wire Industry
 Early Model Porous Tile Fluidbed
Submerged combustion Fluidbed Furnace
with porous tile and 100% Pre-Mix

Advantages
• Simple design
• Uniform fluidization
Disadvantages
• Cracked tiles result in
explosions in the
under bed plenum
 Later Model Porous Tile Fluidbed
Submerged combustion Fluidbed Furnace with
porous tile and single set of burner pipes

Advantages
• Uniform fluidization
Disadvantages
• Tiles add to capital cost Air (45%)
and maintenance
expense
• Through the wall
burner piping prone to
leaking sand
Natural Gas

Air (55%)
 Pre-Mix Burner Fluidbed
Submerged combustion Fluidbed Furnace
with pre-mix burner and excess air supply

Advantages
• No tiles
Disadvantages
• Overheated burner Excess Air
pipes resulted in some
solidification of sand
and blocked burner
pipes Pre-Mix Burner

Gas Air
 Hi-Draw Fluidbed with Dual Fluidizing Tubes
Submerged combustion Fluidbed Furnace with
two levels of “race track” shaped burner pipes

Advantages
• No tile expenses
• Theoretically self cleaning
burner pipes
• Curtain-less threading slot
with optional motorized
shuttle
Disadvantages
• “Wall of flame” issue on
sidewalls
• Prone to leaking sand and
gases through bottom piping
connections
Hi-Draw Fluidbed circa 2000
 QED Fluidbed with Interlaced Burner Piping

Advantages
• No tile expenses
• Uniform fluidization
• New energy efficient
proportional control with
mass-flow air-gas ratio
• Injected gas system to
eliminate flashback
• Curtain-less threading slot
Disadvantages
• None that we care to admit
 Furnace Design Considerations
Length ≈ Wire Speed (DV)
Bed Area ≈ Production Rate (t/h)
Particle Size (sand) ≈ Thermal Input ≈ Production (t/h)

36 Wires, DV= 180, 4.8 tons/h

 Comparison of Furnace Lengths
DV=200

8 METRES

Molten Lead Bath at 700°C

8 to 10 meter immersion

15 METRES

Fluidised Bed at 750°C

15 meter immersion

30 METRES

Direct Fired at 900°C

30 to 40 meter immersion
(note heat-head)
 Wire Tensile Increase from Drawing

1300

1200
drawing
1100
after
Tensile
1000
Tensile N/SQ.mm.

900

800

700

600

500

400

300
1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.0

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

5.0
D/d Wire Diameter Ratio
 Wire Tensile vs. Annealed Temperature

1100

1000

900
Wire UTS N/sq.mm.

800

700

600

500

400

300

Wire Temperature (°C)

 Rod & Wire Micro-sections Showing Ferrite Crystal Structure
Magnification x 500

Virgin LCS Rod After Stress Relieving & Galvanising

5.5 mm diameter 2.0 mm diameter

Tensile = 400 N/sq.mm Tensile = 465 N/sq.mm
After Wire Drawing
to 85% area reduction
2.0 mm diameter
Tensile = 960 N/sq.mm
 Heat-Transfer vs. Fluidizing Velocity

Range of
heat transfer
above 95%
Minimum fluidising velocity

100
90
% of maximum heat transfer

80
70
60
50
2 - 3 Times Minimum Fluidising
40
30
20
10
0

Fluidizing Velocity
 Minimum Fluidizing Velocity vs. Temperature
297 Micron ( 54 grit )

250 Micron ( 60grit )

210 Micron ( 70 grit )

177 Micron ( 80 grit )

NPT Flow C.F.H. / Sq.Ft.

Minimum Fluidizing
100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

900

950

1000
0

50

Bed Tem perature Deg.C.

 Rugged Sand Systems
Easy Threading

Double Sand Return System Threading Slot with

with Efficient Air Knife Special Labyrinth Seal
 Designed to the Latest Combustion & Safety Standards

Mass-Flow Air-Gas Ratio

Digital & Analogue Indication
Top Quality Combustion Components
 Custom Designed to Suit Production

40 Wires, DV= 240 and 8 t/h

18 Wires, DV= 130 and 1.7 t/h

 PLC’s with Multiple Language Options

Closed Loop Proportional Control

Latest Generation PLC’s and
Touchscreens
 Rugged & Dependable Furnaces

50 Wires, DV= 210, 7.0 t/h

Multiple zone control

 Fluidbed Heat-Treatment Processes

• Annealing
• Austinitizing
• Stress Relieving
• Quenching
• Tempering
• Thermal Diffusion
 Dual Process Fluidbed Furnaces

Low Carbon Annealing at 750°C

Or

High Carbon Patenting with

Fluidbed Austenitizing at 900°C and
Lead Quench Furnace at 550°C
20 Fluidbeds across 6 Continents

Cavatorta Group Italy

Corvi Acero S.A. Dominican Republic
Energya (2) Egypt
Global Wire Greece
Guney Celik (2) Turkey
Heshan Hang Kei China
Ilke Celik Turkey
Kiswire Korea
Malla San Mexico
Master Halco USA
Merchants Metals USA
Mid-South Wire USA
One SouthWire Malaysia
OneSteel Australia
Roofings Ltd Uganda
Smorgon Wire Australia
Sinal S.A. Bolivia
Wei Dat Wiremesh Malaysia

Gord Murray
VP, QED Wire Lines Inc.

Copyright, 2013 © QED Wire Lines Inc.