Converter practice in China with respect to steelmaking and ferroalloys

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the past several decades, converter process for steelmaking in China developed very rapidly, for that the technologies of slag splashing, top and bottom combined blowing, sublance end point control, etc. played important roles. Currently, many BOF steelworks use the Slag-Remaining + Double-Slag steelmaking process, by which the lime consumption and slag volume are greatly decreased. ‘De-P + De-C’ steelmaking process has been applied on large scale as well and good result has been obtained on reducing lime consumption and shortening the tap-to-tap time. In the coming 10∼15 years, more attention will be paid on technologies for making sustainable development of the industry, such as the technology of ever stronger bottom blown combined blowing, application of AI in BOF production, higher scrap consumption, dry de-dusting system, recovery of P and Fe from steelmaking slags, etc. Compared to the steel industry, the development of converter technologies in ferroalloys is slower although there are some progresses, like the application of the top and bottom combined blowing technology, AOD as well as vacuum converter. However, it is still difficult to make LCFeCr through converter in China and it is not industrialised to use converter for M-LFeMn production, which need further study.