ArcelorMittal Shelby – Tubular Products, a North American market leader for seamless and welded tubular products, needed to boost the seamless tube mill output for larger billet dimensions while minimizing operation cost.
In the second half of 2007, The Linde Group converted a rotary hearth furnace for billet reheating, on a turnkey basis. A compressed (four months) project timeline from contract signing to commissioning was necessary to meet the objectives and time constraints of their project plan.The conversion was made in two steps: first using oxygen-enrichment for a period of time and then implementation of the all flameless oxyfuel operation.
Excellent results have been achieved, fulfilling the performance guarantees, including 25% increased reheating capacity and 50% reduced fuel consumption.
Moreover, the temperature uniformity improved, producing better piercing results.
The scale formation was reduced by 50%, and the emission levels of NOX and CO2 were significantly minimized.
