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Dragon Steel Starts Up Second Siemens-Supplied Sinter Plant

07/23/2013 - Production operations recently commenced at the new 3.8 million tons per annum No. 2 sinter plant at Dragon Steel Corp. in Taiwan.

This 3.8 million metric tons per annum sintering facility, which was supplied by Siemens Metals Technologies together with its consortium partner CTCI Corporation, was built in the Taichung harbor area as part of a major campaign by Taiwan’s largest steel producer to expand into the flat steel market sector. A wide range of innovative technologies and equipment features were installed as the basis for optimized sintering operations, low energy consumption and minimized environmental emissions.
The sintering machine, the centerpiece of the No. 2 sinter plant, has an area of 387 m2, (4.5 x 86 m) to enable a daily sinter output of more than 11,600 metric tons per day or some 3.8 million metric tons of sinter per year. The plant is basically equipped with the same technologies and systems that were installed in sinter plant No. 1. For example, the intensive mixing and granulation system allows a far higher portion of fine iron ores and concentrates to be used in the sintering process compared with conventional solutions. The considerably improved homogeneity of the sinter raw mix achieved with this system dispenses with the need for blending yards — an especially important benefit with respect to the limited space availability in the Taichung harbor area. Thanks to the selective waste-gas recirculation system — in which a portion of the sinter offgas is recirculated to the sinter process — the quantity of sinter waste gas and pollutants released to the environment is notably reduced and process operations significantly enhanced.
The strictest regulations with respect to dust (max. 20 mg/Nm³) and other sinter offgas emissions to the environment are met by the installed electrostatic precipitator (ESP), the bag filter system and the integrated desulfurization (max. 50 ppm), denitrification (max. 70 ppm) and dioxin-removal (max. 0.5 ng-TEQ/Nm³) facilities. A special waste-heat-recovery system is in use at the circular dip-rail sinter cooler to generate steam as required by the DeNOx system, for ESP cleaning and for various other applications throughout the steelworks.
The latest Simetal Sinter VAiron process-optimization system not only covers typical level 2 functionalities such as data exchange with the basic automation system, data storage, recall and visualization, or calculations of optimized raw mix recipes, it also features a unique expert system for the optimization of the entire sintering process to ensure the highest possible quality of the sinter product at maximized output. Special functionalities include the monitoring and control of the burn-through point in the longitudinal and transversal directions, return-fines balance, the basicity and SiO2 content of the sinter, and the specific coke rate.
Plant commissioning was according to plan and, within only a few weeks after startup, the nominal sinter production capacity was reached. Sinter quality met the prescribed specifications and environmental emissions were within limits. With a footprint of only 43,300 m² (478.5 x 90.5 m), sinter plant No. 2 is also one of the most compact of its type in the world.
Dragon Steel Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China Steel Corp. Group, is in the process of completing the second stage of a two-stage campaign to build a completely new integrated iron and steel works in the Taichung harbor area in order to expand its steel output by 5.2 million tons of flat-steel products by 2013. For this huge undertaking, Siemens supplied and started up two sinter plants capable of producing more than six million tons of sinter per year; the first of two 12-m-diameter blast furnaces, each with a hot metal output of 2.5 million tons per annum; and three two-strand slab casters with a total production capacity of more than 5 million tons of high-quality slabs. The second blast furnace was started up in March 2013.
Pictured below: Sinter plant from Siemens at Dragon Steel Corp., Taiwan