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Siemens Starts up First Meros Process at voestalpine Stahl Sinter Plant
11/26/2007 - Siemens Metals Technologies starts up the world’s first Maximized Emission Reduction of Sintering (Meros) off-gas-cleaning plant on voestalpine Stahl’s sinter plant. The upgrade has already delivered a significant reduction in off-gas emissions.
Siemens Metals Technologies recently started up a new Meros (Maximized Emission Reduction of Sintering) off-gas-cleaning plant at the sinter plant of the Austrian steel producer voestalpine Stahl GmbH, Linz. The new plant quickly reached its emissions reduction targets with an overall plant availability of over 99%.
voestalpine Stahl GmbH had commissioned Siemens to replace its existing wet-type dedusting system with the dry-type Meros Process in order to satisfy the municipal environmental regulations required for the expansion of its sinter-production capacity to 2.8 millions tons per year. The new dry-type Meros gas-cleaning process removes pollutants such as dust particles, heavy metals, SO2 and organic compounds from the sinter plant offgas stream. The process incorporates new technology that enables satisfaction of the stricter environmental regulations that are expected to be imposed on sinter plant emissions in the near future.
With its new Meros plant, voestapline Stahl can now treat up to 1,000,000 m³ of sinter off-gas per hour. In comparison with the previous wet-type system, emissions of dust, heavy metals, organic compounds and SO2 are reduced by more than 90%.
“With the installation of the new Meros plant, the major source of pollutants at the voestalpine steel works in Linz was decisively diminished,” said to Hannes Sigmund, environmental spokesman for voestalpine Stahl.
In the Meros process, special adsorbents (such as specially prepared lignite cokes or activated carbons) and desulphurization agents (such as hydrated lime or sodium bicarbonate) are injected into the sinter offgas stream at high velocities where they are homogenously distributed. The adsorbents bind the heavy metals and organic compounds as well as the sulfur dioxide and other acidic gases. Following injection of the adsorbents, water and compressed air are injected into the offgas stream using dual-flow injection nozzles installed in a specially designed conditioning rector. This helps to cool the gas and accelerate the chemical reaction of the additives with the sulfur dioxide and other acidic gas components present in the offgas stream. All dust particles then flow with the offgas stream to the fabric filter where they are efficiently separated.
To enhance the gas-cleaning efficiency and significantly reduce additive costs, most of the separated dust in the bag filter is recycled to the offgas stream. Unreacted adsorbents and desulphurization agents once again come into contact with the offgas, thus significantly increasing the adsorbent efficiency and reducing the costs for consumables.
Siemens Metals Technologies installed the new Meros plant in 17 months on a process-turn-key basis. The entire project was carried out with minimal interference to normal sintering and gas-cleaning operations, with one total shut-down period of less than five days to carry out the required modifications and integration work with the existing gas-cleaning system.
Meros is a registered trademark of Siemens AG in certain countries.
Metals Technologies (MT), a division of the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) Group, is one of the world's leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-rolling sector of the aluminum industry and for open-cast mining. MT, which was created from the integration of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Linz/Austria, plus the electrical engineering product business and automation solutions of Siemens, provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life-cycle of metallurgical plants.
The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. I&S uses its own products and systems and process technologies in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, airport logistics, postal automation, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services. In fiscal 2007 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 37,000 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 8.894 billion, according to U.S. GAAP.
