Application of gases in steel industry
Industrial gases that are commonly used in steel industries are: oxygen, nitrogen, argon and hydrogen. Industrial gases are supplied in a wide range of different cylinders depending on the properties of the gas. In addition, some special gases and gas mixtures are used in steel mill laboratories for instrument analysis work.
Parsia Gas, as a producer of medical and industrial gases, provides the products required by steel factories with good quality. Industrial gases are used in the steel industry in order to reduce costs, improve productivity and more in the combustion process.
Oxygen in the steel industry
Oxygen has important applications in the steel industry, each of which involves heating and melting metals. Oxygen is a popular gas in steelmaking, in part due to the furnace’s constant use of basic oxygen. Depending on the furnace under consideration, oxygen has common uses in industry.
The biggest consumer of oxygen is the steel industry, which is used for reactivity and enrichment of air and increasing the combustion temperature in blast furnaces and heating furnaces, as well as replacing it with other combustible materials. During the steelmaking process, unwanted carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon oxides, which are released as gases.
Oxygen is also used to increase productivity in electric arc furnaces and breathing devices, which are used in the steel industry in areas where blast furnace gas content is higher than safe values.
Nitrogen in the steel industry
Nitrogen is generally liquid so that it can be efficiently transported and stored and stored in large volumes. However, most applications use nitrogen after vaporization into gaseous form. Nitrogen is valuable because of its immobility. It is used to protect potentially inert materials from contact with oxygen. Nitrogen is widely used in a steel plant.
- The main application of nitrogen in steel plant is given below:
- Used in steel production in the primary steel making process (simultaneously with blowing in the main oxygen furnace and slag melting) and in the secondary steel making processes (conducting process).
- It is used in the blast furnace to cool the box of high charging equipment.
- It is used to bury coal in blast furnace.
- Shielding gas is used for annealing cold rolled steel.
- It is used to clean pipelines, tanks and equipment.
- The cooling properties of liquid nitrogen are used to separate the reducer bearings from the axle. Conversely, liquid nitrogen is also used for shrink joints. In shrink fittings, instead of heating the outer metal part, the inner part is cooled by liquid nitrogen so that the metal shrinks and can be inserted. When the metal returns to its natural temperature, it expands to its original size, creating a very tight fit.
- Nitrogen gas is used for filling purposes. Used to protect flammable or explosive materials from contact with air.
- Nitrogen gas is used for pneumatic conveying of flammable materials.
- Nitrogen is used for heat treatment of steels (nitrogen process).
- Nitrogen is used for laser cutting, welding and soldering.
Argon in the steel industry
This gas is valuable because of its immobility. It is used to protect potentially reactive materials from contact with oxygen. Argon is used in several places in the steel mill: to agitate the bottom of the bath in a compound blowing process that increases mixing and reduces heating time. At this stage, argon is injected to agitate the bath, close and help to facilitate the refining and recovery of the alloy in the AOD process (Argon Oxygen Decarburization).
In the argon washing station, argon is used to homogenize liquid steel in secondary refining. In secondary refining, argon is injected to agitate the metal and help facilitate the refining process. In some cases, argon may also be used as a carrier gas for additions. In the vacuum degassing process, argon is injected into the breathing tube to facilitate metal circulation and degassing.
Argon has many protective applications in the iron, steel and heat treatment industries, especially for metals sensitive to nitriding when treated with a nitrogen-based atmosphere. Less common uses of argon include fire suppression, spectrometry, spectrometry in laboratories.