Iron, Metal & Steel

ANALYTICAL Solutions for the Iron, Metal & Steel Industries

The Iron, Metal & Steel production industries are diverse and regulated industries. It is of central importance for the modern global economy as the need for metal grows. Our analytical technologies and solutions will help you make better process control adjustments, increase product quality, improve reliability, and reduce risks to your plant, personnel, and the environment. Our gas analysis solutions for chemical processing help increase product quality, improve reliability, and reduce risks to your plant, personnel, and the environment.

The Steel Industry Uses Billions of Gallons of Water & Process Water Quality Analyzers Matter

From water sampling and analysis to product loss monitoring and quality control, our LAR water quality analysis solutions can meet your water analytical challenges regarding process control and effective water management in chemical industries. Our water analyzers can measure inadequate water management in your plant operations as well as leakages and equipment failures caused by contamination of process water. We will work with you to design, manufacture and deliver the best solution for chemical manufacturing facility.

Steel production produces large amounts of wastewater from the coking process. This wastewater is highly toxic and contains a number of carcinogenic organic compounds as well as cyanide, sulfides, ammonium and ammonia. Also, steel production requires water remediation and water recovery. Water recovery involves cooling and desalinating water to control salt concentration in the circulation systems and decreases consumption and discharge of fresh water while improving steel quality. Managing the water quality across this process matters.

Process Mass Spectrometers in Iron and Steel Manufacturing

Metal production and processing applications such as Basic Oxygen Process (BOP), Blast Furnace analysis, Gas Mixing stations, Vacuum Oxygen Decarburization (VOD) batch processing, Heat Treating processes and Metal Coating processes benefit from the accuracy and speed of online process analyzers. Our MAX300-RTG™ Industrial Process Mass Spectrometer are in use in steel production and aluminum processing plants worldwide. Our mas specs provide real-time fast analysis of gas compositions at multiple points, provide precise air control, optimizing ore reduction, and allows the user to calculate and control the amount of carbon remaining in a product and to calculate the rate of decarburization and identify the endpoint of the VOD processes.

We also provide turnkey Mass Spectrometer Systems built upon our Extrel quadrupole mass spectrometer technology specifically for the chemical industry. Our mass spec systems include a full quadrupole mass spectrometer system, equipped with complete software, sampling system, and sampling orifice(s). The low noise right angle design can provide energy analysis as well as mass analysis. Process mass spectrometry improves product quality and efficiency due to its fast, accurate, comprehensive gas composition analysis.

BASIC OXYGEN PROCESS (BOP)

Process mass spectrometry has been used for decades to improve the Basic Oxygen Process (BOP) and successfully produce high quality stainless steel. Process Engineers rely on the BOP to calculate and control the amount of carbon that remains in the liquid metal batch. The BOP uses oxygen to burn excess carbon, converting it to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The percentage of eliminated carbon is calculated using measured concentrations of the carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and the gas flow rates. Since the gas flows extremely fast, calculations need to be made as quickly as possible. The MAX300-RTG Industrial Process Mass Spectrometer has the speed and precision to deliver the required data measuring the full stream composition of the exhaust gas stream within 1.5 seconds.

BLAST FURNACE

The Blast Furnace remains an important part of today’s steel production industry, and our MAX300-RTG Industrial Gas Analyzer continues to provide the analytical information today’s process engineers need for optimum process control.

Analysis of the reducing gas at several different levels within the blast furnace
Fast analysis of the gas composition at several points to allow for precise air control
Analysis results that allow plant operators to increase or decrease the flow rate of incoming air

Fast, real-time analysis provides engineers with more control over their processes and is the key feature driving the market for the MAX300 Series. Data provided from these quadrupole mass spectrometer systems can be used to significantly optimize ore reduction processing times, and can lower energy costs. In addition to its use for Top Gas Analysis in the blast furnace, the MAX300-RTG Industrial Process Mass Spectrometer is also often used for analysis during blowdown and quench operations. Along with monitoring the combustion products to indicate the progress of the blowdown and the appropriate quench, hydrogen can be monitored to ensure that explosive levels can be avoided. Analysis during this process results in:

Faster turnaround due to accurate endpoint detection
Increased safety through monitoring hydrogen
Reduced risk of damage to furnace components

GAS MIXING STATIONS

Today’s steel manufacturing plants produce more than just steel; they have the ability to create usable fuel gas for their processes. During many of the steel processing phases, the spent gas streams containing various levels of combustible gases can be burned to create usable fuel. However, to ensure a quality fuel gas, it is important to know more than just the BTU value. The exact composition of the combustible components is crucial for process control. Because these streams are recycled process streams, compositions vary greatly. Various waste streams and makeup gases are mixed at a Gas Mixing Station to ensure a good quality fuel. Because the Extrel Mass Spectrometer determines the exact component composition, engineers have come to rely on Extrel’s MAX300 Series Mass Spectrometers in the gas mixing application. Since the gas throughput at the gas mixing station is very high, a full composition analysis in just a few seconds is critical. Our MAX300 Series are capable of analyzing multiple streams with an analysis time of less than 10 seconds per stream. Our next generation designs of the inlet, ionizer and filament assembly extend the filament life and reduce system downtime and analyzer maintenance.

VACUUM OXYGEN DECARBURIZATION

Vacuum Oxygen Decarburization (VOD) is a manufacturing process that ensures the quality of stainless steel, relies heavily on fast and precise measurements of stream compositions during various stages of the process. The speed and accuracy provided by the MAX300-RTG™ Industrial Process Mass Spectrometer meets the VOD application’s fast analysis requirement. The real-time analysis provided by this analyzer system enables VOD processes to be optimized for efficiency and product quality.

Analyze all 7 components of the full exhaust in less than 3 seconds
Display the rapid changes in component concentrations during each phase of the process

This allows the control system to:

Maximize oxygen flow to allow the remaining carbon in the steel to be converted to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
Terminate the oxygen flow and increase vacuum for the removal of dissolved gases from liquid steel at the correct time

Our MAX300-RTG 2.0 Industrial Process Mass Spectrometer quickly identifies the end of each VOD phase without sacrificing the accuracy of the analysis. Optional differentially pumped inlets produce rapid and consistent sampling. To extend filament life, decrease maintenance and reduce system downtime, the MAX300-RTG system implements our next generation design for inlets, ionizers and filament assemblies.

Moisture Control

For dew point control, our COSA Xentaur HTF sensor technology can be trusted where other methods have routinely failed. The stability, accuracy and life expectancy of HTF sensors have set new a standard in the industry.

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