PCM‐BASED ENERGY RECOVERY FROM ELECTRIC ARC FURNACES

The aim of this paper is to address the problem of energy recovery in the electric arc furnace process of steel industry by introducing a recently patented device in order to increase technical–economic performance. During a Tap‐To‐Tap cycle, a significant part of the energy required for steel production is dissipated by off‐gas. The high variability of temperatures and flows, and the high concentration of dust which characterize the production process, make common energy recovery practices hardly affordable, both from technological and economical perspective. A new system is proposed exploiting the characteristics of Phase Change Materials, in particular Aluminum, to reduce the variability of off‐gas temperatures and thermal powers, in order to allow an efficient energy recovery with traditional technologies. The smoothing device is analyzed by thermo‐fluid dynamic simulations. Integration of the smoothing device and of the related energy recovery system into the off‐gas line of an EAF is also analyzed.