A well known German/American steel-plant engineering company was commissioned to work on a new Greenfield EAF mini-mill under construction in the American mid-West. Their role was to design and build a 180 ton twin shell EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) and LMF (Ladle Metallurgical Furnace).
Every EAF construction presents its own unique set of problems and challenges, driven by extraordinary customer demands, outside resource issues, and custom design require-ments. This project proved to be one of our most challenging ever.
With the deadline for turning over a complete working system to IPSCO only 3 weeks away, the project was plagued by constant failures of the water-cooled power cables, and the constructor was unable to run the furnace consistently. The problems were magnified by the reality that costs for unexpected shut-downs of the EAF to replace cables were estimated in the range of US$100,000 per hour.
When we were contacted, one of our sales engineers was immediately flown to the site — and within 48 hours a custom solution was offered.
Working with a team of engineers from Germany and the USA, we recommended changes to the scrap preheating process, and designed an innovative, field-installable cover to protect the water-cooled cables from the molten splash, bumping, abrasion and flame exposure that were causing the failures. The system had to be entirely non-conductive. It was designed, built and delivered on schedule — and the constructor was able to turn over an EAF System that was free of unexpected water cooled cable failures.
One year later, the EAF Cable Cover became a regular stock item for the steel plant, and ADL Insulflex turned the business over to our local stocking distributor.
The case study provided above is based on information believed to be correct. ADL Insulflex does not endorse or warranty any particular application and assumes no liability for the accuracy of such information. ADL Insulflex provides free samples and recommends adequate testing be completed prior to the use of any Insulflex® products.
