Florian Kongoli

Abstract:

FLOGEN Technologies Inc. has developed an integrated Design/Decision-Making/Control/Optimization/Automation System combines several needs on supply side, on production side, on metal sales side and on financial side. It supports cost prediction and cost follow up on the energy and consumables side and is integrated with databases that manages numerous types of essays. This has been at various blast furnaces of pig iron. The system instantaneously makes a complete optimization of all raw materials, including limestone, silica, air and oxygen volumes, in order to achieve specific targets according to the needs of the company. The main achievements of the implementation of the FLOGEN CONTOP system were the increase of the pig iron production by about 14% and the decrease of total consumption of charcoal (breeze and fines) by about 4%. Additionally, fines injected through the tuyeres were decreased, temperature and composition of slag and pig iron (including Si and P) were better controlled and silica addition as a flux was minimized. An overall instantaneous mass and energy balance helped fix various mechanical and procedural problems in the plant. CONTOP system was also successfully used to determine the annual procurement strategies by predicting various raw material cost-based scenarios related to productivity and fuel consumption in short- and long-term future. CONTOP increased productivity and reduced cost up to the highest designed limit of the technology. CONTOP also changed the way of operating from a reactive wait-the-lab-results-approach to a proactive forecast-and-act approach.