Enhancing steel mill availability with filters
A leading steel producer upgraded blower filtration, extending final filter life by 16x, pre-filter life by 4x, and achieving 100% operational availability.
Applications
Customer(s)
- A leading steel producer and mining company
Products
Country
- Brazil
Key achievements
4X Greater pre-filter lifetime
16X Greater final filter lifetime
100% Availability, no unwanted shutdowns during production
Summary
Customer profile
A leading steel producer and mining company operates six state plants in South America, supplying steel to various industries.
Original installation
The original installation was a 2-stage design consisting of 40x M6 efficiency rigid pocket pre-filters and 40x F8 efficiency 12” deep box-style final filters. (efficiency per EN779: 2012)
Site conditions
The blast furnace environment, laden with carbon, coke, and ore particles, has PM2.5 levels at 12.3 µg/m3 and PM10 at 22.1 µg/m3—40% and 60% above WHO standards, respectively. High humidity averaging 69%, coupled with heavy dust, frequently causes pressure spikes and unplanned shutdowns.
Camfil solution
Camfil retrofitted the existing filterhouse with a new 2-stage static filter system. This design includes 80x T7 efficiency CamGT 3V-600 24” deep v-panel pre-filters and 40x T9 efficiency CamGT 3V-600 final filters. (efficiency per ISO 29461-1:2021)
Problem statement
The blast furnace, crucial for converting iron ore to steel in steel mills, incurs substantial financial losses during blower maintenance shutdowns. The original filter system in the filter house caused frequent maintenance due to high pressure drops, requiring pre-filter replacement every 42 days and final filters every 84 days.
Results
In response to the plant’s request to minimize maintenance downtime to just twice a year, the result was an improvement in filter lifetime, with pre-filters needing replacement only twice per year, and final filters needing replacement every 4 years during scheduled shutdowns.
Approach and solution
Camfil conducted a site analysis, measuring on-site contaminants, inspected the existing filter house, and performed a Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis to determine the optimal solution.
A modified two-stage static filter solution was selected, consisting of additional pre-filters, and also accommodating higher-performance filter elements.
The CamGT 3V-600 is a 24” deep filter, aerodynamically optimized for media area. This ensures low velocity and minimal pressure drop, resulting in the longest filter life.
Results
Graph 1 first stage: Competitor filters experienced frequent pressure spikes and shutdowns every 40 days, needing replacement 8x per year had they continued using these filters. Camfil filters, however, showed stable pressure for 150 days, requiring only 2 replacements per year.Graph 2 second stage: Competitor filters had increasing pressure drop shortly after installation and lasted only 84 days, needing replacement 4x per year had they continued using these filters. Camfil filters maintained low pressure drop for a year, lasting 1460 days (4 years), with a low and stable pressure drop, as reported by the customer.
