Steel is not consumed, but almost completely recovered at the end of its product life cycle. With a scrap content of more than 20% in combination with increased resource and energy efficiency, steel in Donawitz is produced in an environmentally friendly manner. By casing the converters during the blowing operation, the environment is effectively protected from harmful emissions.
With 2 converters, pig iron from the blast furnace can be converted into 1.65 million tonnes of high-quality steel every year. That is performance from Donawitz!
2 LD converters produce high-quality steel for a wide range of applications from approx. 20% scrap and 80% pig iron. In the so-called LD process, pig iron from the blast furnace is converted into steel using pure oxygen. During this process the iron companions (C, Si and Mn) are oxidised and form a slag. This slag is separated from the steel during tapping. During tapping, carburising, deoxidising and alloying agents are added.
The resulting exhaust gas (CO, CO2) from the converters is cooled, cleaned and processed into electricity. Dust emissions are collected by the secondary dedusting system.
LD-Converters in Donawitz:
- Year of production: 2000
- Tap weight: 65 t
- Annual capacity: 1.65 Mio. tons
- 34 min tap to tap
- Emission system with suppressed post-combustion
- 100% dust recycling (Doghouse secondary dedusting)