Edwards says that the total value of the contract is in excess of US$ 8 million. When installed, the system will be capable of pumping 1,000,000 m3/h at 0.67 mbar, and will degas 230 tonne quantities of liquid steel in each batch. It will be the world’s first application of dry vacuum pumps to a Ruhrstahl Heraeus (RH) steel degassing process.
According to Edwards, the dry pumping system provides Chong Qing Steel with potential energy cost savings of more than 90 percent over traditional steam ejector systems. Other benefits include a lower environmental impact through reducing water effluent and CO2 emissions, optimised steel quality due to no moisture contamination and consistent performance, and increased safety through removing the need for high pressure steam and high temperature fuel and burner systems.
Edwards will supply 18 steel degassing ‘supermodules’, each comprising twin 40,000 m3/h mechanical boosters backed by a common 8,000 m3/h booster and one of the latest generation IDX1300 dry screw pumps.
