Abstract
Following the early success of thermal plasma technology in the aerospace industry, significant efforts were devoted in the 1980s and 1990s for the development of industrial-scale applications of the technology in the metallurgical industry. The trend followed the footsteps of the electric arc furnace which is widely used in the metallurgical industry for melting and smelting processes using graphite or self-baked electrodes in furnaces with power levels up to 80 MW which, even at our present time, is considered as large. Subsequent applications in the ferrous metallurgical industry viewed the use of plasma technology as a means of reducing dependence on consumable graphite electrodes, reducing coke consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. In the present chapter following a historical overview of the electric arc furnace technology and their applications on an industrial scale in the metallurgical industry, a brief overview is presented of basic concepts commonly used in the design of plasma generators. This is followed by a detailed presentation of some of the most important large-scale metallurgical applications developed for plasma smelting and scrap melting including plasma ladle and tundish heating which are presently well-established technologies used on an industrial scale.
The latter part of the chapter is dedicated to high-profile applications of thermal plasma in the nonferrous metallurgical industry, which benefited mostly from the technology for the development of novel processes for the production of high-added value metals and alloys. A good example of the versatility of thermal plasma technology is the development, around the turn of the century, of plasma-based processes for the production of metallurgical powders of a wide range of exotic metals and alloys which are key enabling components for the manufacture of near net shaped parts using hot isostatic pressing (HIP), metal injection molding (MIM), and more recently additive manufacturing (AM).
It is important to point out that some of the technically successful applications of plasma technology in the metallurgical industry did not survive the test of time because of economic constrains. These should not be overlooked or discarded, since in a continuously changing economic and energy context, renewed interest can also develop in such technologies for the same or alternate applications depending on changing market needs, environmental concerns, and technological developments.
Emil Pfender: deceased.
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Abbreviations
- AC:
-
Alternative current
- AM:
-
Additive manufacturing
- AOD:
-
Argon oxygen decarburization
- ASEA:
-
Research organization in Sweden
- BF:
-
Blast furnace
- CAB:
-
Captive argon bubbling
- CFM:
-
Cubic feet per minute
- CIP:
-
Chemical process industries
- CRM:
-
Center for Mineral Research, Belgium
- DC:
-
Direct current
- DC-TPAP:
-
DC-triple plasma atomization process
- DRI:
-
Direct reduced iron
- EAF:
-
Electric arc furnace
- EPRI:
-
Electric Power Research Institute
- GA:
-
Gas atomization
- GHG:
-
Greenhouse gases
- GM:
-
General Motors
- HDH:
-
Hydride-dehydride process
- HIP:
-
Hot isostatic pressing
- ICP:
-
Inductively coupled plasma
- IRSID:
-
Institute de Recherche de la Sidérurgique Française
- KISS:
-
Keep it simple, stupid
- LHS:
-
Left hand side
- MIM:
-
Metal injection molding
- Mintek:
-
Council for Mineral Technology, South Africa
- MS&A:
-
Middelburg Steel & Alloys in Krugersdorp, South Africa
- MTMP:
-
Mintek Thermal Magnesium Process
- NASA:
-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- NIM:
-
National Institute for Metallurgy
- NS:
-
Net shape
- OES:
-
Optical emission spectroscopy
- PA:
-
Plasma atomization
- PCHM:
-
Plasma cold hearth melting
- PEC:
-
Plasma Energy Corporation
- PFC:
-
Plasma-fired cupola
- PGM:
-
Platinum group metals
- PIF:
-
Plasma induction furnace
- PLH:
-
Plasma ladle heater
- PM:
-
Powder metallurgy
- PPC-F:
-
Plasma progressive casting-furnace
- PREP:
-
Plasma rotating electrode process
- PSD:
-
Particle size distribution
- QIT:
-
Quebec Iron & Titanium
- R&D:
-
Research and development
- RBM:
-
Richards Bay Minerals
- RF:
-
Radio frequency
- RF-IPAP:
-
RF-induction plasma atomization process
- RF-IPS:
-
RF-induction plasma spraying
- RHS:
-
Right hand side
- SA:
-
South Africa
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- SER:
-
Specific energy requirement
- SINTEF:
-
National Research Organization in Norway
- SS:
-
Stainless steel
- TPH:
-
Tundish plasma heater
- TRD:
-
Tetronics Research and Development
- UIE:
-
International Union for Electroheat
- VAR:
-
Vacuum arc refining
- XRD:
-
X-Ray diffraction
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Boulos, M.I., Fauchais, P.L., Pfender, E. (2023). Plasma in the Metallurgical Industry. In: Boulos, M.I., Fauchais, P.L., Pfender, E. (eds) Handbook of Thermal Plasmas. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84936-8_38
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