Exergy analysis of steel manufacturing in the oxygen converter

Abstract

In oxygen converters, molten iron from the blast furnace is refined with steel waste under oxidizing conditions [1]. The injected oxygen passes into the iron melt, after which it reacts with the impurities. Analysis of exergy losses clearly indicates the place of energy losses in the observed process, so a detailed analysis can influence the improvement of a complex process [2]. Exergy losses occur due to technological imperfections such as heat dissipation or friction and system irreversibility according to the second law of thermodynamics [3]. The concept of exergy can be used for a better understanding of the feasibility of a process, as well as for the techno-economic analysis of the process at different variations of input/operating parameters. In this work througtful calculation of exergy oxygen convertor was done. According to the obtained data, out of a total of 972.2 MJ of thermal energy, which is released by exothermic reactions in the refining process, 817.5 MJ is pure exergy and can be used, the rest is anergy that arises due to irreversibility.