Investigations into parameters influencing plume visibility at UK sinter plants

07 Oct 2011

D. Poole, E. Aries, S. Johnston, D.R. Anderson, N. Schofield, A. Horne; Tata Steel RD&T Swinden Technology Centre, United Kingdom
D. Hemfrey; Tata Steel Strip Products UK, Port Talbot, United Kingdom

The sinter plant is part of a complex operational chain involved in the primary production of steel; its principal purpose is to convert fine iron ores into a clinker-like agglomerate (sinter) that has the essential physical and chemical properties for use in the blast furnace to produce liquid iron.  
In recent years, Tata Steel Europe (formerly Corus UK) has undertaken detailed studies into the formation and suppression of polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) (“dioxins”) to investigate means to reduce sintering emissions. These investigations led to the routine use of urea additions to the raw sinter mix to partially suppress dioxin formation(1).  Since this change, however, public complaints regarding a perceived increase in the visibility of the waste gas plume have increased.  To determine the cause of the apparent change, wide ranging studies were initiated, including analysis of waste gas composition, and particulate mass and size distribution.  Results showed that readily condensable gaseous components were key to formation of visible plume as waste gases exit the stack and cool.  
This paper summarises the findings of the work, isolating and identifying species that contribute to the visibility of the emitted plume from the sintering process, through development of novel sampling techniques, and compares results obtained with US EPA methodologies(2) for determination of “condensable particulate matter” in industrial emissions.

Paper presented at CEM 2011, the International Conference on Emissions Monitoring, Prague, Czech Republic, October 5-7, 2011